The world’s narrowest car comes to Riga: only 50cm wide, and it actually rides

In less than a month, on 24-26 April, the international Baltic Motor Show Riga Auto 2026 at Ķīpsala will welcome a special, internationally-famous guest – the world’s narrowest fully-operational car that is only half-metre wide. The car is based on the classic Fiat Panda. And, since this unusual car has been created in Italy, its presentation in Ķīpsala will be moderated by the most famous Italian Latvian Roberto Meloni. Moreover, the narrowest car is in full working order, and children, as well as winners of special competitions, will get a chance to sit in it.

Time to look back at the history
Nowadays, we have grown accustomed to thinking that cars should get bigger from one generation to another. However, in Italy, not far from Milan, a unique car has been created. If you see it for the first time in photos or video, you might start questioning whether this is an AI-generated image. No. It is not. It is a real car created by engineer Andrea Marazzi over the course of 12 months. He created the world’s narrowest fully-functioning car with his own hands by almost completely rebuilding Fiat Panda into what visually seems like a surreal oversized children’s toy. How wide is the car? Well, the answer is pretty plain. Marazzi based the size of globe’s narrowest car on engineer’s own body dimensions, just like a tailored suit. So, if you are on the bit bigger side, you won’t be able to close both doors of this unique car from inside.

From social phenomenon to postmodern interpretation
Project is based on and uses a 1993 Fiat Panda. The original design of Fiat Panda was created in 1980 by the legendary designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. Its concept was household appliance on wheels – simple, reliable and easy to make, just like a fridge. For Italians, Panda is not just a car. It is a social phenomenon that fits right into both the countryside landscape and Milan’s fashion district. Unsurprisingly, its production volumes almost reached 5 million units in first more than 20 years of this iteration of the car from 1980 until 2003. Then it was completely revamped, making the object of national pride into the embodiment of everyday mobility as Marazzi strived to offer a postmodern interpretation of what a car actually is and what its minimum dimensions can be. The 80s design, with its box-like shape and production-wise cheap window glass, became the perfect canvas for that. Although designer himself referred to it as Fiat Panda by Marazzi, press and social media labelled it the Panda Slim, Flat Fiat and Panda for One.

Radical downsizing and restored structural integrity
Body of a modern car is not suitable for symmetric vertical crosscut like this because of its complex streamlining features and impact points system. Panda, on the contrary, has stell structure all over. Marazzi made the vertical cut along the whole length of the under-carriage and took out about 2/3 of body’s overall mass. The surviving halves were then welded together like a sandwich. This gave significantly reduced overall width from 149cm to 50cm, which is basically the width of a normal sleeping pillow. By cutting out the middle section, designer was forced to abandon the structural integrity of the body. To make sure the newly welded car does not collapse under its own weight, Marazzi embarked on series of high-precision welding operations required to create an integrated frame and recreate roof curve that resembled the original design and, for example, enabled to open the doors properly. Foreign media, after inspecting the car, have already announced that the quality of such highly-complex manual work is impeccable, and if you were not aware of who has made it, you would be inclined to believe that this is just another of Fiat’s concept cars built for car shows. Marazzi also boasts that 99% of parts used in the car are original.

All four wheels are still there
One of the most impressive technical features of the car is that all four of its wheels are still there. It would only make sense from the conventional engineering standpoint to switch to three wheels for such a small car, like classic Reliant Robin or Peel P50 creators did. However, Marazzi wanted no easy way around when it came to this car. He kept all four wheels, which, of course, made construction of proper steering quite challenging. Geometry needed to be changed to ensure that car is still as functional as before. Since both front wheels are less than 50cm apart, steering levers had to be placed extremely close together. Another interesting fact is that the size of wheels has not changed either. Car can fit one person (at best) and has a very small steering wheel – the normal just wouldn’t it. Driver is situated in extreme environment from ergonomic point of view. One needs to keep arms close to the body, there is literally no space for Italian expressivity and gestures.

E-mobility shaped by physics
Squeezing the classic internal combustion engine and transmission into this 50cm narrow car was physically impossible. So, it was decided to make it fully electrical using the electric parts from a scooter: 24V electrical engine and 12V battery. Without combustion engine, oil and petroleum, car had become 264 kilos lighter. A reduction that makes up for less powerful electrical motor. Batteries are hanging low beneath the carriage to bring down the centre of gravity. With the maximum speed of 15 kph, that car can travel around 25k when fully charged. The width of the car is only one third of its 145cm height. Car’s maximum speed was limited on purpose because of high-placed centre of gravity to avoid the car from tipping over at high speeds.

Global recognition and path towards Guiness record
The car completed last year became one of the biggest hits at the Fiat Panda largest meet in the world, Panda a Pandino 2025, which also marked the 45th anniversary of the original car. Videos with narrowest car in the world, based on Fiat Panda platform, quickly spread across various media and social networks. The car even became a part of the popular culture as the Estonian rap star and Eurovision contestant Tommy Cash, known for his absurd, post-soviet comedy, decided to use the mini car as the prop for his latest music video for the song OK. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E8Z5VbZJBg)