1968 Fiat 850 Spyder Convertible from North America - Comments

This car had no power, even on flat roads at sea level. 850cc is not enough. The cheapest Harley road bike has 883cc's. Imagine trying to safely keep up with traffic on the freeway with an 850cc car.

This Fiat suffered from "bump steering" -- the same thing that killed the Corvair. The rear suspension was designed to rotate inward rather than longitudinally. When you hit a bump, the rear end suspension geometry would the direction that the car was going and could result in an accident from loss of control. A car with this type of defect would result in $billion$ dollar law suits today. If you got into an accident in or with one of these today, you might still be able to sue Fiat, or the parent corporation GM. Fortunately, there are almost none of these things on the road today.

This car is NOT a classic, but a shameful piece of garbage that should have stayed in Europe.

I could barely keep this car on the road because of the wacky rear suspension and the fact that most of the weight was on the rear wheels, leaving the front wheels barely touching the pavement. The rear end would swing out at the slightest provocation. I took a smooth corner at 30 mph one day an spun out over the side of steep bank. Trees caught the car and saved me.

This was the second car I owned in my life (1970) and my last Fiat. It is no wonder that they are in bad shape today. The smartest thing that Fiat ever did was to rope (a dope) GM into a buyout of the failing car company before 2004.

Either the person writing this road test was the victim of a poorly maintained vehicle or is not an amateur of small European sport car. I had the pleasure of owning an 850 Spider that I purchased brand new in Europe in 1967/68. My recollection was that of a superb little machine, very fast and very exciting when driven aggressively on some of the little back road of France. On the highway, the little beast would, flat out keep up with the DS19. I remember a trip from Limoges to Paris when through the long straight-aways of Sologne I was following a friend Citroen DS 19 with my speedometer stuck at 160km/h (100MPH)for a little over 40 or 50 milles . Not bad for an underpowered machine! On tight curve the car handling was very clean and the excellent braking system made weight transfer a pleasure. For a young person on a tight budget it was a dream machine. I wish I still had that little car!

When I was a young man a girl friend lend me her 850 spyder in Paris and I felt like driving a sports car. The car was quick, handled well and when you know how to drive a all rear weight car, you could outperform most of the cars on the road.

Today I bought a Seat 850 Spyder to rebuild it totally. I love it and the niece of my girl friend (6 years old) seriously thought, this car was for her to play with, so small and cute it is. The design is still very elegant and Bertones handwriting will make this car a classic. It is one, without any doubt.

I had a '71, loved it and miss the fun and joy of driving it in the mountains of NC.

The 850 spider experience was more feeling than performance. It had a nice race car look. Driving it felt much more exhilarating than other cars (at the same pace). This car with the stock bias ply tires was a fantastic for learning to drift through turns. Not an open class winner at club races, but had good potential to compete against some more expensive machines. The goal of this was design was an INEXPENSIVE sporty car WITH most of the comforts of the day. My top leaked on rainy highway trips. Almost rattle free. Good brakes. Like most fiat motors, it loves to rev high. Tiny sychromesh couldn't take it for long and then shifting would get slow. Steering wheel was too close to windshield (fingers could hit glass). Thrills can be had within the legal speed limit with these things. It was like a convertible Honda CRX in it's time.

1968 850 is most likely 903cc. turns better and is safer than a Harley -still the most primitive bikes on the planet. It would make a bit more power if americans could grasp that a 350 chev making half the ppm pollution a high output small engine does, STILL CREATES MORE POLLUTION. And what, its not as nimble as a cadillac? becoming a classic has nothing to do with how a car compares to modern cars, hence CLASSIC. And GM didn't buy Fiat, they didn't want to.

I owned a 69 FIAT 850 Spyder for about 5 years and drove it primarily in mountainous parts of "way northern" California. While the 850 had its problems, it was really fun to drive in the mountains as it held the road tenaciously, and if you used the tranny to keep the revs up, had enough power to scare the "self censored" out of you. I put over 200,000 miles on mine and only sold after a back injury made it too difficult to get out of once I was snuggled down into the bucket seat. It could have used a 5th gear for the freeway, but what fun is a freeway anyway? It ate fan belts, but I always kept spares. And to my knowledge it never bump steered although to be honest I avoided driving through large potholes due to the firm suspension. Never had any trouble with the electrics or the engine. I added an electric fuel pump to mine and removed and blanked off the mechanical fuel pump. I also added a sediment bowl fuel filter and a micro-pore fuel filter after that because even the smallest dirt particles would stop up the jets in the Weber carb. I wish I still had that little car now cause I'm doing a commute in the Sierra Nevada foothills every day and it would be great to have its gas mileage and handling and (shock, gasp, say it isn't true) utter reliability. OK, so the rag-top leaked in winter. I had a steel top that I used in the winter that didn't leak.

I had a 1967 850 Spider and finally sold it here last year. It was a fun little car, but, at 7500 ft. above sea level with two big 200lb+ guys in it, it does lack some power. Big surprise, right? It cornered on rails and had great braking. Fiat was not bought by GM. This guy is so off base, I have to wonder if he ever even owned one of these.

In the late 1970s when I lived in San Diego, California I had a 1970 Fiat 850 sport coupe that I loved and miss to this day. It was the first car I ever purchased. A professor of mine in college took me for a drive in his 1968 model 850 once. After that I knew I had to have one.

The 850 handled impeccably, even for a rear engined car. It did have mechanical problems which I knew about when I bought the car. These problems were likely caused by improper driving habits. Americans needed to relearn their driving style to get reliability and performance out of the 850. Most importantly that meant no lugging the motor. One had to wind it up before shifting. Also, it was necessary to frequently clean the centrifugal oil filter and change the oil. 850s were as reliable as any other car if you took these precautions. I didn't do this often enough which caused its demise (totally my fault).

The car was very sporty in stock form. It looked beautiful thanks to Bertone and clung to the road like a go-kart once you replaced the bias-ply tires with radials. But it could be modified to make it even quicker. I didn't know it at the time, and couldn't have afforded them anyway, but PBS Engineering was very close by in Garden Grove, California. They are famous in the US for building competition 850 engines.

Knowing all this now, I'd really like to own an 850 again - preferably an open car. I've owned several Porsches and now I'm in the middle of restoring an original 914-6 and a Pre-A 356 cabriolet. When I'm done with these I'm going to look for another Fiat 850. They are inexpensive to find. The only trouble is that Fiat is no longer doing business in the US and replacement parts would likely be difficult to find.

I purchased my 850 spider from an uncle in 1982, and drove it daily until 1987. Yes this little car had it's problems (fuel pump, rusty gas tank, plugged jets, cracked ballast resistors, and a leaky rag top), but who cares. Friends loved this car. It wasn't the fastest, but the tank was always full, and it was always a 'top down day'!

Cheers,

Dave from Vancouver B.C.

The very first car I owned after graduating from borrowing my dad's car was a 1968 Fiat 850 Spider. I bought it for $500 in 1974. The convertible top leaked at the front corners when it rained. I went through three clutches and three exhaust systems and a couple of sets of spark plug wires in the 5 years or so I owned it, and it cost me $200 every time I pulled into the dealer. At 850 cc's it wasn't exactly a Chevelle Super Sport off the line. The previous owner had embedded a radio through the glove box door. The luggage compartment was almost non-existent. And I absolutely loved that car, and wish I still had it.

The Italian sports car styling was very definitely a babe magnet, which to a then-19-year-old is the only reason to own a car, yes? The top could be operated while sitting in the driver seat, and none of these cheap vinyl tonneau covers that had to be buttoned over the drop-top when it was down, the car body had a section about 18x48, hinged at the back, that unlatched and swung up, then the top went down, and the cover was closed to conceal the accordion top inside the body. And what I thought one of the absolute best features for driving in our Midwest US winters was it had an ELECTRIC HEATER. Get in the car on a bitter morning, start it up (and it never failed the start for me) and hit the heater button... instant heat...no driving ten miles down the road with teeth chattering waiting for some warm air to flow.

The clutches.. My girlfriends burned them up trying to learn to drive it. Exhaust... the reason it was so expensive was it was rear engine... manifold to muffler to tailpipe was all one piece. Was it racy? I challenged someone to race me once and they just laughed... knowing I had an 850cc engine. I insisted I could beat him as long as I picked the road. He called me on it and I chose a road that had eight 90 degree turns in a one-mile stretch. I was taking corners at 30 MPH and that rear engine over the drive wheels kept me firmly under control. By the time he got to the end of the road I was leaning on the back bumper waiting for him.

In 1979 I sold it for $300 and bought a Buick Regal that was more sensible and cheaper to keep, and had air conditioning, but never gave me the pure driving pleasure that Fiat did -- I still wish I had it in my driveway.

I owned one for less than a year when I lived in Roselle NJ. I drove it during the winter, spring of '74. It was a bright yellow and got the girls attention. I worked on the CNJRR railroad at the time and had to drive to off the wall places, dirt and/or unkempt roads, etc.

The car drove and handled wonderfully. I didn't have any problems when I had it. I sold it when I moved to Calif, I didn't want to drive it cross country, it was too small even then when I was smaller and younger. mikemcdonnell.com.

I had a 1970 850 Spyder. If there was a more fun car built than this that gets 40 mpg, I haven't driven it. Know where I can find another one of these today?

My first car was a 1969 850 Spider that I bought used when I graduated from high school in 1971. Prior to buying it I would go nuts every time I saw one on the road. I just had to have one. It was not the most powerful car of its time, but it was a joy to drive. The high reving rear engine made you feel like you were driving a race car. I used to auto cross mine a lot and even came in first in my class at one event. I had a dream last night about those days and that is what led me to this site. I wish I still had that car.

I Had a 1963 850 as a young man. It was absolutely great. It was pretty rusted on the bottom, but it still looked good and ran well. I had a blast!If only I had another one now.

I owned and drove one and I can tell you that it was unique in its time and a totally innovative approach to automotive engineering. The only thing about it was the need for weight over the front wheels due to the overhang of the rear engine. The rear end did have a tendency to cut loose on a slippery road. Maybe with a passenger it was better, but at under 140 lbs, my body was not enough to hold the front wheels down. I used solid scrap lead in the front inside the trunk. Scrap lead was cheap at the time and it helped the car handle better and cut the understeer effect.