Cinquecento Little red.

[rmjbn1]

Yes, there's something very appealing about the standard cinq. Simple, honest and fun
I love my 169 Panda, but I think really I secretly prefer the Cinquecento.
Can I ask what it is you like about about the 899 over the sporting? And what's it like keeping on top of the rust?

 

[Terry899]

Yes, there's something very appealing about the standard cinq. Simple, honest and fun
I love my 169 Panda, but I think really I secretly prefer the Cinquecento.
Can I ask what it is you like about about the 899 over the sporting? And what's it like keeping on top of the rust?

Pretty much no rust. I think the old 899 is a tough old thing. No Campbelt to bother about and it reminds me of the first uno I had with basically the same engine. The sporting is waiting for me to do the headgasket and needs money I haven't got spending on it, so it's "resting" in dry storage for now, unless someone really wants it as a project, I'll fix it one day.

 

[FiatMatt94]

My recently acquired Seicento has the old 899cc lump which is quite a rarity nowadays & I absolutely love it as it's basic & as you say no cambelt to worry about, I've had to clean up surface rust on the rear end but other than that she's all good, even the bumper brackets are there & intact as for the rear arches as well so I've rust proofed the entire underside to protect her as she's my daily driver & they're only original one

 

[rmjbn1]

Thanks, good to know

I knew they were galvanised, so I was a bit surprised to see so much mention of extensive rear rot on them.

Maybe those are just the ones that were parked on grass for 20+ years

Plus reports of head gasket and ignition issues.

I guess the trick is find one that hasn't been neglected and keep it that way.

I like my cars fitted with extra simplicity Chain cam I feel would suit my fairly low annual mileage. And I don't ever want power steering again.

I'd really like a Soleil but might have to temper expectations with reality a bit.

 

[FiatMatt94]

Thanks, good to know

I knew they were galvanised, so I was a bit surprised to see so much mention of extensive rear rot on them.

Maybe those are just the ones that were parked on grass for 20+ years

Plus reports of head gasket and ignition issues.

I guess the trick is find one that hasn't been neglected and keep it that way.

I like my cars fitted with extra simplicity Chain cam I feel would suit my fairly low annual mileage. And I don't ever want power steering again.

I'd really like a Soleil but might have to temper expectations with reality a bit.

The body panels were galvanized, I don't think the floors were though, although it's not the main floors themselves that tend to rot too much, its the rear end as in arches, rear legs, rear bumper brackets & back of the boot floor or the front footwells can get wet when the sunroof drainage gets clogged up, mine has 2 very small amount of bubbling to deal with inside the boot floor & that's it as I've done everything else, I think it's been caused by the rear lights seals leaking as I discovered yesterday & I know the 2 bubbly bits are only on the inside & have not gone through as I've gone right through the underside & done everything to prevent future corrosion as I want to keep it as original as I can as it is a very tidy original car that's never been welded & with just under 23k on the clock, although mine has power steering it's a very simple system with just a motor & ECU without the city mode & if it ever goes wrong I'll just convert it to a column out of an S model that didn't have power steering so I have normal proper steering