Fiat Cinquecento Sporting Turbo: Spotted
Can a selection of, very tasteful, modifications make this fun-size Fiat worth its not-inconsiderable asking price?
But if you absolutely had to have hot hatch looks and a drive that'd plaster a grin across your chops, there was one option you could turn to. And if you spent enough time scouring the data tables in the backs of car magazines, you'd happen upon it: the Fiat Cinquecento Sporting.
The hot Cinquecento was a great looking thing, all square-jawed aggro up front and cheeky buns at the back, and yet its Group 3 insurance put it within reach of many a new driver.
This one, mind you, is slightly different. Just six years after it was registered, a former owner decided 54hp wasn't enough for him. Which is rather understandable, really. So he took this particular car to Van Aaken, who slapped a Garrett T15 turbo onto it, a conversion they carried out for more than a few Sporting owners.
The advert doesn't mention any power figures, but a quick browse around suggests the turbo kit was enough to double the power output. There is some question over the quality of the kit, mind you, with some commentators suggesting it didn't make for a particularly reliable conversion. Then again, when was buying a fast, small Italian car ever a reliability choice?
All this can be yours for just... oh, wait, it's six grand. Crikey. You know when people say 'That's a lot of car for the money'? Well, that, but, the opposite. Then again, as young Mr Bird commented, "people have spent considerably more on far worse things". And where are you going to find another that's been done so well?
We'll leave it to you to decide whether it's worth the cash, then. And meanwhile, we'll be off somewhere trying to find a stock Sporting to relive that perfect first car.
SPECIFICATION - FIAT CINQUECENTO SPORTING
Engine: 1,108cc, four cylinder
Transmission: five-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 110
Torque (lb ft): N/A
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1996
Recorded mileage: 70,000 miles
Price new: £6,922 (+ turbo conversion)
Price now: £5,995
See the original advert here
So unbelievably unreliable - my OH had one back in the nineties & it spent more time in the hands of the fantastically sh*t FIAt dealers that it got traded for a Fiesta as soon as she possibly could afford to.
Age does not make a classic. This one needs consigning to the bin.
Was a hoot for the 2 weeks it worked...
...in 2 years.
Looked great - yellow on 14" black RD wheels.
Twin DTM style centre exit cat back exhaust.
Blew a head gasket.
Hardly ever ran right and VA shrugged their shoulders after 2 attempts to get it working.
Put me off modified cars for years!
It had all the bits from new from Van Aken with Mini-light wheels centre exit exhaust uprated suspension fuel/airflow controller and most importantly that tiny little turbo - no lag.
It was fun being so small and quite quick upto about 70 mph, sadly it was nothing like as quick as the old uno turbo i.e. were. I think I sold it for about £1700 which seemed ok at the time. There is no way one of these is good enough to drive to justify spending £5k on one. Here is my old one ( we called it the Van Hallen!).
So, the answer seems to be- buy a 90s mini cooper if you want fun and don't care about NCAP!
2018 VW Up GTI - kerb weight 1070kg (Autocar figure)
1995 Fiat Cinquento Sporting - kerb weight 727kg (Carfolio figure)
They have similar power (although I bet the Up has a wider/flatter/yawnworthy power band), so the old Van Aaken chinky should accelerate noticeably faster in a straight line, and will change direction much more quickly (for better or worse).
I think it's a "yes" from me
ETA weirdly I capitalised "chinky" as this was a common nickname for a "new 500" back in the mid-late 90s but it's being auto-corrected to lowercase.
It had all the bits from new from Van Aken with Mini-light wheels centre exit exhaust uprated suspension fuel/airflow controller and most importantly that tiny little turbo - no lag.
It was fun being so small and quite quick upto about 70 mph, sadly it was nothing like as quick as the old uno turbo i.e. were. I think I sold it for about £1700 which seemed ok at the time. There is no way one of these is good enough to drive to justify spending £5k on one. Here is my old one ( we called it the Van Hallen!).
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