RE: Fiat Seicento Sporting | Shed of the Week

[Rumblestripe]

CDP said:

JamesMK said:

I had a Cing Sporting for five years. Bought for £520 and never let me down (well only once and only cost £20 to fix). Lightweight and flimsy but everything worked and nothing rattled, drove anywhere long or short distance and it never complained. My expectations had been set low and it really impressed me. I miss it!

That looks like a toy

Tilt shift lens? Or just a digital effect?

I only came here to say "clunge"

And yes, I know...

[biggbn]

MC Bodge said:

A girl I went out with in the 90s had one of these in non Sporting spec. An indicated 100mph downhill on the M1 was a, er, notable experience. The Seicento had a very small turning circle, and small everything else.

Italian speedo. I had a picture of the speedo of my Cinq reading 114mph down a long hill with a tailwind, and it would show 100mph on any decent straight. In reality that was probably just over 100mph and about 90mph when you adjust for Italian optimism! Absolute joy though, I bought my first one from auction with less than 14k miles on it, bright red and in showroom condition, bought it back years later with 30k miles and it was faded pink!!

[greenarrow]

AC43 said:

mac96 said:

20 years ago someone drove one of these head on into my father, who was driving a Citroen Xantia.. Both cars were write offs; my father (in his 70s at the time and contrary to some assumptions, the completely innoicent victim of the other driver's error) got out and walked away unhurt. The occupants of the Fiat were not walking anywhere. Ever again.
So I wouldn't touch a Seicento. I know it's irrational- I have driven Minis which are no doubt no safer, but there it is.

OMG.

Apparently the three worst rating cars in NCAP history were all Fiats, the Uno, the Seicento and then the Panda when retested in 2018.

Must admit, as much as I loved my yellow Cinq Sporting back in the 1990s, I wouldn't go back there now. There are plenty of modernish small cars with reasonable NCAP ratings that are still fairly light and good fun to drive.

[DaveyBoyWonder]

the_hood said:

It is, but it's close.

Which I think all in all, makes walking the slightly better option.

[BFleming]

Landcrab_Six said:

Be aware that it's not a Schumacher. He's taken some parts from a Schumacher and called it a 'tribute', but it's not a real one.

Spot on. A genuine Schumacher has the chrome gearstick surround and the numbered plaque on the passenger door...

[JamesMK]

Rumblestripe said:

CDP said:

JamesMK said:

I had a Cing Sporting for five years. Bought for £520 and never let me down (well only once and only cost £20 to fix). Lightweight and flimsy but everything worked and nothing rattled, drove anywhere long or short distance and it never complained. My expectations had been set low and it really impressed me. I miss it!

That looks like a toy

Tilt shift lens? Or just a digital effect?

I only came here to say "clunge"

And yes, I know...

Instagram :-)

[Sensibleboy]

Had a 900cc Cinq SX, a Cinq Sporting and a later Seicento Sporting.

They make great town cars but the excess body roll really spoilt the drive. Would have been much nicer with the 1.2 16v engine in.

[JamesMK]

CDP said:

JamesMK said:

I had a Cing Sporting for five years. Bought for £520 and never let me down (well only once and only cost £20 to fix). Lightweight and flimsy but everything worked and nothing rattled, drove anywhere long or short distance and it never complained. My expectations had been set low and it really impressed me. I miss it!

That looks like a toy

The effect I wanted :-)

[molineux1980]

My sister had one in red, with abarth badges I loved how it looked. I was hideously disappointed when I had a drive of it. I was running a 1275 Mini at the time, the Seciento felt like it was disconnected to the road, poor steering feel and gutless compared to the Mini.

Nope.

[biggbn]

BFleming said:

Landcrab_Six said:

Be aware that it's not a Schumacher. He's taken some parts from a Schumacher and called it a 'tribute', but it's not a real one.

Spot on. A genuine Schumacher has the chrome gearstick surround and the numbered plaque on the passenger door...

Geek that I am, I had noticed it was not authentic also. I would actually buy a genuine Schumacher just for the novelty value!!

[anonymous-user]

biggbn said:

Geek that I am, I had noticed it was not authentic also. I would actually buy a genuine Schumacher just for the novelty value!!

I see mine as a small investment.

[smilo996]

ranking its crash protection somewhere between damp cardboard and a freshly-emptied crisp packet

[anonymous-user]

I had a Cinq Sporting in the late 90’s. First time I did 70mph it felt like 170. Mine had previously been ragged senseless and a fair few things went wrong. Head gasket, handbrake would stick on, the frame of the drivers seat snapped, wouldn’t always go into reverse. Ahhh, the good old days

[apm142001]

So many better ways of spending £1395 than this!

If it was £500ish I could (maybe...just) get the appeal, but that seems like serious money for a 17 year old car that would have been very cheap to start with.

[Drooles]

Maybe it’s the age I was at the time, or the other cars I had driven, and I’m certainly a little more safety conscious now I have two young kids to taxi, but I never, for a second, worried about crash protection! I’m no hero, but I was early 20s, had previously only thrashed Minis and an old Triumph Vitesse. My mates were driving E30s if they were lucky or Mk2 Fiestas if they weren’t!

The Seicento Sporting I bought had an airbag so felt like a massive leap forward in safety. And switches that didn’t stick out!

At the time, it felt perfectly safe.

[swisstoni]

AC43 said:

mac96 said:

20 years ago someone drove one of these head on into my father, who was driving a Citroen Xantia.. Both cars were write offs; my father (in his 70s at the time and contrary to some assumptions, the completely innoicent victim of the other driver's error) got out and walked away unhurt. The occupants of the Fiat were not walking anywhere. Ever again.
So I wouldn't touch a Seicento. I know it's irrational- I have driven Minis which are no doubt no safer, but there it is.

OMG.

I had a very similar experience to your Dad with similar results.
Disgraceful from a mainstream maker IMHO.

[Alan3303]

No it's not fast but it's road going go kart that you can squeeze into tiny parking spaces awesome fun to chuck around a tight B road. I loved my Cinquecento.

[sjabrown]

Fun but frightening. You really don't want to be in a crash in a cinq or seicento. I've seen the aftermath of a couple of crashes involving these and, well, you'd be better off in almost any other car.

[Water Fairy]

swisstoni said:

AC43 said:

mac96 said:

20 years ago someone drove one of these head on into my father, who was driving a Citroen Xantia.. Both cars were write offs; my father (in his 70s at the time and contrary to some assumptions, the completely innoicent victim of the other driver's error) got out and walked away unhurt. The occupants of the Fiat were not walking anywhere. Ever again.
So I wouldn't touch a Seicento. I know it's irrational- I have driven Minis which are no doubt no safer, but there it is.

OMG.

I had a very similar experience to your Dad with similar results.
Disgraceful from a mainstream maker IMHO.

Pah! This is a 2016 Fiesta ST that did nothing more than roll into a field. Admittedly at a fair lick but it didn't physically hit anything.

1749129A-20F6-4734-98ED-1F0702ABF936_1_201_a by James Fawcett, on Flickr
9A950A52-D244-4A38-8766-852D04A78EAD_1_201_a by James Fawcett, on Flickr A8D545FF-FC88-4FD8-AC96-D18E78E10A97_1_201_a by James Fawcett, on Flickr

[djbobbins]

I had a 127 RallyeSport as my first car. I was young and poor and through very rose-tinted lenses it was fun. But mainly it was quite st compared to the Fiestas, Escorts, Novas and other stuff my mates were bowling around in.

25 years on I just don’t get why someone would choose to lay out £1300 on this when there are bigger, faster, safer alternatives out there. Probably a sign of my age and preferences but there is a retirement-spec S-Type at Shed money In the classifieds which I thought would make a much better choice!

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10936606?c...

Edited by djbobbins on Friday 23 October 19:43