Tuesday 13th October 2015

Fiat Cinquecento 'Abarth': YKYWT

Cinquecentos are fun with 50hp, so how about one with double that?

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Lovely though it is, the Ferrari 488 Spider is not a realistic goal for the vast majority of us. It's £204,000 before even one Scuderia shield or a single thread of contrast stitching is applied; most will be £250K cars. But for £200,000 less there is another red, Italian sports car (sort of) with a lot more power than it probably needs.

Aww, isn't it cute?

Alright, so that's about as far as any commonalities extend between a Fiat Cinquecento Sporting and a 488. But surely all the Italian stereotypes of passion and vim and character could be applied to both, along with the capacity to put a huge grin on the driver's face.

You see this isn't any ordinary Cinq Sporting. You probably scoffed at the 'lot more power than it probably needs' comment but the little Fiat you see here as 105hp. The standard car had 55. It's thanks to a modified 1.3-litre Fiat engine with upgrades that also include a six-speed 'box, stainless steel exhaust plus new brakes and suspension. The ad states the little Sporting 'has had a fortune spent on it' and it's not hard to see how.

This must be riotously good fun. Cinquecentos only weighed a smidge over 700kg so 105hp would surely make it very rapid indeed, the lack of mass intensifying the sense of speed massively. Cars as light, basic and, well, fragile as the Cinquecento don't exist anymore; yes, there are Abarth 500s but they're far plusher and more luxurious cars than this. Turbocharged too, of course. This little tyke is none of those things and, for sheer entertainment, far better because of it.

Perfect fit!

Certainly you will want to know who carried out the work, when it was done and what may be required soon. Doubling the horsepower of a car is not a task to be taken lightly! But imagine the smile on your face with this in good health (which it presumably is right now); barrelling along B-roads, scooting through city centres, perhaps even a sprint or two. With the power to weight ratio it now as it surely could perform on a small track...

Yes, there are more sensible options for the money. The price being asked for the Fiat would buy a very nice Renaultsport Clio, for example. And it might be hard to warrant spending that much on a Cinquecento, even with the amount of work done. But for something different, something surprising and something a little bit daft for the money, it's hard to think of anything better. Perfect for when the 488 is a bit much.

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FIAT CINQUECENTO 'ABARTH'
Price: £3,850
Why you should: Small, fast, fun; a mini Italian supercar?
Why you shouldn't: Inbetweeners jokes. And don't crash it

See the original advert here.

[Jinjur]

THAT badge.

Makes it look like a Metro....in a bad way, wait....is there a good way?

J

[andburg]

huge amount spent...but the quality of the sound installation makes me believe some corners have been cut!

[WCZ]

what am I missing here? why is it so expensive

[muppet42]

Nice pink Cinq that

Those badges and Seicento wheels really don't do it any favours at all. This looks like a late model one just before the Seicento came in given the lovely airbag wheel. The 8v 1242cc engine is 65hp standard from memory so they've done well to get an extra 40hp(!) Have driven one with a similar spec of engine and was a blast but many folk swap in the same capacity 16v to get the 6-speed box or indeed the bored out 1.4 version, similar to that in the 100HP Panda. Can imagine how much of a laugh that'd be with tweaks

The Inbetweeners jokes are truly hilarious. Just like the Fix It Again ones. Pure genius and never heard before by anyone ever. Slow clap for anyone who decides to use them.

[anonymous-user]

No.

[Madkat]

Was gonna say they didn't do an Abarth Cinq...Oh wait...

All looked curiously interesting in a humorous way then i saw those 6"x 9"s... Ahm ooooht.

[MajorMantra]

I can see the appeal, but it seems way overpriced. You could get a much newer Panda 100HP in good nick for less, for starters.

[Mr E]

The normal swap was the 1.4 turbo from a similar vintage Fiat Punto, and then turn the boost up?

[Vee12V]

MajorMantra said:

I can see the appeal, but it seems way overpriced. You could get a much newer Panda 100HP in good nick for less, for starters.

Agreed.

[TNH]

A bit like a cheap woman... probably a good ride but you wouldn't want your mates to know.

[rave]

Looks like fun. Always wanted a Ducati powered Michael Schumacher fiat cinquecento.

[Phateuk]

Maybe it comes with £3000 in the glovebox?

[HorneyMX5]

I'd spend a couple of £k more and buy this on:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-CINQUECENTO-Twin-Ca...

Seen it competing it's a very good little package.

[Ursicles]

My cousin bought one of these at an auction... on way home thought that it was too fast.

Upon further inspection, turns out the Van Arken stickers weren't just stickers - the car had been there for a full turbo set up.

Ive never been in something that moved so quick!

The turbo imploded after about 3 months tho... RIP.

[DeltaEvo2]

I loved my Seicento Abarth Michael Schumacher! :-(

[alistair267]

Having had one of these as my first car, more power is definitely not needed. 55bhp, small tyres (that were ludicrously expensive given their size - Pirelli only) and greasy roads was more than enough - on the limit of grip at way less than the speed limit.

Plus it had red seatbelts. N276 NGP have you rotted away to nothing by now?

[crostonian]

Pointless car at that price, just buy a Panda 100hp.

[firebird350]

Bit 'Postman Pat on Nitro' but I bet it's a real hoot! I do like the philosophy though - start with something small and light and it doesn't take too much to get real results.

[Bladedancer]

WCZ said:

what am I missing here? why is it so expensive

I think it's a typo and they wanted to write "38,50".

But being serious, in what universe would you anyone sane (or even remotely sane) buy that Fiat instead of, I don't know, this for instance:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...
or if you want to keep being a bit bonkers and stay italian this:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/f...

Edited by Bladedancer on Tuesday 13th October 14:25

Edited by Bladedancer on Tuesday 13th October 14:36

[crostonian]

Bladedancer said:

WCZ said:

what am I missing here? why is it so expensive

I think it's a typo and they wanted to write "38,50".

But being serious, in what universe would you anyone sane (or even remotely sane) buy that Fiat instead of, I don't know, this for instance:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...

Edited by Bladedancer on Tuesday 13th October 14:25

If that was the only choice I'd go for the Fiat, I wouldn't be seen dead in that Toyota. I must be insane.