Future Super Cult? The Fiat Cinquecento?

[HoTWire]

So I know these cars have a following,.. but I suspect with a bit more weight behind them they could have a full on Mini level of cult status. They are without a doubt its nearest modern equivalent.

Right now on ebay : www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=&_osacat=9801&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.Xcinquecento.TRS0&_nkw=cinquecento&_sacat=9801&_from=R40

That is 14 cars under a grand. 14 lightweight, fun, tunable, modifiable cars for under a grand. This is where Beetles and Minis were a good few years ago.

So here is the game,.. you've got 2 grand to spend ... lets say you bought a tidy Cinquecento for £700. You have £1300 to spend on it. What do you do?

Technical details of what you do would also be useful as I'd rather like some to get built from this thread

[adam73bgt]

I have a soft spot for Cinquecento's, they just look like the sort of car you could hop in and drive the absolute nuts off (like a true italian) and have a huge amount of fun at the same time you'd only be going about 40 or 50mph but it wouldn't matter

I'd get one in white, get some Alitalia style graphics made up, going for this sort of style



shoehorn in a 1.4 16v engine from a panda 100hp, with a pretty much straight through exhaust

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/fiat-panda-100-hp-1-4-engine-52-k-perfect-/321163099462?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4ac6cffd46

Then I'm thinking some deep dish minilites, either wobble bolts, redrilled or adapters but powdercoated red

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/13x7-DEEP-DISH-JBW-MINILIGHT-MINILITE-WHEELS-CAR-SET-OF-4-7x13-7ET-4X101-6-/121140209178?pt=UK_CarParts_Acc_Wheels_tyres_Trims_Car_Rims_ET&hash=item1c3484e61a

Probably gonna need some arch mods after those, something along the lines of these could work, albeit body coloured and probably with some more extension

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Group-2-fibreglass-wheel-arches-and-arch-body-strip-set-of-4-Classic-Mini-New-/360694467826?pt=UK_Car_Exterior_Accessories&hash=item53fb10ccf2

Then I'd strip the interior, get some coilies on it

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-CINQUECENTO-SEICENTO-TA-TECHNIX-COILOVERS-SUSPENSION-KIT-/321152237834?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4ac62a410a

Stick 4 cheap spotlights on the front, some hilariously oversized bright red mudflaps on and go for a hoon

So about 300 ish for the engine, 300 for coilovers, 300 or so (less for second hand wheels) for wheels, a bit on graphics, spotlights and arches and things and I reckon it should come in under budget

Some pictures of Cinqucento's to balance out my wordy post







And it would seem Alitalia isn't the only classic race livery that works...




Disclaimer: no idea if any of my plans would actually work or not

[BiAS]

As a self confessed Cinq addict (5 previous personally +1 that was SWMBOs first car) I am bound to agree that they're a future cult car, that said I do genuinely believe it. Definitely the true spiritual successor to the Mini, far more so than the BMW offering.
Hmmm £2000 you say?
It's got to be a Sporting, non Sportings lack mount pick up places or loom for any of the easy engine upgrades, no ARB, etc..
Based on experience I reckon a Sporting could be had for less than the £700 you suggest so I'm budgeting £500 for it, £400 for the car and a further £100 to MOT it.
All the interior, electric windows, central locking, red seat belts, leather wheel, leather gear knob and can go straight back on Ebay and pay for a decent steering wheel
Simplified loom again (removed nearly a kg of wiring, switches and connectors from my last one)
Simplified heater/blower set up only blowing air onto the screen, on/off switch and temperature control
Steering column drop to put the steering wheel into the right place for someone with legs
Remove all the sound deadening and excess mounting tags etc
Stitch weld the seams on the shell, ally panel to blank the sunroof hole if it has one, all inner stuff removed
Lexan windows except windscreen £100
Polybush the lot £160
Shorter springs at similar rates to the originals and coilover sleeves, remake the rear seats to take 2.25" springs and coilover bits, new shocks £250
Punto Mk1 Auto (I think) front calipers (s/h), new Mintex matched vented discs and pads, new rear cylinders, shoes and handbrake pivots braided hoses £150
Higher pressure fuel pump that fits into the standard sender unit from a myriad of Alfas (s/h) £10
Rear ARB, scrapyard parts again, not sure what off £15
Set of Yoko AO48-R 175/50/13 tyres £221
Set of Sei Sporting wheels (s/h) £50
1242 16v Punto Sporting engine, loom, ecu, key £150
Clutch, gaskets, rings, shells, head bolts, belt, service parts, skim head to wear bars £160
Lightweight bucket seats and harnesses (s/h) £200

All that should make for a sub 650kg 85ish bhp toy!

Total spend (if I've done the maths right) £1966 leaving me £34 to spend on 3/4 of a tank of fuel

My last one
668kg, Punto 75 1242 8v engine

[markbognor]

As long as I had enough left over from buying it for cool wheels and no suspension then I'd be happy.

[BiAS]

Mark, ^^^ that is awesome, but due to my irrational hatred of red cars I'd have to do it on one in this, my favourite stock Cinq colour. Can you imagine if they'd done Sportings in this colour? (Or I may just be a touch 'odd')

[BiAS]

Another of mine on Mallory Park at RR07, 1108, No rear interior,175/50/13 Yokos, -40 Springs, Head skimmed to the bars, ported, Punto 75/Cinq hybrid TB and a McRitch chip. This was about £1100 or so including the cost of the car.

[dave80]

would a lancia y10 get you extra kudos?great little cars the cinq.

[PhoenixCapri]

I'd do this.....

[stealthstylz]

I've always fancied a B16 Uno or Cinq. Would be hilariously fast.

[joem83]

I wish I hadnt come in here, it's one of the few car's that will fit in my garage...

[WillCarter]

I have a feeling this might have come off of the back of a post I made on Facebook yesterday, so I should probably contribute. Anyone that has me on Facebook will have noticed that I dug out a picture of my first ever car, a 96 Cinquecento Sporting in Grey and to say I miss it is a massive understatement. So instead of saying what I would do now, I will do this as I was back in 2006.



This was the car in question and as far as I know, is the only remaining picture of it. Photoshop'd by our very own rmad, this was pretty much the initial Blueprint for what the car was to end up like. It already had some tinkering under the bonnet and the full exhaust system when I bought it for £850 as well as an uprated suspension setup (I can't remember the spec, just that it didn't sit as low as the 'shop) so all in all, made for a decent base car.

From there the plan was to fit a full coilover kit, now I can't remember who was making them then, but I do know the choice was limited and what was there had to be imported and was very expensive. With that in mind I have gone for the KW Coilovers at £789 which takes me up to £1639, but should get the car sitting as low as it is in the Photoshop. Wheels-wise I did consider Minilites back then, however nowadays they probably wouldn't even be a consideration for me so I would probably just stick to painting the standard wheels Graphite as they have been done in the picture above, so say £1650 for argument-sake. Back then I found the performance to be pretty nippy if not all-out fast so I would probably leave the engine alone (especially as it came with an induction kit and exhaust anyway) and would concentrate on losing some weight out of the car instead. Now, the interior is pretty sparse anyway so it would be a case of getting rid of the rear seats and any sound deadening, carpet etc. which of course is all free. The rest of the budget would go on fitting the best tyres possible for the skinny 13x5.5 wheels to maximise the potential of its Go-Kart handling.

It's fair to say that I'm currently being talked out of selling my Viceroy to get another one.

[Mystery Machine]

To save me writing it all out again, here is what I wrote on Will's Facebook status yesterday,

"I've had five now, four yellow and one Imola blue....all of them outstanding fun. Commuting on some amazing A-roads every day just brought out the devil in me and I always got to work/arrived home with a big grin on my face.

Why five? Because each time I sold one, I just had to have another within a few months.

None of mine ever broke or let me down apart from getting used to commuting with no clutch when the cable invariably broke. All part of the charm!

Back in the day, to me, this was the true spiritual successor to the original Mini Cooper. Even the 'current' (at the time) Cooper couldn't come close for pocket rocket point & squirt fun."

I wasn't even referring to the BMW 'Mini' in that last paragraph either, more the fact that the (still in production) 'Classic' Cooper was dated, antiquated, more expensive and actually pretty slow in comparison to the Cinquecento. Back in the 50's and 60's it was a revelation, but in the 90's, the Cinq genuinely held the place and stole the crowm from the Mini in pretty much every respect.

I am sure all the Mini owners are now sitting smug as the values of their cars rise exponentially, but I know it's the Fiat owners who have had the most laughs and amazing drives over that time. I've owned enough Mini's and Cinquecento's to confidently say that I reckon the Italian pocket rocket is a genuine future classic with a huge edge of practicality thrown in. And nowhere near the temperamental attitude a lot of earlier Itailian cars had. Other than that clutch cable.

If I were to own one now, I'd buy the absolute best I could in Broom Yellow, because that's the colour I had four of and the one that typifies the Sporting for me. I'd then spend the rest of the money (probably somewhere around £1,200) getting it into tip top original condition. Factory fresh and as it left the production line. They are so much fun 'out of the box', I know they can be even more fun when tuned and played with, but they are getting scarcer now and I'd like one to have as a fun but well preserved example. Minty, but very yellow.

[markbognor]

These are in the for sale section.

retrorides.proboards.com/thread/147131/ssr-wheels-4x98pcd-reduced-brighton

[WillCarter]

Ever since they've come up I've been thinking someone needs to put them on either a Panda or a Cinquecento.

[theblackbox]

I'm so glad this thread came up. I absolutely love my cinqs had around 5 started off with 899 (learnt to drive in one) which taught me a lot about driving then onto sportings i will go back to 899s one day. Now my current cinq is 1.4 16v 6spd powered with a rear arb amongst other suspension mods and pretty much everything else changed. They are so cheap to do so much can be done to them or keep them stock and have a seriously underrated guaranteed fun machine. I've had a slight falling out with mine recently toyed with selling it but I seriously can't part I've never not had a cinq of some form on my drive since passing my test so yet another rebuild looms over the winter I'll update my thread on it eventually got a lot of plans for it.

I'd probably do a cinq soleil(if anyone knows the whereabouts of a white one let me know) 1.4 8v on spi or run a punto 75 head and mpi setup lowered on slotmags with a rear anti roll bar the rest fairly stock

[Mystery Machine]

Jul 19, 2013 18:30:53 GMT theblackbox said:

I'd probably do a cinq soleil(if anyone knows the whereabouts of a white one let me know)

I always thought Fiat should have made a white Sporting. With the black bumper trims and white alloys. I reckon that would look ace! Especially with the red seatbelts etc...

A 1.4 Soleil would be lovely. Especially on those SSR's.

[theblackbox]

Jul 19, 2013 18:36:10 GMT Mystery Machine said:

Jul 19, 2013 18:30:53 GMT theblackbox said:

I'd probably do a cinq soleil(if anyone knows the whereabouts of a white one let me know)

I always thought Fiat should have made a white Sporting. With the black bumper trims and white alloys. I reckon that would look ace! Especially with the red seatbelts etc...

A 1.4 Soleil would be lovely. Especially on those SSR's.

Yep agreed not sure why they didn't tbh as fiat offer white paint on all cars presently as its the free colour rest are optional. I never wanted one but my modern daily has a good size sunroof (first ever sunroof for me) and I love it would be brill on a cinq especially in current weather. I would definately choose 8v the 1.4 is becoming cheaper its a bit of a left field choice as barely any have been done over here but should see 16v figures from a modified one

[RA40tony]

Had one of the last Cinq Sportings in 2003-4 (it was a 1998). It was great, lowered and fitted a cone filter (using the 899 plastic carb/throttle body intake - "my cinq now" on the Fiat Forum) and that was it... soo much fun.

[mikeymk]

I had a Seicento, which is the same car (facelifted). This was ten years ago when it was three years old, so nothing retro about it at the time. Apart from the driving experience - it was hilarious fun, i drove it about London a lot and it was what i felt the Mini should have been instead of what BMW had done to it.

I know which of the two cars Alec Issigonis would've preferred.

[stuartp]

I like them so much I bought the t-shirt



sadly mine got driven into on a roundabout and written off



i'll have another one day, great little cars!
if I had 2K to spend on one i'd get the best example I could find, do very little to it and spend the rest on fuel to enjoy it