Sector: City Car Price: £14,950 Fuel: 60.1mpg CO2: 125g/km

Fiat has been equipping the Panda with four-wheel drive for three decades, and in that time it’s enjoyed a market with few direct competitors.

The latest Panda may be a world of sophistication away from its 1983 ancestor, but the formula hasn’t changed much. This new model features 50mm of extra ground clearance to clear rough terrain, with a light, automatic four-wheel drive system and mud and snow tyres to keep it moving on slippery surfaces.

That’s recently become very attractive in the UK. Following several harsh winters and heavily flooded summers, British drivers have developed a fondness for the just-in-case SUV which is stronger than ever. A guarantee that if our unpredictable climate turns sour, they’re still able to keep moving.

While the Panda isn’t a thoroughbred off-road vehicle, it’s actually all anyone in the UK should ever need. Extra clearance to wade through floods, an electronically locking centre diff for snow and mud, and a long first gear to give engine braking on steep descents. This won’t let you tower over other road users like a large SUV, but it’ll run rings around plenty of big-wheeled soft-roaders when conditions dictate it’s necessary.  

Engine options comprise the entertaining but noisy 0.9-litre TwinAir petrol and the 1.3-litre MultiJet diesel tested here. It’s the less powerful of the two, and audibly the less appealing, but it’s surprisingly flexible, provided you can keep it in its power band. The 4×4’s towering ride height means there’s a little more body roll than in a basic Panda, and the long first gear makes it less peppy off the mark, but this is as compact and manoeuvrable as any other city car in the majority of situations.

Inside, there’s space for four, which means if the main family car isn’t able to move, most families will still be able to fit inside. As all except the driver’s seat fold, depending which options are ticked, it’ll swallow up items which really shouldn’t fit into a car this small.

However, the rivals are closing in. Suzuki has just started importing the Swift 4×4, albeit only with a petrol engine, and it’s cut from almost the same cloth as the Fiat. The Dacia Duster, meanwhile, offers a diesel engine and four-wheel drive in a larger body, for comfortably less than either.

If you’re seduced by the Panda’s styling, then the newly launched Trekking looks identical to the 4×4, but by trading four-wheel drive for a clever traction control system, it’s £1,500 cheaper up front and emits 16g/km less CO2 as well.

But as niche as the 4×4 may be these days, it’s difficult to find anywhere near this sort of flexibility without sizing up to a larger car.

Verdict:

A characterful giant killer that is basic and functional in all the right ways, the Panda makes a lot of sense in rural parts of the UK where winters are harsher than most. But for most, the two-wheel drive Trekking should be more than adequate.