Will we talk in years to come of how the modern Fiat 500 brought the Fiat Group back to the United States with a retro, dolce vita design in a compact city car? Quite possibly, but we shouldn’t forget how the original 500 was a family car for many Italians in the post-war, economic boom era - despite its very miniature size.

A new design study though, has turned the tiny car into a real family vehicle in the shape of the Fiat 500 MPV. The model is like an extended version of the Fiat Panda, but with the 500 style. That’s quite a reductive definition though, so we’ll leave it to the industrial designer who produced the work, to describe his vision. David Obendorfer says:

According to reports, the Fiat Idea substitute would actually be quite different, stylistically speaking - but that’s not to say we can exclude the possibility that Fiat has a kind of “Family Cinquecento” in mind for the US market. The maths behind the model you see in the pictures has been built calculating the platform and dimensions of the Punto Evo/Alfa MiTo models.

Being an owner of a Fiat 500, I found it interesting to experiment with models that could emerge if the 500 became a family car. Overall, the style and layout of the 500 lend themselves to an MPV version.

Continue reading: Fiat 500 MPV design study

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After the debut of the Audi A6 Avant, here is a tantalising rendering of a possible future Audi A6 Allroad model. The offroad station wagon could debut in about 12 months time, and while we don’t think this is one of the best renderings from Theophilus Chin, it does give us an idea of the sporty elegance might be prepared to get itself dirty.

The Audi A6 Allroad will likely have a higher wheel base, with some of the classic plastic and chrome protection of a soft offroader. Recently Audi’s Allroad models have achieved a small slice of the market all their own, and have provided an option for those who didn’t want a standard wagon, but weren’t interested in a SUV either.

While the crossover craze is currently storming that kind of customer, there are those who still affectionately hold on to the classic station wagon. If the A6 Allroad has dedicated suspension, it’s the kind of model that offers a dynamic but balanced ride. Here’s to receiving some official details soon, we hope.

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