There’s nothing else quite like the Fiat Multipla. With its wacky styling and 2×3 seating layout, it’s a truly individual MPV. And a well priced one, too. At £17,500 it’s cheaper than most of the other compact MPVs on test, and haggling should knock around £2000 off.
The good news continues with fine fuel economy: official figures claim 43.5mpg. Acceleration, however, was a long way shy of that achieved by this Fiat’s baby brother, the Sedici, although the 1.9-litre engine is far smoother than that fitted to the VW Golf. And while the Multipla proved stable at 60mph and through the lane-change test, the handbrake and the clutch both struggled to perform their respective jobs during the hill start.
Six passengers have plenty of space, but luggage room is not so generous; we could only fit around half of our test kit in the boot.