Fiats smallest efforts are super cute, but should'nt be underestimated - check out this pair of beefy Italians....

Fiats little Cinq is one of the only small cars thats come close to rivalling in appeal, its 'wheel in corner' handling making it great fun to drive, and king of the Cinq's is the Sporting version. These come in eyecatching colours, have snazzy interiors and are equipped with smart alloys and neat seats. Unfortunately their 1,100cc engine only pumps out 55bhp, and their styling is a touch, erm, feminine.
But now Cinq Sporting owners have taken things into their own hands and some nicely tweaked Italians have started to hit the streets - and these two bright beefed up babies have a few pointers to show the way.
In fact, Mark Webber's making a living out of styling the dinky Italian. He bought this one back in 1997 to help his girlfriend Michelle get through her driving test. Two and a half years later, Michelle still has her L-plates but the Cinq is a lot different.
Mark you see runs his own glassfibre business, supplying lightweight bodyparts for anything from Formula Fords to Aussie Touring cars, and he soon got working on his Cinq. 'I hated it at first - it was a bit slow. I felt it could have done with the 1.2-litre 16-valve from the Punto Sporting. Even so, I started making a few parts and things grew from there'.
As the months went by Marks efforts took shape and the Cinq grew more stylish. First came the Front spoiler with the carbon-fibre splitter, then the rear hatch spoiler to add some bulk to the back of the car.
Boxed clever
That done, Mark turned his attention to getting a few more horses out of the 1,108cc engine, which loves to rev, goes on forever, but cries out for more power. 'I designed my own exhaust system in stainless steel', he explains. 'Its based on the Delta Integrale design, but bolts onto the standard mounts'. A superchip was installed, and then Mark went to work on the induction side of the motor, making his own carbon-fibre airbox. 'Its something we do a lot for racing cars, so I thought, why not ?'.
It looks the business and works well, using a K&N to keep the air clean and fresh. But there was one snag. 'I knew I'd have to alter the bonnet, so I made a new one in fibreglass with a bulge to clear the airbox'. A top job it is, too, with not a ripple or crease in sight.
That done, the little Cinq felt a lot more free revving, so Mark felt a brake upgrade was in order. A set of Tarox 40 groove front discs and light copetition pads were just the job.
His next dilemma was fitting different wheels under the tiny tot's arches. Fifteens were order of the day, and a set of drool-worthy Mille Miglia Spyders were high on th shopping list. Sadly a nasty arch and tyre rubbing session convinced him that for the moment at least, fifteens will have to remain on the wish list, so a substitute set of 14-inch items were bolted on, shod in sticky Fulda Rubber.
Moving on up
And that was nearly it. Except by now Mark had started making parts for other people's Cinqs and Puntos, so he started using the Cinq as more of a development tool. His next venture was carbon-fibre sill protectors, with matching centre-console trims and door handle shrouds. Very sexy they are too, and as Marks business in Cinq tweaking took off, his customers started asking for some nice bits of kit too.....
One such customer was Chris Coulton, who had bought his Cinq as his first car, but pretty soon had got into modifying it. 'I really liked it, but I was after a bigger set of wheels,' he says. 'I really wanted fifteens but everyone said they would'nt fit. Then I found a set that went straight on'.
Clothed in 195/45/15 Falken rubber, the split rim Intra's look the business. With a little rear arch hammer tweaking, Chris reports no problems so far, despite his Cinq running 35mm lower than normal on a set of Spax springs. What Chris wanted next was the genuine Abarth bodykit, 'because as standard the car looked like a shoebox'. Unfortunately his wallet said 'no'.
But an alternative soon presented itself. 'I saw this Hormann kit at Kool Motorsport, and got the whole lot, including the arch extensions for £500'.
Walshing it up ?
The next step was more radical. 'I'd seen Walshy's Golf Rallye, and really liked the bonnet. So I saw Mark and asked him to make me one in fibreglass'.
And mighty nice it looks too, giving the Cinq a touch of Golf Rallye at the sharp end. Blimey our Walshy a trend setter..... who'd have thought it, eh?
With near-empty coffers, Chris's remaining mods have been low cost - a neat carbon-fibre Fiat badge, a touch of colour coding on the brake calipers, smoked side repeaters and a Kenwood Mask CD head unit and Ashley backbox to complete the picture.
'I like it a lot now', says Chris 'but its still slow'.
Perhaps not for much longer, though. Mark has started performing 1.2-litre 16-valve conversions Punto Sporting engine transplants, and Chris is already drooling at the prospect. With a healthy 86hp as standard, we think he'd like his Cinq much more after that little lot, don't you ?

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