Hi guys, it breaks my heart to say my Cinq has flatlined! due to extensive rust from underneath, front top struts, rear beam support & floor, floor under the rear seat on both sides, rear inner arches, all around the fuel feed pipe to the tank etc. It was first registered 30.04.1996 and SORN’ed today so 20 years old! I had him for 10 years and did my best to keep the legend alive. As it was my daily driver I covered just over 100k in it and been all over the place, enjoyed every minute of it, even when the alternator failed on the M5 southbound while I was doing 80 in the fast lane lol.

I recently purchased a 2002 Sporting that I will transfer the suspension and other few bits to as I can’t go on without a Fiat However other than that I’m selling the bits off the Cinq so if anybody is interested there is a Stainless Steel Powerflow exhaust system with a Sport Cat, full genuine Abarth body kit with front fogs and a rear wing with the break light (in primer ready to paint), Seicento Sporting interior with converted rear seat so it fits a Cinq, the dash, carpet and trim is all mint, doors, tailgate, wings and bonnet all rust free, front and back lights are mint, one front light has a chip but I got a new lens for it, gearbox with newish Valeo clutch, cylinder head, cables, switches, wiring all works.

Looking way to good to brake!!!! ?

I know the outer bodywork and interior are in decent shape so at least it will keep other Cinq's alive.

Can't you restore the underside as a project, and have another Fiat in the meantime?

That car looks immaculate, it's a sin to scrap it.

Sadly the chassis bit where the rear subframe bolts to has collapsed on one side due to corrosion so the geometry is compromised :/ the nearside inner wheel arch is also non existent anymore

288gto said:

Sadly the chassis bit where the rear subframe bolts to has collapsed on one side due to corrosion so the geometry is compromised :/ the nearside inner wheel arch is also non existent anymore

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People have restored worse than that!

If you really are serious about breaking it would you be up for selling the rear bumper.

But sad to see it go?

I know, sadly it won't make an appearance at Auto Italia this year and the new project is far from show worthy, but I'm still going in my girls Suzuki lol so if anybody wants any bits I can bring them down to save on postage.

What a shame, it looks lovely and was clearly a very well cared for car

Do you know why there was so much rust? I thought Cinqs were galvanised and would have thought it would last better than that. Was it due to damage or mud build up or the "plastic underseal" failing and holding water behind? Some rust I can understand, but so much everywhere is unexpected to me

I used to have a Cinq, one reason I bought it was the galvanised body (having spent years fighting losing battles with rust on Leyland/Rover products) and when I sold it, it was still rust free. I bought my Panda, partly based on the prospect of rust being a thing of the past........

They are galvanised so if properly maintained and cleaned underneath on regular basis nothing can ever go wrong. I also discovered that the original factory paint is super thick so you can only ever get the rust issue from underneath.

The corrosion in the corners of the boot is down to a construction fault I believe, I have welded them up when I first had the car. Next to appear were minor rust spots visible on the rear arches from inside the cabin (in the corners of the rear seat) also welded them up and same reason, the original protective coating must have been compromised. The inside rear wheel arch on the driver’s side is virtually gone all around, from there it spread towards the fuel feed pipe and rear subframe support, I discovered a lot of dirt there behind the plastic panel as you pointed out so t hat must have been the reason.

The floor corrosion as well as bulkhead base is clearly down to people jacking the car up in the wrong places as apart from rust it is well bent out of shape, that I would say is what ultimately doomed the car. I welded patches up here and there throughout the years but reached a point where I can see it’s a losing battle.

The car was ten years old when I won it on ebay for £560 and you could tell it had a hard life, the previous owner had a tow bar fitted and used it for work. The suspension was badly corroded, exhaust hanging off (also construction fault) and the engine wasn’t serviced in a ages, surface corrosion in the engine bay but after a bit of work it was resurrected and lived another ten years.

where abouts is the car located I'd be willing to take it on as I have 3 other cinqs at the minute to use as base cars. inbox me with what sort of prices your thinking for individually and as a whole? (please excuse this been first post I can't get in my old account but ChrisUK can vouch for me lol)

Looks stunning. Future classic for sure.

Can't you get it fixed? I know a man!

I have thought about it but don't have the cash as the extent of work required is tremendous if I'm honest. Good news is it kept a few other cars going with the few bits I've sold