The Multipla has always done things differently. The 'surprised hippo' expression may have gone, thanks to the car's mid-life face-lift, but the Fiat is no 'me-too' conformist. While most rivals have seven seats in a two-three-two layout, the Multipla has six seats in two rows of three. Mum and dad might not be able to give the whole five-a-side team a lift to football practice, but in other ways this layout makes a lot of sense. Every passenger gets their own individual seat, and plenty of space, too. Head and legroom are right up with the best people carriers'. Even those in the middle seats won't feel too hemmed in, thanks to the car's unusually wide cabin. The central rear chair doubles as a picnic table, and all three rear seats can be removed. That gives a huge luggage capacity of 1900 litres. It's a shame, though, that the seats have to be taken out to make the most of the space - many newer rivals have seats which fold into the floor to avoid the hassle of finding somewhere to store them. Even with all six seats in place, the Multipla has room for 430 litres, which is comfortably more than many mid-sized MPVs.
There are downsides to the Multipla's quirkiness, though. The width of the car might be a bonus when you're sat inside, but it makes threading the car through narrow streets more difficult. Getting the kids in and out of the back seats will be a pain in a confined parking space, too.
The unconventional dash takes some getting used to. The speedo sprouts from the centre of the dash, and some of the switches seem to have been placed at random. Fortunately, this oddness doesn't extend to the driving position, which has enough adjustment for drivers of all shapes and sizes to get comfortable. The huge glass area and narrow pillars mean that all-round visibility is good, too.
That's good news when parking, and it helps place the car accurately on the open road, too. The Fiat drives far better than you'd expect, with direct and stable cornering and a controlled, comfortable ride.
Buyers can choose between two engines: a 1.6-litre petrol and a 1.9-litre diesel. The diesel's extra pulling power makes it better suited to hauling a fully loaded MPV. It's a quiet cruiser, too. Don't dismiss the petrol engine out of hand, though. It might be slow, but prices start from well over £1000 less than the diesel, so it's a good option if you don't cover enough miles to justify the extra cost of the diesel.
Whichever engine you choose, value-for-money pricing is a big part of the Multipla's appeal. It undercuts the Mazda 5 and Volkswagen Touran, especially once you take discounts into account. Apply the thumbscrews, and savings of over £2000 are within reach.
That makes the Multipla a tempting proposition. There are be quicker MPVs, and the missing seventh seat could be an issue for some. But sometimes it pays to be different.