Fiat sparked a revolution in car-ownership with its first mass-produced post-war car, the 600. Launched in 1955, it was tiny, stylish, underpowered – and better at sheltering its inhabitants than a motorcycle. Its cheap price, charming looks, and handy manners helped the 600 sell like hotcakes, just like its sibling, the “Nuova” 500. As post-war Europe gained economically and competition in the automotive landscape intensified, Fiat needed a new entrant. In 1964, the company introduced the 850 as a derivation of the 600, which remained in production. Like its predecessors, the 850 came in several body styles. This 1969 sedan, with its quirky tail and pointed nose, is available here on craigslist for $8000. It runs well and is located in Sacramento, California. Thanks to Zappenduster for finding this diminutive Italian!
If you had sprung for a 600 in the ’50s, your reward would have been around 25 hp. The 850 was a dramatic improvement, with the normale offering 34 hp from its OHV four-cylinder rear mounted, water cooled engine. US delivery cars had to make do with 817 ccs, but the cars rapidly evolved with ever-higher displacements and commensurately more power. Variants multiplied, both from Fiat and its close ally, Abarth. The gearbox was usually a four-speed manual, but Fiat also made a semi-automatic called the Idromatic. Its reputation for making the already-slow car even more sluggish quashed sales. This example has all new brakes and new fuel lines. Fresh tires are installed on powder-coated wheels. The seller notes a few leaks, which I call self-changing oil. Just keep an eye on the level!
The interior is nice! The seller removed the headliner entirely because it was sagging; replacing that is probably a glass-out job, but all this glass is original. Either this car has seen some interior restoration or the odometer reading of 48,000 is real. The rear seat back folds down for slightly more storage. The simple center gauge looks like it was just installed at the factory. All the lights, switches, and instruments are said to work properly.
And now the bad news. The exterior is showing its age, with rust spots and paint loss here and there. No underside photos are provided, and white paint can hide a lot of sins, so a personal inspection is essential. All that said, the panel gaps look great and the trim is straight. Here in the US we see 850 spiders and coupes far more often than the sedan, which was never sold here. The pretty coupes trade hands for high four figures to $20k for an exceptional example; the spiders sit in the mid-teens. The value of this one is in the eye of the beholder – what do you think is the right price?
This is the first time I have seen a 850 in this variant. Tiny given the umbrella for scale. I would certainly entertain owning for the asking price but I wonder how hard to get rubber seals and other coupe specific parts.
Try these guys.
https://www.fdricambi.com/en/
“Self changing oil”…..you are my kind of mechanic!
That’s what the umbrella is for.
I already have the umbrella !
A cousin had an 850 back in the early 70’s, she bought it used with low miles. The car virtually never ran! She quickly doubled her purchase price just in repairs, then something else happened, I don’t recall the specifics. She tried to trade it on a 2002 BMW and the dealer refused to take it, I think she ending up getting $50 and it had to be towed by the buyer. Run, don’t walk from this one!
Why run? This may be a great deal for someone who enjoys these quirky cars .A personal inspection and checkout by a shop is you are so inclined will give you enough info to decide. I have had the pleasure of owing some very nice rides at great value by this method.
As long as you view this as: 1. A fun toy for the weekends. 2. Maybe once in a while in the summer, but never as a serious daily driver. 3. You enjoy spending your weekends off tinkering on cars. 4. You have space to leave it laid up for
“awhile”. 5. You possess a good selection of tools, and a basic knowledge of mechanics. This is a great car… as a “hobby”.
Off topic, but, personally, I would much prefer spending a Sunday afternoon rebuilding a carburetter, than playing golf!
Changing the 10€ flange of the oil pan is easy. The exhaust is an Abarth twin nozzle racing exhaust, good for at least 5hp increase!
OK, all you naysayers, listen up!
I’ve had a couple of the Nuova 500s, a sedan and a Bianchina. Nice little cars but a bit overtaxed powerwise in this market.
I’ve also had four 600s, one with 633cc and 21.5 HP, and three of the D models with 32 rippin’ ponies from 767ccs. Never felt a need to baby any of them since in the home country the Italians at the time would get out on the Autostrada, grab top cog, reach under the dash and pull the hand throttle all the way out. As is said, drive it like you stole it. A FIAT thrives on RPMs and will NOT break.
To the current offering: I bought a new sedan in 1970 and retired it fifteen years later with 170K miles on it. It still ran perfectly and looked very presentable. Bought one, second hand, with the Idroconvert semi-auto. Loaned it my in-laws when the ’74 gas crunch descended and got it back eight years later. Finally retired it, still in top shape, with a mere 30K on the clock. The semi-auto offers lazy day driving by utilizing the torque converter or get into it through the gears and it’s the equivalent of a straight stick.
The ’70, straight stick, carried my wife and me from CT to 46 out of 48 contiguous states plus parts of lower Canada. I pulled the engine at 90K because it was leaking oil in some places. During the re-gasketing I realized that, although it was still running well with good compression and no oil consumed via internal leaks, it owed me nothing. So, I cleaned up the intake ports, bored it from US emission-cheating 817cc to the stock 849, added 12:1 Borgo pistons, added a 30DIC Weber and tuned exhaust and that little brick would pull six grand straight and level, no wind. That works out to a flat 90MPH. Who’da thunk it? Oh, swapped in the Sport models’ discs, too.
In our 67 years of FIATing over a million miles, my wife and I never come in “on the hook.” Ride ’em. Ride ’em hard. And follow the OEM maintenance schedule and you’re good to go.
If I weren’t just short of 90, I’d be on a CA-bound bird for a long, enjoyable ride back to FL.
Oh, and yes, they were imported to the States. Sadly, the “Special” never was. It had the 50HP engine of the Sport models plus front discs and an upgraded interior. All this for a mere seventy bucks. Sigh…
The more often that you take these out and thrash the nads off them, the more reliable they’ll be. The wee Fiats’re cracking cars; you just don’t want to baby them.
Would be a great little car for Catalina Island.
loved the spyder, may B mine were later yrs as seemed more ‘completed’ inside. In fact I think I’d like any/all (Bertiliner, coup & even T -the ‘no window van’) but this. We chose renaults B4/during this era as they were 4 dor ( were used as 2nd or “family car”) so utility important.
Seen some of these “Abarthed” & look slightly better, but oh boy, did they “drive” better !