Driving our tiny £500 Fiat Cinquecento to the factory in Tychy, Poland!!!

Jim drove the mighty Cinquecento with all its 37bhp to Tychy in southern Poland, to visit the factory where it came off the production line 25 years ago. He then found the original test route for the development of the Cinquecento, and takes us round some hairpin bends along the way!
Follow us on Twitter @alsodriven or @thealso and @sionhudson.
Music by Bensound

[@Matteo_Licata]

I could listen to your anecdotes indefinitely, Jim! I remember vividly reading about Fiat's advanced small car project in the 80s, on the "Quattroruote" magazine. Fiat actually had pretty solid financials in the late 80s, posting record profits, and the Cinquecento was an ambitious clean sheet design, a lot of thought went into making it a very cheap yet competent, modern small car for the future. Its launch coincided with the resurgence of nostalgia for the classic 500, and I still remember the Fiat dealership in my town displaying restored classics alongside the new model...

[@alsodriven]

The 90s is our favourite era of Fiat as a company they had everything from the Panda, Uno, Punto to the Coupe to the V6 Croma in production

[@Lot76CARS]

Nice trip, great little adventure taking it back to Poland.. no mean feat!

[@alsodriven]

Was definitely worth the effort

[@EmyrDerfel]

8:39 Polish emergency services: "Did someone say F.I.R.E. Engine?!"

[@alsodriven]

Haha

[@mrbwa1]

Excellent travel video. People laugh when I saw I want to do a trip to Poland someday.

[@alsodriven]

It's so worth it

[@2Upon2Wheels]

Likely the first KZbin Drowning Mona reference in decades.

[@alsodriven]

We are slightly obsessed by it, there is even a T Shirt of the movie at Also Driven HQ

[@darrenwilson8042]

That hotel gave off lots of Porridge vibes - remember to be nice to Grouty

[@alsodriven]

Was actually very comfortable, clean and also kinda cool to see what 80s Poland was like

[@worldhello1234]

It is a coffin on wheels but a charming one. 😊

[@alsodriven]

So are most classic cars

[@MrBrownEscort]

Thanks Jim, I really enjoyed the video....and learnt a lot about the wee Fiat. All the best 👍

[@alsodriven]

Thank you Chris!

[@ProjektAgnetha]

Hi Jim! Hopefully next time you're in Poland my calendar will sync a bit better with yours. Loved the video, particularly the XL1 anecdote 😂

[@alsodriven]

Really want to do an AlsoCast with you and your expat!

[@ProjektAgnetha]

​@@alsodriven Definitely - should be fun! 👍

[@dominicchesterman2107]

Lovely example. Not many left in the UK now.

[@alsodriven]

They are getting rare

[@stevejames2896]

Great work there Jim, that's one of the most enjoyable and informative videos on the Cinquecento I've seen to date. Your white one is a lovely example. I own three myself, one of which is the 700cc twin cylinder Polish version which I managed to rescue intact when it was offered for breaking on ebay. Its safely tucked away awaiting work at the moment. I think it may be the only 2 cylinder Cinq in the UK, but I'm happy to be proved wrong!

[@alsodriven]

Thank you Steve, that's really kind of you to say. If your 700cc Cinquecento is not the only one it's probably one of a tiny handful Hope it sees the road again soon

[@Stallzyx]

8:48 not sure if oblivious or not but you passed one 😅

[@Stephenb033]

Fun video Jim, nice edit Sion.

[@alsodriven]

Thank you!

[@jaggass]

I wouldn't mind taking my Corolla back to where it was built which is Burniston, Derbyshire but wouldn't know how to go about it.

[@alsodriven]

Just bang in the address to the GPS and go get a picture at the factory gates!

[@pawelkpikej311]

What's creepy about the hotel Beskid you mentioned (15:00)? It's actually nice, clean, tidy and free from mould unlike English small "posh" hotels with a creaking floor and a shared bathroom! ( just an example: Totton, near Southampton ). And hotels in Poland don't have carpets in bathrooms like some English hotels. Shame you didn't show one of Polish typical houses we saw in a background when you drove your car (08:00). They are big, with solid thick walls with elevation and huge gardens. English houses are small, moulded with thin walls, tiny gardens and they are not worth even half of the price that desperate British people pay for them. However, I understand why British people build tiny houses. It's because this island is a small country and has a limited space. And one more thing. This building behind you ( 14:14 ) would still look better than British cottages, if it only has windows 🙂 Don't get me wrong, but, many Polish houses have sheds of the same size as some British houses🙂

[@terryatkinson3182]

Never really doubted it would make it 👍🙂🇮🇪

[@alsodriven]

It did have a few issues in Gdańsk

[@terryatkinson3182]

@@alsodriven we will find out in the next vid 🤔👍🇮🇪

[@toshiromifune2188]

BANZAI!..

[@icascone]

2:16 Most Polish people drive Mercedes and BMW...?? I mean great if they do, but all I could see from the background was VW, Opel and maybe Peugeout...

[@alsodriven]

Kinda said that in the video lol

[@kamilnowak623]

Agree, I'd say that most of the cars (at least in my area - eastern PL) are Toyota (current Corrollas/Yaris/Rav4), Audi & Skoda. There are also lots of those you mentioned + Hyundais, Fords and other french ones. Merc & BMW are quite common also, but not in majority.