General Looking for a fun 2nd car (£5k max) to drive around Yorkshire Dales in at the weekends. Talk me out of an old high mileage 2011-ish Fiat 500 TwinAir!

[DutchWheels]

Get an Abarth, you won't be able to wipe the smile off your face.

There seems to be a lot of love for the Abarth so will be taking a look to see what options are available for my budget. I've always seen them about and thought they looked pretty nifty, but more obviously targeted towards much younger drives rather than me in my 40's. Beyond giving a monkeys about that though

If it was my money and I wanted something to enjoy around the dales and moors I would spend it on the best Renaultsport Clio 197 I could find.

Another one for the list, thanks!

After all this I'll probably just end up with a nice safe 500 1.2 At the end of the day it'll still be more fun to drive than the big Skoda family car we have.

The most fun bike I owned was a Royal Enfield Himalayan 400cc which could only reach 70mph on a hill on a good day, but it had that all intangible 'character' that gets referred to so often. From what I've read all 500's have that to some degree.

I'll try get some test drives in over the next couple of weeks on a few things and see where I end up!

 

[DutchWheels]

The caveat is you absolutely must have somewhere dry to keep it.

Unfortunately that's a deal breaker for me - whatever I get will just sit on the driveway all year round. It makes me worry a bit about even looking at 500c's or soft-tops of any type, but that's what Duck Tape's for right?

I'm not so sure classic cars will be a good investment going forwards, much as I love classics and have owned many over the years, we're moving towards EVs now...

What a reply (not just this quoted bit obviously, the whole post!), lots of fantastic insight and opinions there! Thanks @mj2k. I do agree, but it all depends onthe car and it's desirability and collectability. Either way, if something is on it's way to becoming desirable or collectible at the moment it's probably out of my budget already unfortunately.

 

[A3jeroen]

Get an Abarth, you won't be able to wipe the smile off your face.

I can absolutely second that! Panda 100HP put a smile on my face for nearly 8 years but with my Abarth the smile is even bigger.

gr J

 

[vexorg]

There are some pretty low expectations here about what a weekend fun car should be. The Z4 has been the only sensible option suggested so far.

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

Unfortunately that's a deal breaker for me - whatever I get will just sit on the driveway all year round. It makes me worry a bit about even looking at 500c's or soft-tops of any type, but that's what Duck Tape's for right?

I wouldn't write off the 500C if you clean the roof and apply water repellant regularly. It's a tough fabric and a top cover will keep the worst of the weather off - or even a full cover.

 

[mj2k]

There are some pretty low expectations here about what a weekend fun car should be. The Z4 has been the only sensible option suggested so far.

Personally I'd have said the Z4 is a pretty low expectation compared with a tuned Legacy, an MX5 or e.g. a TVR Chimera

Depends what you're after tbh, plenty of fun to be had even at relatively low speed with a small, good-looking open top car, as long as the handling's up to it and you have a few nice sunny days. Some of my finest driving memories were of driving through fields of blooming crops and lush grass, taking in all the sights, sun shining down, at well under the national speed limit. Going faster isn't really an advantage in those situations, just means you'll miss stuff and end up with hair like this:

 

[mj2k]

I wouldn't write off the 500C if you clean the roof and apply water repellant regularly. It's a tough fabric and a top cover will keep the worst of the weather off - or even a full cover.

Seconded. I used to use my Pug 306 cabriolets all year round (the heating was plenty good enough for the job) and as long as they're covered when not in use and you look after the soft top properly they'll be fine IMO.

 

[jrkitching]

Talk me out of an old high mileage 2011-ish Fiat 500 TwinAir!

Look no further than this post just in.

This isn't the kind of experience most folks would want to have after just spending that sort of money.

There are some pretty low expectations here about what a weekend fun car should be. The Z4 has been the only sensible option suggested so far.

Those expectations have to take into account that the OP has a budget of £5000 for the initial purchase and a limit of c£500 pa on unscheduled repairs. That, sadly, is going to rule out a lot of what you might consider to be a 'weekend fun car'.

But as others have said, it doesn't have to be fast or expensive to put a smile on your face.

 

[mj2k]

But as others have said, it doesn't have to be fast or expensive to put a smile on your face.

Just as long as it's got room for you, your significant other(s) and a picnic basket, and puts a smile on your face when you look at it and drive it, it's a perfect weekend car no matter how much power it's got. Well, unless you like track days, in which case you're looking for a completely different kind of car.

 

[mj2k]

There seems to be a lot of love for the Abarth so will be taking a look to see what options are available for my budget. I've always seen them about and thought they looked pretty nifty, but more obviously targeted towards much younger drives rather than me in my 40's. Beyond giving a monkeys about that though

I think quite a few of us Abarth owners are older than you then

Nicest things about them are they have a lovely exhaust note, feel nicely chuckable as long as the suspension's in good condition (no reason you can't fit Abarth springs / shocks / wheels / brakes to a standard 500 btw if that's your 'thing'), and have an endearingly frantic feel about them. Mine's pretty much as I want it now, it's a 160bhp model but that's more than enough for the sort of roads I drive down, believe it or not far more enjoyable than the 350+bhp (500 potential when fully run in) Subaru I'd just finished building before I got it; pointless having all those horses if they gallop you straight into a ditch when you put your foot down.

Having said that and though mine's got the sunroof, I'll probably miss having a ragtop once we have some nice, sunny summer days.

 

[A3jeroen]

@mj2k: Do you have the sliding roof? 'D love to have that on my grey little mouse.

BTW I'm a 58 year old granddad and love the Abarth. Overhere you wouldn't be able to buy one under € 10.000, but I don't know prices in the UK.

gr J

 

[vexorg]

Personally I'd have said the Z4 is a pretty low expectation compared with a tuned Legacy, an MX5 or e.g. a TVR Chimera

Legacy, it's that an old man car now?
MX5 are silly money for a decent one.
TVR only if you feel suicidal.

I wouldn't buy a z4 (not a bmw fan), but it's a two seater, convertible, rear wheel drive and a bit of poke for twisty roads.

 

[Goudrons]

I had an Abarth and I was in my early 50's.

I had a 165hp Turismo and fitted the Dual Record Monza exhaust, it sounded awesome, proper annoying!
It went really quick as well.
Quick as in I only had it a few months before some scumbag stole it, something a lot of owners complain of. I think there's a Facebook group for stolen owners and it grows by the day.

They do drive rather well, the later models (165 and 180hp) with the bigger Garrett turbos even better. They are proper rockets that can worry some seriously expensive metal.
Check out the Youtube vid "Porsche gt3 vs Fiat 500 Abarth", ok it's reckless but it does make me smile.


But don't bank on passing many or any petrol stations, they still have a same tiny 35 litre fuel tank as the normal 500 and if you drive one with some spirit, it doesn't take long before the low fuel light is winking at you.
It really got my goat squirting 98 ron in it all the time, sometime a couple of times a day.

 

[mj2k]

Legacy, it's that an old man car now?

Ohh, definitely, this was my 350+bhp old man's car:

Not as much fun as the Abarth though...

Though I do take your point for later cars, pretty much anything imported by Subaru UK after 2007 should come with a trilby hat / walking stick holder and a voucher for getting a free cup of tea at your local gardening centre

 

[vexorg]

I cant take any car seriously that have STI as their main selling mark.

 

[mj2k]

I cant take any car seriously that have STI as their main selling mark.

Back in the late 80s I had an NSU and had great fun talking about it's W@nkel engine with a straight face, so anything after that seems relatively sensible...

But I digress, neither Fiat related nor anything directly to do with @DutchWheels 's query, main point is you don't need gigantic levels of horsepower to have fun, and sometimes less is more, so to speak

 

[mj2k]

@mj2k: Do you have the sliding roof? 'D love to have that on my grey little mouse.

BTW I'm a 58 year old granddad and love the Abarth. Overhere you wouldn't be able to buy one under € 10.000, but I don't know prices in the UK.

gr J

It's a nice piece of kit and is invisible on a black car (I didn't realize I'd got a sunroof until the car arrived!) but it does affect headroom, hence why I've had so much fun accommodating my rather tall other half

 

[A3jeroen]

But is it the sliding one?
And I am 1.80 m. mrs Jeroen 1.65 m. so that wouldn't be a problem regarding headroom.
Although I am always worried about leaking and/or malfunction.
But it opens a lot of roof. Half as much as the convertible I think.

gr J

 

[mj2k]

But is it the sliding one?
And I am 1.80 m. mrs Jeroen 1.65 m. so that wouldn't be a problem regarding headroom.
Although I am always worried about leaking and/or malfunction.
But it opens a lot of roof. Half as much as the convertible I think.

gr J

It does indeed, but I'd say only a little more than a standard sunroof on any car, despite the external size. Doesn't seem to leak or malfunction on mine at least, but though it's a very clever and impressive piece of tech, a proper soft top would allow in a lot more sunlight.

 

[DutchWheels]

Thanks for all the suggestions and wonderful advice everyone. It's given me plenty to look into and think about.

The current plan is this - I think I'm going to play it safe, stick to the budget (which is a first for me!) and find a well looked after, low owner, full service history 500c 1.2, Lounge or Sport hopefully, but not adverse to a nice simple Pop even. There seem to be a decent-ish selection of all those at the moment from £4-5k, 2013-ish with 50-60k miles.

It won't be as exciting to drive as an Abarth but it'll be more than fun for me (50-60mph is plenty on some nice twist roads) driving around and sticking the dog on the back seat sometimes (harnessed in obviously) to take him on some nice walks. And the kids might even enjoy coming for the odd drive with the top down.

Just wish I'd looked a year or so ago when prices were much cheaper but c'est la vie

Part of me feels a 500c might be a little optimistic for 90% of the year here in the UK but I bet it's lovely when the sun's actually out and it's warm enough!

So @anyone who has experience with a 500c following this thread - what's the turbulence and cabin wind noise like at speeds above 40mph with the top down? I've seen mixed reports and a few videos online that say it's actually pretty horrible at anything more than city speeds, but other posts that say with the little front roof spoiler thing popped up it's not bad at all. Anyone got any additional tips or anecdotes to share on this? Anyone regret getting a 500c and just wish they'd gone a for a regular hatchback?

I had a 2018 Suzuki Vitara with a fully opening panoramic sunroof for a bit and when that was open is was actually pretty distracting and horribly loud in the car - so much so that I didn't really use it unless the car was static. I'd hate for that to be the case with the 500c! But if it is, so be it, there's an even wider selection of lovely looking well maintained hatchback 500s out there to choose from!