get something quicker than a 1.4?
otherwise your insurance could be stupid with a 1.4 with loads of things on it.
I cant think of any cheap things to make it a lot faster, without you having to spend money upgrading the wheels/tyres, brakes, suspension, steering rack etc to be able to cope with it.
For the bumpers.... most of the back to black sprays or black trim wax bottles worked better than shoe polish on mine, the polish trickled off in the rain on my friends too.