GTP Cool Wall: 1991-1998 Fiat Cinquecento

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1991-1998 Fiat Cinquecento

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Wiegert

Wiegert

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1991-1998 Fiat Cinquecento nominated by @INEEDNAWZZZ

Fiat_Cinquecento_front_20081127.jpg


Body Style: 3-door hatchback
Engines: 704cc I2, 899cc I4, 903cc I4, 1.1L I4
Power: 31 hp (704cc), 38 hp (899cc), 39 hp (903cc), 53 hp (1.1L)
Torque: 38 ft-lbs (704cc), 49 ft-lbs (899/903cc), 63 ft-lbs (1.1L)
Weight: 675-727 kg
Transmission: 4-speed manual, 5-speed manual
Drivetrain: Front-engine, front wheel drive
Additional Information: Built to replace the ageing 126, the Cinquecento (Italian for 500) was launched in 1991 and was the first Fiat to be built solely in Poland. Despite being dubbed the 'Nuova 500' in Italy, the smallest available engine was 704cc two-cylinder, which itself was only available in Poland due to legislation. Although it was a basic vehicle, options such as power windows, a sunroof (as well as a retractable canvas top) and air conditioning were available. Despite this, power steering was never offered.

In 1994, Fiat introduced the Sporting model, with a 53 BHP, 1.1 litre engine from the then-new base model Punto, along with a close-ratio 5-speed manual gearbox. Other changes include a front anti-roll bar, dropped ride height and 13" alloy wheels. Visual changes included colour-coded bumpers and mirrors, as well as a tachometer, sporty seats, leather steering wheel and shift knob, and red seatbelts. Abarth also offered an optional package which included new bumpers, wheels and interior options, however performance remained the same. Production of the Cinquecento ended in 1998, where it was succeeded by the Seicento.​

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Italian Rover Metro. Not something I'd ever look back on with any level of affection like I would with the old Panda.

Seriously Uncool.
 
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If I don't care for the classic Fiat 500, I'm definitely not going to care for a crappy 90's hatchback with the classic name slapped on for name recognition.

Seriously Uncool.
 
Crap box. Only worthy ones of the 500 name is the very old one and the newer one. This? I'm not going to even care about it, a single damn time, period.

That said, SU by a freaking lot.
 
Easily one of the most boring designs I've seen, from a decade that had a whole lot of unfortunate creations on wheels. I'm reasonably sure even the guy that penned it forgot what it looked like after doing so.
 
I had a friend in college who bought an early Metro, basically as a joke. He saw it on Craigslist for like $500 (this was around 2009, when gas prices started crashing again) in pretty good condition, and he jumped on it as a bang around town sorta car. I unfortunately never got a chance to drive it, and it unfortunately wasn't a convertible; but I do recall how one time we were doing a run to Taco Bell and he wanted to show me something. We were going about ~60 in top gear, just cruising around. He gestured to the A/C and asked me to turn it on. And I just found it so hilarious that he had to downshift to fourth, then again to third as we approached a hill, to keep it going as fast as we were.



So I must profess that I have some bit of fascination that an admittedly smaller car from the same time period with still similar weight but potentially half the horsepower could also be had with air conditioning.
 
Cheap to run and ensure. The Sporting model is particularly interesting as it offers amateurs chance to experience essence of sporty driving for a bargain. Properly maintained 106 Rallye or S16 models are rare, so this can play the role just as good.

Reliability is not necessarily bad; as one Croatian owner said "It has nothing, so nothing can broke." :D Allegedly easy to maintain when important problems are diagnosed, parts are cheap.

Fragile construction is its weakest point, they haven't solved this on the successor Seicento either. In terms of practical city car image presents nothing special. For instance, both Twingo and Coure are miles ahead in that department, let alone safety and equipment.

Good Cinquecento is irrelevantly cheaper than the Mk1 Punto, now wonder I don't see them on streets anymore. But the Sporting model sure is sweet, shame we don't get to play with it as we could in GT2 long time ago...

SVX
Turn up to a date in one of these, you'd be laughed at.
Click to expand...
Or you would receive a turn off penalty for trying to transport anything humanoid in such fragile car. :P
 
I kind of like them (mum used to have one) in a quirky little way, and there's something oddly cool about the Sporting. Unfortunately, the hideous crash test ratings and this:

screen-shot-2011-03-11-at-14.12.48.png


...have meant it never had a chance of being cool, at least not this in decade.
 
Oh man, this one is a toughie for me.

I typically find Eastern Hemisphere subcompacts to be at least cool, due to their practicality in tight roads and the fact that my friends would laugh at this sort of car.

This, however, like Dennisch said, does have the 500 name, albeit indirectly. To me, that is a complete disgrace.

I'll cut it some slack, however. Uncool.
 
Find a canvas roof one in a Sorrentine coastal town, with dings and knocks, a missing hubcap and a slick looking Italian smoking a cigarette and tell me that's not cool?
 
I love it. Its such a fun crapbox that's so safe you can go at 90km/h and feel safe like if you were at 90km/h on top of an elephant. safe!

But I love this matchboxes of the 90's and 80's. small, square little practical things that are sub-zero
 
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Oh man this thing. A guy i know has one of these, faded black paint with pink racing stripes :D. It's hilarious. One of those cars that's so bad it's kind of charming. Cool i guess.
 
The Inbetweeners is inescapable with this one, really. It really is a monstrosity of a city car.

However, I'm saying it's only uncool because it just makes me think of the Seicento, and I'd prefer one of these over one of those pathetic deathtraps.
 
I used to have a friend who owned one of these and she sometimes gave me a lift to work. It was terrifying, like riding in a broken hairdryer. It always felt flimsy (because it was), and had too much body roll. She also wasn't the most confident driver, and although that's perhaps not the car's fault, some cars instill confidence, some take it all away...

The Seicento Sporting was just about OK, every other Cinque/Seicento (in this guise), just no. Low Uncool.
 
Give me a Cinquecento Sporting any day. I had better fun in these than in some of the cars that are considered to be good driving machines.
 
Small European cars are normally cool.
This, however is so far from cool it even looks depressed.

Nothing can save it from a Seriously Uncool eating from me.
 

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