Panda-monium on Pantelleria: Welcome to Pandelleria, where Fiat Pandas rule the roads
The tiny volcanic island of Pantelleria, south of Sicily and closer to Africa than Europe, is best known for two things.
Firstly: caper berries. These aromatic buds, a staple of Italian cuisine, thrive on the windswept island. Low bushes hug the ground to shield the precious fruit from heat and rain. Capers from Pantelleria are prized for their size and intensity, with a salty tang that seems to carry the sea mist drifting across the island.
The second claim to fame is the Fiat Panda. Around two-thirds of Pantelleria’s vehicle population is made up of Pandas, earning the island the nickname “Pandelleria”. Fiat themselves even made a film about it:
With just over 7,000 residents, Pantelleria is home to thousands of Pandas. Like pigs in Denmark, there may even be more Pandas than people. Every vintage is represented, from the iconic boxy Series 1 of the 1980s to the most recent model. What you won’t find are the very latest cars – the brand-new Grande Panda, or indeed any new cars of any kind.
The more basic Pandas suit island life best, where work is mostly agricultural, hard, and messy. Caper buds are still harvested by hand, as are the Zibibo grapes used for the island’s famous passito dessert wine. On Pantelleria, the Panda is as much a work tool as the hand scythes that slice off buds or the wicker baskets that carry grapes.
It’s common to see a Panda abandoned in a field, hatchback yawning open, ready to swallow an improbable haul of produce before trundling its sweaty owner home. An SUV feels absurd here: the Panda does everything required at a fraction of the cost. With the rear seat folded, you get more than 1,000 litres of load space – more than enough for the average farmyard.
Such is the competence of the basic Panda that even the 4x4 version is a luxury. Most Pantelleria Pandas are humble front-wheel-drive models, some powered by the 652cc two-cylinder engine inherited from the Fiat 126. That’s more than sufficient for an island where nobody drives faster than 80km/h and horsepower is less of a worry than donkey power – the traditional means of transporting harvested fruit.
These Pandas wear their lives with pride. Straight panels are rare, paint and number plates are baked by the sun, and bodywork bears the scars of countless skirmishes with stone walls on the island’s narrow roads. Many are “harlequin” Pandas, patched together with panels in mismatched colours. No Panda ever truly dies here; each one lives on as donor parts, reincarnated into another car. Buddhists would approve. It’s a perfect circular economy, providing affordable, sustainable mobility for islanders. A nun, a dive instructor, and a chef I met all drove Pandas. If Pantelleria had a president, his official car would surely be a stretch Panda.
A cottage industry has grown around the car. Remote workshops boast parts catalogues that would put Mirafiori to shame, while the locals could probably teach Panda maintenance in school. The passion and expertise surrounding the Panda is reason enough to visit Pantelleria – and if you ever need the most obscure spare part, you now know where to look.
Of course, no trip is complete without hiring one. There’s a road that circles the coast, and locals claim that anything under an hour is a respectable lap time. My own hire car was a battleship-grey mild-hybrid Panda with a three-cylinder 1.0-litre engine producing around 70hp – cutting-edge technology by Pantelleria standards. It looked as if it had survived a few campaigns, but it thrummed along happily enough, complete with regenerative braking and a six-speed gearbox. Still, I’d have swapped it in a heartbeat for one of the vintage Pandas available from smaller rental firms. If the Panda feels too modern, you can even hire an ancient Fiat 600 – the island’s second-most popular car.
That said, with summer temperatures regularly topping 30°C, you’ll be grateful for the air-conditioning in newer models. Perhaps the ideal Pantelleria car is a classic Panda 4x4 with added aircon – the perfect blend of utility and comfort. Just don’t expect it to stay pristine. On Pantelleria, a little sunburn and patina only make a Panda more beautiful.
