Is the Multipla set for Paris return?

Fiat is reviving the Multipla name, or something close to it, with a concept called Multiplay set to debut at the Paris Motor Show this month.

The Multipla has long been a favourite of the motoring media, and certainly around the Autocar offices. The 1998 original was routinely voted among the ugliest cars ever made, yet those who drove it tended to come away converted by its six-seat, two-row cabin, huge glasshouse and sheer common sense. It is one of those cars that gets talked about with real affection, so any hint of a comeback was always going to get our attention.

Fiat has released a single teaser image ahead of the show. It gives little away about the overall shape, focusing instead on an oval insert on the side of the vehicle that carries a black patterned section and a body-coloured panel with the silhouettes of the two previous Multiplas overlaid on it.

Fiat describes Multiplay as more than a concept car, calling it a “new concept of mobility” that is “flexible, accessible, and radically useful”. It says the vehicle combines the open load space and outdoor versatility of a pickup with the comfort and flexibility of an SUV, with the switch between the two configurations made in a few movements via what it calls an ingenious mechanism. It has not explained how that mechanism works or which parts of the vehicle move.

The name draws on two earlier Fiats. The 600 Multipla of the 1950s carried six people in a body 3.5 metres long. The 1998 Multipla did the same in two rows of three seats and was less than four metres long, and became known for its unusual two-tier front end as much as for its packaging.

Fiat says the Multiplay concept is a ‘source of inspiration for future products that will complete its affordable family vehicle range’. It has not confirmed a production version, and no dimensions or powertrain details have been released.

The concept is one of several Stellantis is bringing to Paris. Fiat will show it alongside the Grizzly and Grizzly Fastback, two C-segment SUVs first revealed in June that make their European show debut at Paris. The Grizzly is the upright family SUV of the pair and the Fastback the sleeker alternative, with Fiat offering petrol through to battery electric power across the range. Both are due in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the second half of 2026.

Fiat showed a separate concept, the Multiplina, in June. Based on the Topolino quadricycle, it is a different vehicle from the Multiplay.

The Paris Motor Show opens to media on 12 October and to the public from 13 to 18 October.