Geneva '08 Preview: Castagna gives Fiat 500 and MINI Clubman a big Woody

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Carrozzeria Castagna loves tinkering with little retro hatches. The Milanese design house has brought us wave after wave of unique creations – including MINI pickups and custom 500s – and is looking to continue its grand tradition of peculiarity at the Geneva Motor Show this week.

The MINI Woody Passion Kit (try saying that three times fast) is fairly straightforward because MINI already makes a wagon, so Castagna has put together a package of trim pieces for the Clubman in contrasting dark and light woodgrain effects. For the 500 WoodyWagon, however, Castagna had to take things a step further. About 50-60mm further, actually, as the coachbuilder has stretched the Cinquecento – only the rear overhang, it seems, with the wheelbase left intact) to create its interpretation of how a 500 wagon would look. The reports suggest that the 500 WoodyWagon will also come equipped with Castagna's supercharger kit, boosting power from 100 up to 155hp. Equally intriguing, however, is the suggestion that this is only a preview, as Fiat itself reportedly plans on making a 500 wagon by 2010 to be called the Giardiniera, which is news to us.