Mechanic Builds World’s Thinnest Car at Just 19.5 Inches, Breaks Guinness World Record

• Italian mechanic Andrea Marazzi has built the world’s thinnest driveable car, measuring just 19.5 inches wide
• The electric Fiat Panda, called the “Flat Fiat,” retains more than 90% of its original parts and can reach 9.3 mph
• Guinness World Records officially recognised the unusual car, which Marazzi hopes will inspire people with learning difficulties to pursue creative ideas

Legit.ng journalist Victor Enengedi has over a decade's experience covering energy, MSMEs, technology, banking and the economy.

A 30-year-old Italian mechanic has broken a world record by turning a 1993 Fiat Panda into what is believed to be the thinnest driveable car ever made.

Andrea Marazzi from Italy spent about a year transforming the salvaged vehicle into a bizarre but functional car measuring just 19.5 inches wide.

What began as a joke at his family’s auto dismantling business eventually became a serious project to build something that had never been seen before.

Mechanic transforms old Fiat Panda

Marazzi said the idea came to him while working at the junkyard, describing it as a “silly idea” that gradually developed into a challenge to create “something no one else has.”

The finished vehicle, nicknamed the Flat Fiat, has been officially recognised by Guinness World Records after Marazzi completed the project in Bagnolo Cremasco, Italy.

Despite its extremely narrow body, the car remains roadworthy and has enough room for Marazzi to sit and drive it. The unusual electric vehicle has four wheels, one headlight and a single seat.

Flat Fiat keeps most original parts

Marazzi managed to retain more than 90 per cent of the Panda’s original components despite dramatically reducing its size.

The Flat Fiat weighs about 582 pounds and can reach a top speed of 9.3 mph. Marazzi has reportedly driven the unusual vehicle around the narrow streets of Italy.

He chose the Fiat Panda because of the model’s global popularity and its history of unusual modifications.

“There have been Pandas with bathtubs, Pandas made of wood, but nobody had made one this thin,” he said.

Marazzi also believes his dyslexia has contributed to his creative approach to problem-solving. He hopes his record-breaking creation will encourage people with learning difficulties to pursue unusual ideas and turn them into reality.

The project has attracted attention for showing how creativity, engineering and recycled vehicle parts can be combined to produce a fully functional car from an otherwise discarded vehicle.