1972 Fiat 850 Sport review from North America

From the factory, they blow head gaskets at 60mph early in life if the cooling system isn't kept clean and well maintained.

I have found a lot of these cars parked indefinitely, low mileage, with a blown headgasket the culprit.

Superb handling! I took this car to college and put 20,000 grueling miles on it traversing mountain passes and delivering pizza.

To make this vehicle durable and adequate for freeway speeds I studded the engine block with 7/16 studs, upgraded the camshaft and installed high compression pistons. A large Weber carburetor was used and glass pack exhaust.

My 72 was still slow, but not AS slow. I was young and drove it extremely hard, but with these few modifications it still performed perfectly when I eventually sold it.