THE new Fiat Panda 4x4, a four-wheel drive version of Fiat Auto's multi-award winning European Car of the Year 2004, goes on sale here tomorrow, Saturday (February 5), reports Caroline Beamish.

The Fiat brand has been synonymous with Europe's most affordable 4x4 since a four-wheel drive system, developed in conjunction with Steyr-Puch, was installed in the first, Giugiaro-designed Panda in 1983.

This model's mechanical simplicity, durability, off-road and severe weather abilities quickly found universal favour, notably with rural communities, postal services and telephone and electricity utilities across continental Europe.

Today, the new Panda 4x4 offers an alternative to anyone who wants the option of a 4-wheel drive system without the fuel-consumption, size and matching price tag of a traditional 4x4. Something to consider, perhaps, for the rural lanes of South Lakeland through the winter.

Building on a unique design which combines the road presence and elevated driving position of a small SUV with the space and flexible practicality of an MPV, the car features a variable torque distribution, permanent four-wheel drive transmission system capable of automatically transferring up to 50 per cent of engine torque to the rear wheels.

Increased ground clearance means the Panda 4x4s is ideally suited to the most challenging of off-road conditions and it will also readily climb gradients in excess of 50 per cent.

Priced at £9,195 on-the-road, and fitted with Fiat's proven FIRE 1.2 litre, 8-valve, 60 bhp power plant mated to a five-speed manual gearbox, the new Panda 4x4 will be available in one unique trim designation, offering levels of equipment more usually associated with cars in a higher class.

Electric front windows, remote central locking, Dualdrive electric power steering, twin front airbags and a Blaupunkt stereo radio/CD are fitted as standard.

Optional extras include the availability of up to six airbags, automatic climate control, parking sensors, a Sky Dome electric sunroof, steering wheel audio controls and a stereo CD with MP3 player an impressive list for a car in this section of the UK market.

Safety is also taken very seriously with the Panda 4x4. It offers up to six airbags with front seatbelts with pretensioners and load limiters, three-point rear seatbelts, anti-submarining seats and an FPS Fire Prevention System all fitted as standard.

But the engineers at Fiat have made sure they have put the small car through its paces before making some astounding performance claims.

Over one million test kilometres later, undertaken through some of the world's harshest terrain, it is hard to dispute the Panda 4x4's remarkable off-road abilities and durability.

For example; in Lapland, the new Fiat performed faultlessly in temperatures of minus 40 degrees, maintaining traction and stability on ultra-low friction surfaces, and overcoming snow covered gradients of more than 40 per cent in the Kalahari Desert, the most mechanically debilitating of unsurfaced roads combined with dust, sand and 45 degree temperatures subjected the Panda 4x4's drivetrain and suspension to the harshest examination.

Finally, two Panda 4x4s set out from Kathmandu to drive through the Himalayas to the Mount Everest advance base camp, sited at an altitude of 5,200 metres. This was the first time that a small off-road vehicle achieved this goal, a feat made all the more remarkable by the absence of any modification to the standard Panda 4x4, except minor engine control unit adaptations appropriate for the quality of local fuel.