Route 66 in a Fiat isn’t new but I haven’t blogged about it before, think I did Tweet at the time. It is here for my future reference as I’d love to do a road trip in the US one day.
We got the Multipla in New Zealand so I’m pretty familiar with it’s, you must admit, strange appearance. The Multipla uses the same generation platform as my Bravo. The style is a result of form and function as this six seat (3 wide x 2 row) people mover is shorter than my three door (5 seat) hatch!
Brett, Blake & Larry had the original “porpoise nose” Multipla for their trip, not the “normalised” (and I think ruined) Mk2 pictured here. It’s a unique vehicle anywhere but I can imagine the reception they got:
We enjoyed the stares from other drivers the most. A young woman with Ohio plates was the funniest - we thought her head was going to spin around completely as she strained to figure out what it was she was witnessing
I enjoyed reading their trip blogs. I doubt I’ll ever do Route 66 in a Fiat unless the Chrysler deal makes them common enough to become part of a rental fleet. If anyone at Fiat America is reading I’d be happy to take the 500 for a spin around the USA and blog about it!
Three friends, Brett Melancon (and son Blake) and Larry Smith, embark on the ultimate
road trip – a 10 day, 2,500-mile trek from Chicago to Los Angeles on historic Route 66, the legendary “Mother Road,” following the 85% of the original path still intact. Every effort will be made to seek out unusual roadside attractions and engage with the local populace. The chosen means of transportation for this epic journey is a 1999 Fiat Multipla (Ugly Duck), imported to the U.S. from Ireland by friend, Jim Magill. This unusual car will return east and end up at the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, TN. There are no spare parts for this car in the United States so this makes for a very interesting journey.