Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-69
I purchased a '67' in late December of that year--waited six months in a queue to take delivery. I lived in LA at that time and maybe there was 25 or 30 on the road. I had both the hard and soft top. I drew "looks" everywhere I went. People thought it was a Ferrari or Lamborghini. I was working in the airline industry at the time. We called an aircraft that constantly needed repair a "Hangar Queen." The Fiat was definitely a "queen." Constantly in the garage. But I really enjoyed driving it. In 1972, I bought a new VW and the spyder was driven into my garage--to sit for 10 years. Finally sold it when I moved from LA to Memphis--soft top still in its original carton.
Today, my daughter drives a Honda Del Sol. Maybe not as exotic as the Fiat Spyder, but incredibly reliable.
I had a 69 (?) 850 Spyder, whichever year the displacement was reduced to 803 cc’s in order to avoid emission controls. Lime green over black. While I owned the 850 I was dating a pretty strawberry blond and the two had a lot in common, both attracted admiring glances and both were problematic.
Yes the 850s are slow, but no slower than many other small sedans and sports cars of the era. It handled very well, the steering was light and pretty accurate and turned in easily. They are subject to trailing throttle over steer, but considering the lightweight and decent sized tires for that weight it was pretty predictable. You lacked the power to push the tail out or over come any under steer so you just drifted through the corner.
The most comparable cars of that era were the Sprigits (Sprite/Midget). With their larger engines a Spridgits are faster, but not as comfortable and entrance and egress was much easier in the 850. I knew a guy who was 6’1” who had one and he was very comfortable and couldn’t get in a Sprigit.
With the top up or down I could carry a surfboard in the car. Board length 6’, fold the passenger seat back down onto the cushion, wedge the nose of the board into the foot well under the glove box. With the lid of the top cover open, lower the tail of the board into the parcel shelf behind the seats. Unfortunately when I did this I needed to leave the blond at home.
In the winter it would never start without the block heater being plugged in, but it was a little tank getting through snow until you high centered in to on snowdrift. The heater was only OK, but the top tended to leak above the windshield and the rear window yellowed over in about two years necessitating the replacement of the top since the window didn’t zip out. Except for the cold starting it never left me stranded.
By 1974 it was so rusted out that the passenger seat had vertical travel of a couple of inches. Interesting it wasn’t so much the exterior body panels that rusted, but the interior and bottom panels of the unibody.
If I came across a restored one I’d be very tempted to buy it and maybe go looking for that strawberry blond.
I'm a woman who knows very little about cars, but I inherited my spyder from my brother. It was the cutest car I've ever owned and taking hairpin curves in it made me feel like a race car driver. I never EVER had trouble handling the car and I live in Wisconsin and have had to maneuver it over snow and ice. I have no idea what problem the gentlemen (who had lost control and fell over a steep bank) had that he could not control this very responsive automobile. Did it go from 0-60 in 3seconds? NOOOOOoooo. Yes, it could reach speeds of 100mph, but when entering a freeway one had to hope that the cars behind you were able to go around. My mother bought me a key-chain that said, “Give me a break; I’m peddling as fast as I can!” Once it reached the desired speed, however, it was fine. Mine was not new and so had its problems. I learned to pop a clutch going backwards, down a hill… in that car. It was a requirement for that Fiat. But any problems it had were surely made up for in aesthetics! That was truly one cute car! People used to tease me and say that my car could fit into their trunks. Once a woman said, “If I could put a handle on it, I could use it as a purse.” I miss that car. (By the way, your spell check in this site is confusing as it does not seem to recognize conjunctions.)
I want one, can't find one (worth buying), sooooo bummed!
I puchased a 1970 850 spyder while serving in Richard Nixons US Army in 1972. I was well aware of the power shortcomings
but was able to make about 92mph for as long as I dared. I really enjoyed that car, and recall no problems with handling.
In fact, for a 19 year old cold warrier it was quite cool!
I wish I had it now...
Marty Iritz NY.
In 1984 I spent $900 for a Taxicab yellow 1973 850 Spyder while attending college in San Diego. The climate was perfect for a convertible and the roads were seldom slippery. That little car cornered like it was on rails and it revved to the rather high red-line without a problem.
I had my share of problems; 4 exhaust systems, 2 fuel pumps, new carb and tune ups every weekend, plus a stalling problem when it was hot and a stuck right caliper, but I really liked that car.
Since then, I've owned nothing, but Honda's and Toyota's which are reliable, but I'm never as passionate about them as I was about the 850. I supposedly "sold" it to a brother who "sold" it to a friend, but no money every changed hands so I probably still own it. I just don't know where it is...
I have owned two – yes two – 850’s. One was a 1970 model which I bought in 1972 while I was in college. I traded in my ’61 Volvo and $1200 cash for it. WOW was it fun to drive! This one happened to eat starters like crazy, but I managed to buy up several from the local junk yards, so I always had a spare. Replacing the starter required either a skinny arm to get into a tight place or a long extension for your socket wrench. After the first replacement, I bought the extension. Many, many times this little care was ridden hard and put up wet and I traded it for a 1972 model in 1975 right before I got married.
This second 850 was a gem, too. And it would go in the snow where nothing else would. My best gas mileage ever in any car was in this little puppy - 43 miles per gallon on a trip to South Carolina. That wass 300 miles on a 7 gal tank! This one ate head gaskets for lunch. I must have replaced three or four. I got to where I could do it in about 3 hours. Then I discovered a little known secret to head gasket longevity – torque it down after 1000 miles and again at 2000.
I sure do miss those little buggers. I have driven Porsches and Ghias and Mazdas and Mitsubishis and Pontiacs since then and cannot recall having as much fun as I did in my 850’s.
I bought a new '69 Spyder shortly after leaving the army. It was not the machine for 1/4 mile drag races, but on winding roads very few cars could compete with it. My brother had a Corvette that was fast on a straight-away, but couldn't touch the Fiat on curves.
I never had a problem with steering, winter starting or handling, or a leaky roof. The rear window yellowed, but a brief rub down with some paste wax made it crystal clear for a year, then it got rubbed down again.
It did need frequent valve adjustments until it passed 45,000 miles, then it rolled happily along.
I drove it on many trips from Michigan to Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennessee. The hills never presented a problem. It was comfortable and reliable.
I finally traded it after marrying and starting a family. Those two seats weren't made for a wife AND kids. Now that the kids are grown I wish I had that car back.
Also, it wasn't GM that bought a share of Fiat, it was American Motors Corp., the old Nash crowd. Then they went broke and Fiat went their own way.
My wife had one a '73 850 Spider when we got married and we sold it in 1976 when our daughter was born. We had a lot of fun driving it around back then. I bought another one a couple years ago that had been sitting in a garage near Sacramento, CA and got it running last summer. I put about 75 miles a day on it going to work and back. It gets great mileage and is REALLY fun to drive. It goes around corners like it is on rails and has no problem keeping up with traffic around town or on the freeway. It is very reliable, Parts are inexpensive and it is so simple to work on. Too bad they don't make cars like that anymore.
I owned a 1968 850 Spider that I purchased used in 1971. I agree with everyone about how much fun it was to drive. At the young age of 18, I was driving the car of my dreams. The only mechanical problem I ever had was that a ceramic transistor had cracked from heat. A five minute repair took care of that.
Recently, I was on vacation and saw an older gentleman driving one down the freeway in one. It reminded me of the days in Orange County, CA when I would drive up and down the freeway with my girlfriend and the Orange blossoms were blooming. Very romantic! Not to mention that it was fun to drive on the curvy roads in the mountains.
My father bought a 1972 (I believe) 850 spider for commuting in the SF Bay area, but he only drove it a couple times before letting me have it to drive it to San Jose State every day. Except for the opaque rear window I loved that car. I agree with what the other people have said about its agility. I've never driven anything else that was so easy and fun to drive. The best things about it were the great gas mileage and the ability to park practically anywhere.
After a thoughtless mechanic worked on the car and didn't take any care at all about the wiring he worked on, I had a wire short out on the exhaust manifold while I was driving, which engaged that starter (at 50 mph!!) and started a fire. We should have sued the bugger, but the car ended up on his lot and my father just kind of let it go. The engine and everything electrical was destroyed by the fire, but it could have been fixed up a again.
I've got my eye on getting another one soon.
I bought a 1973 850 sport in 1980 as my first car (paid 1500 dollars). The car handled well, although I did manage to get it sideways once on a rainy street! It had a fairly responsive engine, and while it didn't go very fast, it did deliver excellent gas mileage~40mpg. On the negative, it was the most unreliable automobile I have ever owned, and at the time of final trade-in for a 1984 Plymouth colt turbo, it leaked from every tank, reservoir and orifice. I also replaced the clutch once, kingpins, ignition system, starter, and learned how to decipher Italian electrics and wiring with the use of an Italian language service manual!The car still ran, and I received 1500 dollars as a trade-in. In spite of it's problems, on a spring/summer day or night cruising with the top down was a great experience... wind in your hair and the gentle burble of the carburetor behind you...
Bump steer is not what the Corvair had. The Corvair had a potential tuck under condition in the 1960 to 1963 swing axles ONLY. Which incidentally was the same condition for many rear engine cars of the times. In addition after extensive government testing found the Corvair to handle as good or better than equivalent compact cars tested. You can find these cars on the track at autocrosses today. It was the Mustang, Camaro and costs that killed the Corvair.
Bump steer is a condition that results in not having all of the radii in the steering components not intersecting at the spindle. This problem did not exist with the Corvair. I cannot confirm this on the Fiat. But with any luck I will have one within a week to find out.
My first car was a 69 fiat 850 coupe and it was a blast to drive even at the speed limit. It was a low priced car that looked like a baby exotic. It was designed by Mario Felice Boana while he was working for Fiat. It mostly suffered, like many Fiats from a poor dealer network, owner abuse and neglect. The use of low priced Russian steel and poor rust protection just made things worse for Fiats here in the USA. If you serviced the little 850 properly and on time it was a very reliable car. It was as big as my 70 camaro on the inside with a more usable trunk and great in snow. Driving a rear engine car requires a little skill and different technique. With a little extra weight in the front trunk you could almost double every exit ramp speed in a nice controlled drift. If you did a cam, free flow exhaust, free flow air filter, and re jetted the carb you could outrun a lot of bigger engined cars. I had mine to 105 mph and it was still pulling. Lot of fun for the buck!
I have a 1973 850 spider that has been my regular driver for 8 years or so. Contrary to popular opinion, it is one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned. It always starts and goes, & there are only a handful of things that can go wrong. All of the problems it has had are typical old car issues. Things wear out & need to be replaced occasionally. Parts are cheap & easy to find, and it handles like a real sports car. I rebuilt the engine to get some more power out of it, and it keeps up with traffic just fine. It's good on gas, has sleek Italian styling, & you can park it anywhere. The only drawback is all the dumb jokes people make like you've never heard them before. If you can't keep this car running, you should go back to high school Auto Shop 101.