Well, I have finally managed to experience Franco's driving, first hand. Which means that I can not only review his car (the Fiat Cinquecento), but also his *ahem* skill as a driver. I'll warm up by starting with the car...
Walking along the school road, I had trouble spotting the vehicle, due to its miniscule stature. Having found it, the first thing that hit me was the question: How am I going to get in it?
Quite easily actually, with the interior being spacious with generous views out of the windows. This is due to a certain emptiness in the cabin; hell, there isn't even a proper dashboard! This is good though, as in a case of an accident, you travel through more air before hitting the windscreen. This safety feature should be standard in all cars.
Not that this car will be having any accidents, for its pilot, Franco, takes driving very seriously. Having put on his driving glasses (which, by the way Franco, exude Italian Flair), we pull out onto the road. The feeling is odd to say the least. Panoramic vision means that it feels more like a convertible than a tiny hatchback. Furthermore, the ride is actually quite good.
When Franco finally decides to slow down for the speed bump, the little Cinq copes admirably, not bottoming out or complaining at all (unlike some of our peers' cars). Out onto more open road, Franco lets rip on the accelerator, because, well, he has to. With a 0.9 litre engine doing the legwork, thrashing the life out of the thing is a prerequisite. Saying that, it picked up quickly, and never seemed lethargic around town.
A couple of minutes into the ride, I spot something not quite right about the Cinq. Now, we all know that speedometers are not very accurate, but this car is something else. The needle never really makes its mind up about what speed we are travelling at, so it jitters up and down within a range of about 5mph compared to our actual speed. Naturally, this caused me to have many a Lulz.
Anyway, by now, we're on the dual carriage way, and well, it's fine. I don't feel any sluggish performance at all, but I did have a sneaking suspicion that Franco had his right foot firmly plastered to those new car mats of his. This doesn't mean we broke the speed limit, far from it in fact.
What was bothering the car a little bit was the wind. The car having the "aerodynamics of a brick" (your words, not mine Franco), means that on open parts of road, a strong gust requires paying careful attention to the steering. Thankfully, we survive the dual carriage way and it's back to school. Doing this involves going over a particularly tight roundabout that feeds traffic back into the town. The tightness of the exit path highlighted one of the Cinq's weaknesses: cornering, or, more specifically, how its suspension copes with lateral g-forces. Which is to say, not very well. I honestly thought the car was going to tip, and I said certain things that alluded to my fear during this situation. Franco wasn't at all alarmed by this, having grown used to this leaning tendency, but hey! At least it soaks up those speedbumps and potholes nicely.
Now, this is a small car. Very small in fact, but even small cars now have power steering, except, well, this car. Parallel parking it seemed to demand a huge effort from Franco to quickly turn the steering wheel (just try to see it this way Franco, at least you'll have the arms of a body builder after a couple of years). I recall struggling to snap the wheel from one full lock to another on a power steering vehicle, so my hat goes off to Franco for managing to park the Cinq in the short time he did.
A few more things I should mention about Franco's ride: I'm pretty sure it used to be red, which, after many, many, many, many years of weather-related abuse, has made it slightly faded. I view this as a unique differentiator from other cars; it even has an interesting pattern on the bonnet. No doubt one day, Franco will allow me to paint a Fresco on the outside of it.
Franco has also told me that he has to accelerate when he starts the car up, to allow for the valves to adjust. This is very much a car that has to be driven by someone who knows what they're doing, and doesn't mind the odd little quirk, like a petrol cap that doesn't really do its job. In all fairness though, all my comments have to be put into perspective by looking at how much Franco paid for the Cinq: £220.
Ok, you can pick your jaw up from the floor now. Yep, he has a fully functioning car for the price of an iPod (or, oh I don't know... a Puss3?). Granted, it originally had a handbrake that was operating at 7% of its capacity, which had to be fixed, but still, what a bargain! Plus, he's managed to get insurance for about £1000, which for a bloke is a miracle.
Fiat Cinquecento - 9/10 A cheap runabout that just gets on with the job.
Franco - 10/10 For putting up with the Cinq's quirks, and that awful non-power steering.
