The
Fiat Cinquecento was a
city carA city car is a small, moderately powered automobile intended for use in urban areas.It is comparable in size and features to a neighborhood electric vehicle , has four seats, and is typically long. These cars have been sold in Europe since the 1960s, and now are an official car classification....
designed by
Giorgetto GiugiaroGiorgetto Giugiaro is an Italian automobile designer responsible equally for a stable of supercars and several of the most popular everyday vehicles driven today...
of Ital Design, launched by
FiatFiat S.p.A., an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial and industrial group based in Turin in the Piedmont region. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli. Fiat has also...
in late 1991 to replace the
Fiat 126The Fiat 126 is a city car introduced in October 1972 at Turin Motor Show as a replacement for the Fiat 500. Most were produced in Poland as the Polski Fiat 126p until 2000...
. It was the first Fiat model to be solely manufactured in the
FSMThe Fabryka Samochodów Małolitrażowych was Polish automobile factory born from an agreement between the FSO and Fiat in 1970s for the construction of a new model, the Polski Fiat 126p, Polish version of Fiat 126. For the project a new manufacturing plant was opened in Tychy...
plant in
TychyTychy is a city in Silesia, Poland, approximately 20 kilometres south of Katowice. Situated on the southern edge of the Upper Silesian industrial district, the city borders Katowice to the north, Mikołów to the west, Bieruń to the east and Kobiór to the south...
,
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, which had been sold to Fiat by the Polish state, and where production of the Polish variant of the
Fiat 126The Fiat 126 is a city car introduced in October 1972 at Turin Motor Show as a replacement for the Fiat 500. Most were produced in Poland as the Polski Fiat 126p until 2000...
, the Polski Fiat 126p, was still running. Production of the Cinquecento ended in 1998, when it was replaced by the
SeicentoThe Fiat Seicento is a city car produced by the Italian company Fiat, introduced in late 1997 as a replacement for the Fiat Cinquecento. The Seicento did not differ much from its predecessor, retaining the same engines, chassis and general dimensions, although it did gain a minor 9 cm in length...
.
The
Fiat Cinquecento was a
city carA city car is a small, moderately powered automobile intended for use in urban areas.It is comparable in size and features to a neighborhood electric vehicle , has four seats, and is typically long. These cars have been sold in Europe since the 1960s, and now are an official car classification....
designed by
Giorgetto GiugiaroGiorgetto Giugiaro is an Italian automobile designer responsible equally for a stable of supercars and several of the most popular everyday vehicles driven today...
of Ital Design, launched by
FiatFiat S.p.A., an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial and industrial group based in Turin in the Piedmont region. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli. Fiat has also...
in late 1991 to replace the
Fiat 126The Fiat 126 is a city car introduced in October 1972 at Turin Motor Show as a replacement for the Fiat 500. Most were produced in Poland as the Polski Fiat 126p until 2000...
. It was the first Fiat model to be solely manufactured in the
FSMThe Fabryka Samochodów Małolitrażowych was Polish automobile factory born from an agreement between the FSO and Fiat in 1970s for the construction of a new model, the Polski Fiat 126p, Polish version of Fiat 126. For the project a new manufacturing plant was opened in Tychy...
plant in
TychyTychy is a city in Silesia, Poland, approximately 20 kilometres south of Katowice. Situated on the southern edge of the Upper Silesian industrial district, the city borders Katowice to the north, Mikołów to the west, Bieruń to the east and Kobiór to the south...
,
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, which had been sold to Fiat by the Polish state, and where production of the Polish variant of the
Fiat 126The Fiat 126 is a city car introduced in October 1972 at Turin Motor Show as a replacement for the Fiat 500. Most were produced in Poland as the Polski Fiat 126p until 2000...
, the Polski Fiat 126p, was still running. Production of the Cinquecento ended in 1998, when it was replaced by the
SeicentoThe Fiat Seicento is a city car produced by the Italian company Fiat, introduced in late 1997 as a replacement for the Fiat Cinquecento. The Seicento did not differ much from its predecessor, retaining the same engines, chassis and general dimensions, although it did gain a minor 9 cm in length...
. Despite its name, its lowest displacement was 704 cc.
The Cinquecento was available in one body style only, a small, angular 3-door
hatchbackHatchback is a term designating an automobile design, containing a passenger cabin with an integrated cargo space, accessed from behind the vehicle by a single, top-hinged tailgate or large flip-up window...
, with a favorable
drag coefficientIn fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment such as air or water. It is used in the drag equation, where a lower drag coefficient indicates the object will have less aerodynamic or...
of only 0.33 that bore similarities to the Lancia Y10. It featured several advances compared to older Fiat city cars, including
independent suspensionIndependent suspension is a broad term for any automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically independently of each other. This is contrasted with a beam axle, live axle or deDion axle system in which the wheels are linked - movement on one side affects...
both in the front and in the rear similar to the FIAT Tipo, front
disc brakeThe disc brake or disk brake is a device for slowing or stopping the rotation of a wheel. A brake disc , usually made of cast iron or ceramic composites , is connected to the wheel and/or the axle...
s, side impact bars along with
crumple zoneThe crumple zone of an automobile is a structural feature designed to compress during an accident to absorb energy from the impact. Typically, crumple zones are located in the front part of the vehicle, in order to absorb the impact of a head-on collision, though they may be found on other parts of...
s incorporated in the design and
galvanizedGalvanization or galvanisation refers to any of several electrochemical processes named after the Italian scientist Luigi Galvani.-Electricity:...
body panels to fend off
corrosionCorrosion is the disintegration of a material into its constituent atoms due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means a loss of electrons of metals reacting with water and oxygen. Weakening of iron due to oxidation of the iron atoms is a...
. Steering was by
rack and pinionA rack and pinion is a pair of gears which convert rotational motion into linear motion. The circular pinion engages teeth on a flat bar - the rack...
, and although
power steeringPower steering , assists the driver of an automobile in steering by directing a portion of the vehicle's power to traverse the axis of one or more of the roadwheels. On road going vehicles there has to be a mechanical linkage as a fail safe...
was never offered, the car could be ordered with a number of extras, including central locking, power windows,
sunroofAn automotive sunroof is a fixed or operable opening in an automobile roof which allows light and/or fresh air to enter the passenger compartment. Sunroofs may be manually operated or motor driven, and are available in many shapes, sizes and styles...
(or full-length retractable canvas roof in the
Soleil version) and even
air conditioningAn air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area, or provide heat to an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...
.
Engines
Unlike the rear-wheel drive 126, the Cinquecento was a
front-wheel driveFront-wheel drive is a form of engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel drive and...
car. It was initially available with two engine choices, with the 1.1 L
FIRE or "sporting" joining the lineup later. Interestingly, while the 704 cc engine was mounted
longitudinallyIn automotive engineering, a longitudinal engine is an internal combustion engine in which the crankshaft is oriented along the long axis of the vehicle, front to back....
, the bigger units were fitted
transverselyA transverse engine is an engine in which the crankshaft is oriented side-to-side relative to the length of the vehicle. This is also sometimes called an east-west engine...
, making the little Fiat one of the few cars in the world available with both configurations at the same time.
704 cc
The smallest engine, intended for sale in Poland only, was a 704 cc ohv two-cylinder unit, delivering . Cinquecento inherited this unit from the 126p BIS, an evolution of the 126p which was cancelled when the Cinquecento production started. In order to be fitted in the
front-wheel driveFront-wheel drive is a form of engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel drive and...
Cinquecento, it underwent a major refurbishment (although the engine still employed a carburettor), which resulted, among other changes, in the
crankshaftThe crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation...
revolving in the opposite direction than in the 126p BIS!
903/899 cc
The bigger engine was the 903 cc version of the veteran ohv four-cylinder engine, which saw service in many small Fiat models, starting with
Fiat 850The Fiat 850 is a small rear-engined rear wheel drive car in the tradition of the Renault Dauphine. It was produced between 1964 and 1973.-Overview:Its technical design was an evolution of the very successful Fiat 600...
. (This engine dates back to the initial 633 cc unit as introduced in the 1955 FIAT 600.) It was fitted with single point
fuel injectionFuel injection is a system for mixing fuel with air in an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in gasoline automotive engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
and was the base engine in most markets. Due to fiscal limitations, the displacement of this unit was limited to 899 cc in 1993, with a slight reduction of output, now producing . This engine is derived from that used in the Fiat 127. While it still retains OHV chain drive pushrod layout it now has hydraulic tappets. Also now uses twin coil distributorless ignition.
1.1 FIRE (Sporting)
In 1994, Fiat introduced the
Cinquecento Sporting, featuring the 1108 cc SOHC
FIREThe FIRE is a series of automobile engines from Fiat. It is constructed by robot assembly plants to reduce costs. The FIRE series replaced the old Fiat OHV engine in the mid-1980s....
engine from the entry-level
PuntoThe Fiat Punto is a supermini produced by the Italian manufacturer, Fiat, since 1993. It is currently in its third generation.-Mark 1 :...
of the same era, mated to a close-ratio gearbox. Other additions were a drop in standard ride height, anti-roll bars, 13" alloy wheels, plus colour coded bumpers and mirrors. The interior saw a tachometer added, along with sports seats, red seatbelts and a leather steering wheel and gear knob.
It is the Sporting model which gave birth to a
rallyingRallying is a form of motor competition that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars. This motorsport is distinguished by running not on a circuit, but instead in a point-to-point format in which participants and their co-drivers drive...
trophy and a
Group AIn relation to motorsport governed by the FIA, Group A referred to a set of regulations providing production-derived vehicles for outright competition. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and the Group C, the Group A referred to production-derived vehicles limited in terms of power, weight,...
Kit-Car version.
Abarth Version
Fiat SpA Company
AbarthAbarth is an Italian racing car maker founded by Italian-Austrian Karl Abarth in Turin in 1949.- History :In the 1960s, Abarth & C. S.r.l was quite successful in hillclimbing and sports car racing, mainly in classes from 850cc up to 2000cc, competing with Porsche 904 and Ferrari Dino...
introduced their very own version of the Cinquecento.
Fiat Cinquecento concepts
In the mid 1990s, a number of concept cars based on the Fiat Cinquecento were developed by a number of design houses including one that featured half of the car's interior and a
running board to place a bike. Another of these designs was the Lucciola, a proposal for a new Cinquecento by
Giorgetto GiugiaroGiorgetto Giugiaro is an Italian automobile designer responsible equally for a stable of supercars and several of the most popular everyday vehicles driven today...
. However instead of the car becoming the next small
FiatFiat S.p.A., an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial and industrial group based in Turin in the Piedmont region. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli. Fiat has also...
city car, a version of the design ended up being put into production by the
South KoreaSouth Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often simply referred to as Korea, is a country in East Asia, located on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul, the second largest...
n
Daewoo MotorsGM Daewoo Auto & Technology was first established as National Motor in 1937 in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, South Korea...
as their
MatizThe Daewoo Matiz is a city car produced by the South Korean automaker GM Daewoo that has been marketed worldwide since 1998. Available solely as a five-door hatchback with two engine configurations, and replacing the Daewoo Tico, the Matiz was originally designed by Italdesign Giugiaro and has been...
.
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