The Fiat Punto is getting on in years now, the current version of the Italian super mini has been on sale for 12 years. As time goes by technology improves and the motor industry is one of the fastest moving, when the Punto was originally released in 2005 it was the first car to achieve Euro NCAP’s highest rating of 5 stars. However standards have improved over the following 12 years resulting in the Punto becoming out dated and dangerous. When it was recently retested the Punto achieved 0 stars, making it the first to get 5 and 0 stars.
An FCA spokesperson brushed aside the statistics to try to maintain focus on the Fiat Chrysler groups more current offerings: “Safety is of the utmost importance to the FCA group. When Punto was launched 12 years ago, it was the first 5* EURO NCAP car in its class. The importance of safety to the FCA group is demonstrated by the number of new models achieving 5*, for example Alfa Romeo Giulia, Alfa Romeo Stelvio and the Jeep Compass.” Fiat are yet to comment on what measures the company will take to rectify the situation.
To demonstrate the severity of the situation the Dacia Duster was also recently tested and achieved 3 stars, with a Dacia spokesperson claiming: Aiming for four or five stars would have meant equipping Duster with a range of recent driving aids and technology and that would have made the car more expensive and more complex to drive.” Meaning that the Fiat Punto is suffering from a severe case of out datedness. Euro NCAP secretary general said: “This is perhaps the strongest example of a manufacturer continuing to sell a product that is well past its best-before date at the expense of the unsuspecting car buyer. We would urge consumers to choose cars with the most up-to-date five-star ratings, many examples of which we have seen in 2017.”
Results such as this do make you question the safety of other old cars on the road. I for one am thinking about how safe my own MK4 VW Golf is, originally a 4 star car I suspect under the current safety regulations my Golf would also be a 0 star car as well if not worse.
What do you think about the Fiat Punto’s safety score let us know in the comments.
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This obsession with the past has to stop. Cars become iconic over time and trying to recreate them in the modern age just doesn’t work simply because those legendary cars of the time in fact weren’t that good to begin with when you compare them to todays standards. The VW Beetle was a car born out of war just to get Germany back on its feet and I don’t think it would be as revered today if it hadn’t had a red and blue stripe down it and the number 53 on the door. Both the Mini and the Fiat 500 are death traps you would be safer on the road in a paper bag than one of those.
Why am I ranting about this now, well because Citroen have decided to get in on the action with a new body kit for their Citroen Relay van, the kit is meant to look like the Citroen type H van, which was first made in 1947. Now this is a van that is quite literally a shed with wheels and while it maybe old, maybe even a classic, it in no way deserves to be modernized in this way. The new H is to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the original and thankfully only 70 will be made.
Please car companies stop with the retro cars, how can any new cars grow to be as iconic when you keep reminding us of the past with these new retro cars that merely act to damage the reputation of the original. Let the icons live on in classic car form and create new classics, cars like the VW Corrado or the BMW M2 (which while it copies the 2002 Turbo ideas is its own car entirely), cars that are as brilliant today as they will be 20 to 30 years from now.
Jim on Cars 