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So I recently sold my Punto GT, bought a Punto TD, tarted it up with spare GT parts and sold that. I took this 899cc Cinquecento as a part exchange.
Yes it's on the bump stops, yes it was fun for the first mile and yes it's bloody dangerous.
Anyway driving on the bump stops reminded me of my old Mini and got me thinking. There isn't a Mini any more.
BL Mini's are too expensive. BMW ones are either crap or overpriced crap.
Where are all the cheerful little cars that are cheap and easy to get hold of, easy to modify or upgrade from the parts bin and still utilitarian?
The Cinquecento is probably one of the best of the bunch. 899cc so cheap to insure, Sporting parts bin upgrades and more from the family tree. Can be picked up from £50 to £300 on the road and tunable. There are a couple of t-jet Cinquecento and Seicento projects terrorising exotica. Obviously there are more options like the VW Lupo but you have VAG insurance and the pretentious Dub Scene to deal with. Suzuki Alto are a pain to find parts, Ignis is too new, Swift too big. Citroën C 1,2,3 are all terrible compared to the old Saxo but good luck finding a decent base model one of those and the pandemic of VTR/VTS/V6 powered Saxo's that are "Still 1.1 on da log book innit bruv" should all com with a free barge pole. 107's are coffins, CityRover's can't handle the power they have let alone tuning or transplants. That's just about it.
Don't get me wrong for a rushed job the BMW MINI isn't all that bad. It weighed more than the Neon 1.6 engine could handle, as big as an Astra outside but smaller than a Corsa inside, poorly engineered but a good marketing exercise. Apart from that it was a welcome alternative to hum drum euroboxes of the period and gave the "it" crowd something that wasn't French to break down in.
Now you can get a BMW MINI for a lot less than a real Mini it almost makes sense but any bargain BMW is potentially a bottomless pit and the MINI is no exception to that rule.
So if this Cinquecento is going to a homage to what the Mini used to be it will have to stay 899cc for now.
You can almost feel the Pooooooowwwwwweeeeerrrr!
...wer
...wer
...wer
Okay the boot isn't that big.
These...
...will have to go for a start.
So what's the plan?
Two of my nephews are seventeen next year so I'm going to get them involved and show them a few tricks I've learned over the years.
There are a few repairs one would expect from a twenty two year old Fiat, sort the suspension, buckets, harnesses and cage.
All in time for a charity track day November 18th (if I can get the time off work) and auctioned of for the same charity just in time for Christmas.
I'm keeping the 899cc engine standard as just like a Mini you do all the other upgrades first and then make it go quicker.
If the car doesn't sell I have a 1242cc Punto 60S and 75 (866) cam' in my shed for a potential (sort of stage one) transplant later.
Yes it's on the bump stops, yes it was fun for the first mile and yes it's bloody dangerous.
Anyway driving on the bump stops reminded me of my old Mini and got me thinking. There isn't a Mini any more.
BL Mini's are too expensive. BMW ones are either crap or overpriced crap.
Where are all the cheerful little cars that are cheap and easy to get hold of, easy to modify or upgrade from the parts bin and still utilitarian?
The Cinquecento is probably one of the best of the bunch. 899cc so cheap to insure, Sporting parts bin upgrades and more from the family tree. Can be picked up from £50 to £300 on the road and tunable. There are a couple of t-jet Cinquecento and Seicento projects terrorising exotica. Obviously there are more options like the VW Lupo but you have VAG insurance and the pretentious Dub Scene to deal with. Suzuki Alto are a pain to find parts, Ignis is too new, Swift too big. Citroën C 1,2,3 are all terrible compared to the old Saxo but good luck finding a decent base model one of those and the pandemic of VTR/VTS/V6 powered Saxo's that are "Still 1.1 on da log book innit bruv" should all com with a free barge pole. 107's are coffins, CityRover's can't handle the power they have let alone tuning or transplants. That's just about it.
Don't get me wrong for a rushed job the BMW MINI isn't all that bad. It weighed more than the Neon 1.6 engine could handle, as big as an Astra outside but smaller than a Corsa inside, poorly engineered but a good marketing exercise. Apart from that it was a welcome alternative to hum drum euroboxes of the period and gave the "it" crowd something that wasn't French to break down in.
Now you can get a BMW MINI for a lot less than a real Mini it almost makes sense but any bargain BMW is potentially a bottomless pit and the MINI is no exception to that rule.
So if this Cinquecento is going to a homage to what the Mini used to be it will have to stay 899cc for now.
You can almost feel the Pooooooowwwwwweeeeerrrr!
...wer
...wer
...wer
Okay the boot isn't that big.
These...
...will have to go for a start.
So what's the plan?
Two of my nephews are seventeen next year so I'm going to get them involved and show them a few tricks I've learned over the years.
There are a few repairs one would expect from a twenty two year old Fiat, sort the suspension, buckets, harnesses and cage.
All in time for a charity track day November 18th (if I can get the time off work) and auctioned of for the same charity just in time for Christmas.
I'm keeping the 899cc engine standard as just like a Mini you do all the other upgrades first and then make it go quicker.
If the car doesn't sell I have a 1242cc Punto 60S and 75 (866) cam' in my shed for a potential (sort of stage one) transplant later.
