Tuning Fairly fast Fiat 500's

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Tuning Fairly fast Fiat 500's

With some older cars Peter, enhancing their performance can make them safer and less stressfull to drive in modern traffic. The 500 wasn't considered a 'quick' car when it was new, so giving it just a bit more 'poke' can be adventageous. Beyond that, I can't give a sensible, inteligent answer.
In my case, having worked on 'the real McCoy' when I was a young mechanic made me WANT to build a replica '695'. People put bigger (and different) engines than 695cc into the 500, but as far as I am concerned, I set out to 'build an "Abarth 695SS". I shall go no bigger than '695' and tune it no more than Abarth would have done back in the day.
I would love to drive yours or a similar machine and find out for myself if faster is better. All I know is that for normal use, 594cc is plenty. [emoji3]
 
Peter, I live just inside North Wales, about 3 miles from the centre of Chester. If you are ever in this neck of the woods, I will happily throw you the keys of my 500 and let you have adrive of it.
 
Peter, I live just inside North Wales, about 3 miles from the centre of Chester. If you are ever in this neck of the woods, I will happily throw you the keys of my 500 and let you have adrive of it.

Thank-you Tom, I think you might regret that offer some day. ;) If I ever take you up on it, meagre compensation I know, but I'll let you drive Murf, but you'll never catch up with me. ;)
 
I ask anyone who has modified their car in order to make go faster, "Why didn't you buy one which was designed that way from the start?"
Your answer might explain what inspired the creation of those crazy machines.

I am not sure about the “crazy machines” but I guess these guys do it because they can plus they have the cash and know how. Some are impressive feats of engineering. One of the interesting ones I saw was a Bedford HA van (Vauxhall Viva shape) at Shelshy Walsh hill climb track. Looked mildly scruffy and totally standard complete with a tiny false exhaust but the guy had hidden a V8 engine in there and the wide wheels were taken inboard as part of the disguise. Must have been a hoot at the traffic lights :)
For my part I drove a number of 500s and 126s when I could just about afford to keep a car on the road so expensive tuning parts were out of the question. With the kids grown up and flown the coupe the position changed so I started to dabble and I do have to say it has been a mixture of fun and frustration as I am sure other forum members will bear out, agony and ecstasy. My plans though have always stayed within the recognised parameters of what you can do with a 2 cylinder Fiat engine with a firm eye on tradition.
 
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