Cheaper than chips

More change at Clennell Motors! Can you help us find yet another doomed project vehicle?!

With fingers still very much crossed, we think we may be buying a modest house.
Somewhat luckily in the circumstances, our plans to convert our fabulous Jumbo Transit minibus into a luxury Motorsport viewing platform fell apart when our converter-in-chief suffered a bit of a breakdown, so Snakey Bus is going to be moved on, leaving us needing a back up vehicle to Mrs C's Mini Clubman Cooper S.

The brief:
May be required to teach stepson and be available to him if he passes his test, so max 1.4-litre for insurance purposes.
Manual
Budget: max £1500, ideally a grand
Slightly quirky if possible, no Matiz/Picanto/Getz

I've always liked the K11 Micra, so something like that.
Within an hour's drive of GL10 postcode, ideally.

What have you got in the cheap and cheerful bin?

Come on, it beats Christmas shopping!

Too late!
Bought a 1.0 2003 Micra with 60k for £900. Total bog standard motoring, but well looked after and cared for (same family for 10 years).
Great learner whip too!
Telling myself it's so boring it's interesting. Can hardly tell the difference from the 545i...

Darn it. I was about to suggest a 2004 Micra with 59,000 miles but I guess what you got will do.

Back to basics motoring! Thrash the nuts off it!!

Thanks Gripped, I'm looking forward to pushing the boundaries of human tolerance. But that's enough about the upholstery.

A stilo would be a decent choice low insurance group and believe the 1.2 is best of the bunch. I’ve had two 1.9jtds and been rock solid

Hadn't thought of a Stilo, but not a bad shout. I'm actually really enjoying the low-power, low-tech Micra experience way more than I should!

I know what you mean, I remember buying a Renault 5 years ago very cheap, there's a freedom in not worrying about it. Back in the day I had a top of the range BMW bike, cost a fortune and I was always conscious of dropping it, couldn't afford to pick it up!

I commute (5 miles) in my kids’ 500 1.2 69bhp and I love it. Series of varied roundabout and it’s all about choosing the best line to maintain momentum - it’s really engaging at sensible speeds

ha ha yea I bought my wife a 500 Abarth in 2010 and my daughter a 1.2 500 in 2011 the 1.2 was way better for everyday driving than the Abarth ever was .....just a fun wee thing to chuck about all of the time ....on the other hand ,on the right day ,on the right road, and when in the right mood the Abarth was good fun too

but never every day !! mainly due to the hard/ bouncy ride and seemed to miss a 6th gear more than the 1.2 did

Viva low power, low-tech fun!

Paul, what spec is it? t's definitely not the most forgiving is it on lumpy roads but I love driving my 500 abarth as a daily drive and cover 40miles each day with mix of roads and motorway. Having stopped using the coupè everyday 4 years ago. And 4 years on and they stilk sound awesome.

I had a 595 Turismo Abarth but I don’t miss it much. The driving position was too upright (like a chair) and the pedals too close together. It was nice but could have been a lot better.

I really love the balance of the bog-standard 500 and the fact that you need to be involved to make it go quickly. If I was trying that hard in the Abarth I’d be going rather fast. And anything more capable than that, it would be silly-fast. It’s why I stopped driving my Alfa race car on the road: it needed to be driven fast else it was nasty but it is very fast when pushed through the corners.

Panda 100hp seems to tick those boxes.

I hadn't previously realised how good they were.

Still got my eye on one of those...

Neil

Yep. The Panda really is a classic in all its guises.

Cheap economic transport, a credible 4x4, and a hooligan track fiend! Did it showcase the 'Fire' engine too? Seem to remember the 1000cc was quite good fun.

Hope all is well in Germany.

We still have it it's a 2010 500 abarth essesse fsd dampers ,multi spoke silver back wheels ( never liked the essesse wheels) ...actually sat in the garden for 4 years unused and unloved after my wife got her TT, then realised it had to be MOT'd to get her registration number off it ...thought oh F*CK
the is gonna cost me a fortune it will be rotten .stuck a new battery in it ..it started 2nd turn of the key was covered in moss

washed it and had a good look at it , rear axle looked poxy rusty so bought a new rear axle for it , had already bought new discs and pads all round for it ( err yes over 4 years ago) decided to give it to a garage I know to fit the rear axle and check it out....

wait for it he said all the rust on the axle was surface only ,but since I had bought one changed it anyway .....and not a spot of rust anywhere else ,wasn't running right ,due to lack of boost, traced down Io rotten intrercooler pipes ,turned out it was cheaper to buy a direnza front mount with all the pipework than just replace the
fiat pipework to the side mounts .. took out all the door trims and rear trims ,no rust inside anywhere !!! we where stunned
its quite a high spec ,red leather ,zenons , sunroof , pearl paint ,stripes etc etc ,not worth that much ,so have decided to keep it , still has the same annoying fault that made us buy the TT 4 1/2 years ago ..used to get boost at 1800-2000 rpm ,now it lags until 3500 3600 then takes off!!
changed a few things on it years ago and never sorted it, need to find a good garage to fix it once and for all ....unless someone on here has any ideas ?