Record gathering of Fiat Pandas in (wait for it) Pandino, Italy

If you're going to drive somewhere in your Fiat Panda, where better to go than the small town of Pandino in northern Italy?

This was the thought in 2017 of a young Panda owner from the south of Italy, who announced on Facebook her idea to drive to Pandino – and social media did the rest! Last year's event saw 200 Pandas turn up, but the second edition of 'Panda a Pandino' on June 24 this year became the biggest Panda meeting in the world.

A record 365 Pandas turned up to the event. Owners met up in front of Pandino Castle, the 14th century hunting residence of the Visconti family, and took part in a 27km parade from the castle through several nearby towns and villages

Fiat used the occasion to show off the new Panda Waze, 'the most socially connected Panda ever', with the Waze navigation app integrated into the Panda Uconnect system. In its honour, 200 Pandas were arranged outside the castle to spell the words 'Panda Waze' with the aid of colourful boards.

Prizes were given out to the best equipped Panda, the oldest Panda in show, the Panda that came from furthest afield and the most extravagant Panda. Proceeds from Panda a Pandino 2018 will be used by to restructure recreational spaces for people with disabilities.

Fiat Panda landmarks

• First city car with 4WD (1983)
• First car in its segment to win Car of the Year (2004)
• First city car to climb to reach Everest base camp (2004)
• First mass produced natural gas fuelled city (2006)
• First car in its class with autonomous city braking (2013)
• First city car to display Waze name and integrate the functions of the app into its infotainment system (2018)

Over 7.5 million Pandas have been made and, together with the Fiat 500, it has been Europe's best-selling city car since 2003. In the first four months of 2018 the Panda and Fiat 500 held a combined market share of 29.1%.