1968 Fiat 850 Spyder Convertible from North America - Comments

1968 Fiat 850 Spyder.

Searching for my first car, I fell in love with a 1968 Spyder - green in color and in my price range - $1900 brand new. Anyway as a 17 year old, my dad advised that I might want to get something more dependable - I bought my second love - a 1968 Beetle. I still miss my first love, but sometimes you trade obsession for reality. Have since owned an alfa convertible and a MB SL. I still miss the green beauty though.

My wife had a '69 850 Spider when we first met in 1975. We had a lot of fun in that little car

I bought another '73 850 Spider a couple years ago that had been sitting in a garage in Sacramento for a long time. I have it running and partially restored. I drive it 50 miles round trip to work each day and it is very reliable. It has no problem keeping up with traffic even on the freeway. It cruises effortlessly at 60 - 70mph. It handles just fine. I am averaging about 35mpg. I also have a nice '80 2000 Spider, but the 850 is really a fun little car to drive. I am going to get the front end aligned and have the engine fine tuned soon. That should kick the mileage up into the 40's on the freeway.

Dave,

Graham, WA.

I am 22 years old and I bought a Fiat 850 Spider, because I like 2 seater classic cars, and this car is absolutely fantastic to drive, so low to the ground... and it's a rare sight, I just love it... I plan to restore it... I suggest you get one before it's too late... it is underpowered, but there are many things you can do to make it run... Abarth was the solution...

Wow, as someone above said "what a trip down memory lane!"

I purchased a brand new Red Fiat 850 in 1969 when I was in high school. All the other guys drove american cars and I was considered different. But the girls loved riding in that car.

Rolled it while autocrossing. Luckily had a roll bar. Had the body rebuilt and continued autocrossing after lowering, installing camber compensator big cam, race tires.

Kept the car two years. Was a blast to drive, never broke down. Started to fall apart towards end, maybe because of racing.

Sold the 850 and bought a 1000 Abarth to race.

Several years later around 1974, bought a used 1970 850 and installed a 1600 cc Fiat 124 engine in it. There was a company around in those days that sold conversion kits. It was actually a pretty easy install - took about a week. Conversion entailed reversing engine rotation! Installing radiator in front trunk, changing gear ratio.

That Fiat was real fast! Drove it for several years and sold it. I wish I knew where it ended up.

Thinking about buying a stock 850 for daily driver. With gas prices, it might be a cheap, but fun transportation.

Simon J.

The guy the whom wrote this comment in the first place, doesn't know what the word 'STYLE' means... it has the beautiful Italian style, designed by the famous Giorgetto Giugaro for Nuccio Bertone.

This car was a blast to drive!! So low to the ground and I wish I still had it. It brings me so many good memories, I had a new one in 1971, it was 'rossa' and it was my baby Ferrari... and mine had the Abarth twin exhaust, bigger Weber jets... and it was enough to have so much fun :-) It used to eat Ford Escorts and Cortinas, all with bigger engines, 1100cc and 1300cc... it is a very nice classic car to own these days... and this guy, who apparently doesn't own one and doesn't know what an italian sport car is... I suggest he does some research about ABARTH, he used to bore these engine to 1050cc and used to get out about 100bhp from them!!! No joke!! That is fast on a 675KG car!!

And for people in the USA, there was the FAZA competition, they used to tune the Fiat 850...this car is so fun and the feeling it gives you... you cannot describe it, you have to buy one and drive it :-)

I've had several 850s, the latest for over 11 years. Chris Obert and Co. has all the parts you need.

I own a 1972 Fiat 850 Sport Spider. If you don't think the 850 is a Classic - look around. You will see more MB Gullwings than you will 850's. And the price just keeps going up. True Italian lines. But thankfully you can still get one. They are about the cheapest convertible you can buy today; especially for a 30+ year old Italian classic. Check out the pics in "Fiat850" in Yahoo Groups. A ton of information and links available on 850's. Yippiee!!!