Pocket Rocket* Part-ex.

[KruJoe]

Edit:

 

[ Thread previously entitled: "Seicento Sporting*" ]

 

----------------------------------------------------------------

 

"OMG MODERN etc etc."
Yeah I know. Whatever. It's for my Mrs, ok?
 
Work on the "Offensive Wreck" (Justy) for her has come to a standstill because I have too much employment to give it any attention. That's unlikely to get touched until October. It will happen though.
She doesn't really like the R8 216, it's starting to look very scruffy, and it's bigger than we need now the "Pleasure Wagon" (Estima) is the daily, and its test is due in August.
 
She deserves something smart-ish to potter around in locally, something cheap and cheerful, and easy to park.
As a bonus, I'd like to be fun to go off for a quick bez in. Nothing can beat the feeling of wringing every ounce of go from a slightly underpowered, chuckable little rollerskate. I'm thinking old Mini, early bubble Micra, Lancia Y10, and so on.
I miss that sensation now I'm chugging around all day in the lumbering veg bus.
The Sporting* seems to fit that mould nicely. 
 
I've kept my eyes peeled for a good K11 Micra for quite a while, and nice ones are surprisingly rare, especially in a good bright hue. (Madame loves cute-looking cars in a colour that "pops").
 
Yesterday I searched ebay motors for "Yellow" and found one like this, they've now dropped to within a shiter's budget: 
 

 
She said "I like the colour. And it's cute!"
 
So opening bids are in. (Hands off you lot!)
 
Mike Rutherford raves about it here:
 

 
What can you lot tell me that Google can't?
 
Cheers!

[320touring]

I'd say that a Clio would be a better bet- NCAP rating of better than a packet of Walkers..

 

that said as I understand it, these lil gems have good handling, frugal consumption, and possibly a non interference engine?

[Jikovron]

These are amazingly jack russel like ...not my kind of car at all but certainly they embody the italian experience of 7500rpm pull and no actually rev limiter that i remember ..direct steering and a responsive taut (due to the law of size to volume cubing) chassis rigidity etc

 

Oddly into the mix they are actually quite quick to 60 rather than simply sounding effective as the gear ratios drop the engine bang into the start of the power band which lasts over 4500rpm !

50mpg potential and the ability to HOON like a mentalist is attractive..less so if it all goes wrong however a tree would rain down on any cars chips imo

[Luxxo Waftybarger]

Suzuki Ignis Sport would get my bet.

[sierraman]

You feel frighteningly vulnerable in one. As people have said its awful in an accident.

[Sloth in a bowl]

When I got the Pride, these where on my short list, but I didn't see one cheap enough that was in good condition.

I'd love to have a go in one though. Small buzzy cars are my current thing.

[Timewaster]

Can't forgive it for being the Chinky Chentos uglier replacement.

[Inspector Morose]

Clutch cables go with amazing regularity. Some rot to fuck but some don't. Check for rot in the boot sides and the inner sills at the back and lower seat belt mounts. If they've rotted there, it's a bad 'un. Other than that, they're great fun in a dinky kind of way, with the little rev counter pod on the dash and they do handle well for what they are. Not fast by any means but are a fun little thing that's frugal on the juice and kind to the insurance budget.

I've had five in various forms. I quite like them!

[HH-R]

I made a post but it seems to have disappeared. They're loads of fun but watch for HGF. clutch cables can snap and fuel tanks rust. They were always niggly so time won't have been kind. Would though, always fancied one.

[skattrd]

I know nothing about these, but some people like them. Me, I like Daihatsu, so i say get the Mrs a nice little Daihatsu. Sirions are a good steer, the 1.3 has 100bhp and weighs very little, quite a few have aircon as well. DW & Billy enjoyed the smaller engined one, or if you want to go really little there's the Cuore/Mira. Now if you want to talk kei that's a bit more pricey, but lots of fun, especially if you get a turbo nutter 4wd one.

[pompei]

Never had one but ex Mrs P had a Cinquecento Sporting which was great fun.  It had 54 bhp in the day so I'd wager one today would have considerably less, so don't expect any high speed thrills.  Still would.

[KruJoe]

Thanks for that input, folks.

 

  On 04/07/2015 at 18:53, Jikovron said:

HOON

That is the plan For me, anyway. Mrs_KJ will be happy to potter about in it, if she finds it easy to drive.

 

 

  On 04/07/2015 at 21:36, FPB7 said:

[useful stuff]

Thank you Andy, that's the sort of thing I need to be reading.

[KruJoe]

  On 04/07/2015 at 18:05, 320touring said:

Clio

 

Mustard mitt, if it was the colour of the background Megane, it'd be a serious contender. But doom blue FTL.

I only had the earliest Clios on my radar, but nice ones are RARE now. Since the first facelift, they've grown increasingly fat and ugly.

 

 

  On 04/07/2015 at 19:45, Luxxo Waftybarger said:

Suzuki Ignis Sport

Not a bad call, they have a bit of a cult following, don't they? Not exactly common though, and I doubt a good one would be cheap. And I'd be thinking I should have a "4-Grip" model.

 

 

  On 04/07/2015 at 21:49, skattrd said:

Daihatsus

Yes, I have a soft spot for them too. And they have the "cute" factor.

I've driven both DW's (Yellow!) Mutley Sirion 3-pot, and a Cuore Avanzato TR-XX R4 turbo nutter 4wd Kei thingy. Loved them both. Maybe one day I'll have one, but this project is supposed to be a stop-gap only, I'm trying to make my busy life easier for a few months whilst I get my shit together, so I'm not after anything particularly special.

 

 

[320touring]

the best thing about clios is the 172 can be had for under a grand and they Go Like Fuck!

[Cavcraft]

Great fun. A modern* car that feels like it has a sort of passion behind it, typical Italian stuff. They seem to suffer from HGF a bit and can rot like you'd expect of an old FIAT, but they're definitely worth owning. 

 

*Edit: but not as nice as a doom blue Clio.

[nigel bickle]

I have its predecessor. Yellow, natch..

 

It's needed nowt, is seemingly reliable, fun to drive, cheap as chips. Depreciation free, too.

 

If you can live with the perceived vulnerability , go for it.

 

What could possibly go wrong?

[25v6turbo]

I,ve always liked these,this is the one to get i,ve read.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-Seicento-Sporting-Michael-Schumacher-Limited-Edition-/161748476099?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item25a8f5e0c3

I think you can get one with a webasto aswell.

[Cheggers]

Darling daughter has the (distinctly) non-sporting version, and it's been a cracking little car. It's very economical, has been 100% reliable, she's not died colliding with crisp packets and it's a hoot to blezz about in (providing you're in no great hurry). We were lucky and got a non-rusting one

[M'coli]

Do these suffer from the Fiat red & blue keys of doom?

[Lacquer Peel]

Expensive, but cute, yellow and veg-friendly.

 

 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volkswagen-Lupo-1-7SDI-2001MY-S-/171831914422

[skattrd]

 I'll just leave this here:

 

[C1am]

Why in the M&M video, does it show the Zaphorozhets 965? Absolutely nothing to do with the Fiat 500. 

[The Moog]

My mum had one and passed it on free to my aunty. She put 50k on it.

 

Handling was fun, loved to be thrashed. It was the normal one so seats were shit. Put sporting ones in which had side bolsters.

 

Main issue was clutch cable. Had 3 in that time. In the end my uncle cut an access panel in pass side dash which meant it could be changed a lot easier.

[burraston2006]

Looking at getting one for the daughter. Spotted a cheapish Schumacher in yellow that I thought was ideal. Group 9 insurance. FRO!

[KruJoe]

  On 05/07/2015 at 07:28, Lacquer Peel said:

Expensive, but cute, yellow and veg-friendly.

Good shout! (If it were half the price). I did have a cheap yellow Lupo (1.0 pez) in my watch list, but predictably it needed some springs re-fitting, and then it went to silly money.

 

 

  On 05/07/2015 at 07:37, skattrd said:

I'll just leave this here:

 [sexy, quick Sirion]

Ooh, tempting! Chris you're a bugger. Lucky it's too far away - for reasons of arsedness, the search is limited to Northern England.

 

 

  On 05/07/2015 at 06:28, 25v6turbo said:

I,ve always liked these,this is the one to get i,ve read.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-Seicento-Sporting-Michael-Schumacher-Limited-Edition-/161748476099?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item25a8f5e0c3

I think you can get one with a webasto aswell.

I don't think the Schumi ones were anything more special than the cooking Sporting*, other than the added plastic tat. And an extra couple hundred on the price tag.

 

AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR DAT!

[Luxxo Waftybarger]

I suggested a Suzuki Ignis Sport it has a better chance of keepin up with dual carriageway traffic than the chinkwijento.

 

I once had four blokes in a Cinqy plus each of their surfboards on the roof. Got up to near 70 on the motorway, when the wind resistance ripped the whole roofrack off the car, fastenings and all. By some miracle it didn't kill anyone, landing in the central reservation in a pile of splintered fibreglass and twisted metal.

 

With everyone hunched over and all the windows open we managed to fit the whole lot in the car and drove on until a friendly plod pulled us over and demanded we seek alternative transport.

 

Still made it to the best ever waves at Black Middens in living memory after a rescue from a mate in a Pug 205, not much more space!

 

Drove the thing with holes in the roof for another year until HGF.

[HH-R]

A mk3 Panda 1.2 is probably a better bet than a Seicento nowadays - older ones are cheap now, group one insurance, feels nippy up to about 50 and are fun to chuck about. They cope OK with motorways once up to speed. They're prob a bit quicker than the 1.1 and the HGF issues were fixed by then, no snapping clutch cables or rusty fuel tanks. They're not much bigger but a lot more usable with a glovebox instead of a hole, OK sized boot, 5 doors. Less likely to have horrible injuries in a crash as well.

 

Not available in Broom Yellow though which was an huge mistake.

 

Is the rumour about the Cinq/Sei rear window smashing if you shut the boot from one side only KORRECT or B0ll0X?

[ChinaTom]

The 54bhp engine isn't that embarrassing. I drove ours from Norfolk to Hamilton in one go when we moved and it sat at 85 on the M6 with no bother. A bit loud at those speeds though. Constant mid 50's mpg, even in town. Problems I've had:

 

rusty sump. £65

dodgy connector for the cooling fan - ran with the temp light on and the gurgling noise for about 15 minutes without any repercussions. 

understeer turns to oversteer without any warning whatsoever, but only when being silly.

boot hatch is the loudest noise in the area when opening and closing

magnetic L Plates slide up the bonnet

I don't get to drive it enough

 

Ensure it has had a replacement fuel tank - this was a recall due to leaking

 

There is a knack to the gear change. The gentler you are with first and fifth, the easier it is. 

 

the 1.1 is a non-interference engine.

 

Impressive van with the seats down too.

[KruJoe]

Ha ha, that's a good story Luxxo!

I doubt we'll be dicing with death on dual carriageways very much - those who attended Shitefest 2013 will know the kind of roads we have around here in The Yorkshire Dales. Just getting to a trunk road is a journey in itself!

Local pottering and minor B/C roads hoonage only for this one.

 

For carting stuff about, Pleasure Wagon FTW.

Plus if clutch cables or HG fails, I can lift it into the back to fix at home!

[HH-R]

I always preferred the look of the Cinq, but they're pretty rare now, and any left attract the "L@@K RARE INBETWEEENERS LOL" tax.