General Early Seicento Abarth- Good buy or Goodbye!

[Steve70]

Hi all, I've found a very early (Aug 1998 'S' reg) Seicento Abarth. It's a local car with 4 previous owners, all the handbooks, full set of keys and a decent amount of history. The car has only done around 50k but the service records show it's had two head-off episodes for the gasket in that mileage and at least one skim. I'm not sure if that's a worry. Apparently the car runs fine. Also the timing belt was done at 30k but that was back in 2003. Does that mean a new one is due, purely on grounds of age rather than mileage?

Are early cars like this worth preserving? It has the early style dash pod with a vertical fuel gauge on the left and clock on the right, which I've only seen on 'R' and a few 'S' reg Seicentos.

Thanks for any advice!
Steve

 

[Chrisoleil]

I bought a low mileage cinquecento soleil (34k) and now it's on 46k.

Be prepared to replace everything very quickly! I used it daily for about 10 months, did around 8k miles and in that I replaced:

Rear arms inc brake lines and bushes (knocking)
New suspension
Thermostat
Alternator seized
Engine mounts (started knocking)
Water pump
Wiper arms seized
Full service inc discs and pads
Roof and motor

Currently needs exhaust which has started blowing, clutch replacement that's starting to go too and will need wheel bearings too!

It's nice having a low mileage, rust free example but as it's never been driven, most of the parts are all 15+ years old and still original!

But mine is one of 79 left in the UK so I'm happy to spend the money on it!

I wouldn't buy a low mileage one again!

 

[Steve70]

Yikes, that sounds a lot but, as you say, these cars are thinning out now and well worth preserving. If we don't do it, who will?

If I was to go for the Seicento I'm interested in I'm under no illusions I'd be in for an easy ride (in any sense of the word). I've only seen photos of the car so far, so until I can get out and under it to see what state the underside is in I won't know whether it's something I fancy taking on. There can't be many S reg Abarths around I would have thought. That's the sort of anoraky thing that appeals to me unfortunately!

Steve

 

[Paul106xsi]

The cam belts aren't a massive job & can be picked up fairly cheaply. Also the FIRE engine in these is a non interference engine, so if the belt does go it won't hit the valves so won't cause any damage.

 

[Steve70]

Thanks Paul, that's well worth knowing. Hopefully I'll have the chance to see the car this week and make a decision....

Steve

 

[jondewar]

I say buy it. these cars are getting rare now and need new caring owners to keep them on the road
All the parts are available and they are pretty easy to work on

 

[dadandlad]

I would say buy it if the price is right
Bought my Schumacher a couple of weeks ago with the long term view in mind, yes it needs work but they are very basic and parts are cheap

Just look at the prices of 500s and 126s compared to a few years ago

 

[Steve70]

I was beaten to it unfortunately! Someone else got lucky. The reg number of the car was interesting: S131CTO , which is a correct Nottingham area number for a 1998 car but which also sort of looks like Seicento... kind of... if you squint a bit.

I'm very aware that we'll be looking back on this as a bit of a golden age just now, as Seicentos, even the Sporting variants, are just budget bangers to Joe Public. A quick trawl of Ebay or Gumtree and you are literally spoilt for choice. If I had a barn I'd be filling it right now! Small cars always seem destined to become collectable, especially those with a bit of character. I'm surprised Practical Classics mag haven't picked up on Cinqs or Seicentos yet, as they are generally quite good at highlighting future classics. Maybe we should be thankful they haven't!

Steve