Fiat 850 Coupe

[henk4]

Fiat 850 Coupe

One of the nicest small sportscars of the sixties was the Fiat 850 Coupe. It was introduced in 1965 on the basis of the bland looking 850 sedan, and the in-house designers of Fiat turned into something special. The OHV engine received some extra boost, with a very nice exhaust system, and horsepower was increased from 34 for the standard 850 to 47 for the Coupe at 6250 rev/min. Maximum speed officially was 135 kph, but good ones reached 145 at which speed the engine was running close to 6500 revs.

At the same time the Bertone designed spider was also introduced, which even had a slightly more powerful engine, producing 49 Bhp, at even higher revs.

In 1968 the Series 2 version appeared which had double headlights and a 52 BHP 903 cc engine at 6400 revs this time.

Production stopped in 1971, and almost 343,000 cars were produced.

It was my fathers' first car and it arrived at about the same time as my drivers license. When delivered the car was fitted with crossplies, and it took me about 12,000 km of “sharp” driving to wear them off completely. The XAS radials that replaced them transformed the car. One of the options was to buy a large rev counter in the right hand clock of the instrument panel. I made sure my father spent the 150 additional guilders to buy that.

Shown here are two nice examples, one taken at Zolder in 2003, while the second car is no other than McReis’ immaculate example that has not fallen victim to the rust eaters, which are much rarer in Portugal than over here. I recently got it confirmed that my fathers’ car ceased to exist a long time ago.

[McLareN]

McReis will go nuts

[McReis]

Originally Posted by henk4

Shown here are two nice examples, one taken at Zolder in 2003, while the second car is no other than McReis’ immaculate example.

Correction: on the first two photos is McReis car at Porto, and on the other two is the Zolden one. I'll post the rev counter tomorrow.
And immaculate is not the word I'd use to describe it!

Originally Posted by McLareN

McReis will go nuts

Yes! Nuts of prowd!

[smxi]

Originally Posted by McReis

Correction: the first one is McReis car at Porto

This is your car? N-i-c-e!!!
I thought you drive Peugeot 205 or something?

[McReis]

Originally Posted by smxi

This is your car? N-i-c-e!!!
I thought you drive Peugeot 205 or something?

I have a Peugeot 206 2.0 HDI as my daily transport. The Fiat is stored for weekends, classic events and those mornings in wich you want to make a different trip to the office.

[drakkie]

I saw one for the first time this summer in a town in Austria called Mayrhofen.It was quite rusty and missed wheels, but it still had a certain appeal. My dad told me he had done his driving lessons in one... the lucky bastard... hese FIAT's are much nicer to learn driving in as a boring corolla 2.2d

[McReis]

Originally Posted by drakkie

I saw one for the first time this summer in a town in Austria called Mayrhofen.It was quite rusty and missed wheels, but it still had a certain appeal. My dad told me he had done his driving lessons in one... the lucky bastard... hese FIAT's are much nicer to learn driving in as a boring corolla 2.2d

Well, at least those were very stylish driving lessons!
If on your lessons you learned out do deal with the awful turn-in, with the oversteer in the wet and with the heavy steering, you'd certainly be prepared for everything.

[henk4]

Originally Posted by McReis

Well, at least those were very stylish driving lessons!
If on your lessons you learned out do deal with the awful turn-in, with the oversteer in the wet and with the heavy steering, you'd certainly be prepared for everything.

after having done my lessons in a Fiat 124, the 850 was a treat in terms of light steering and willingness to turn in...

[McReis]

Originally Posted by henk4

after having done my lessons in a Fiat 124, the 850 was a treat in terms of light steering and willingness to turn in...

I guess the crossplies should be great to lighten steering.
When my father bought the car from the previous owner (an adorable lady who worked for my father and was like part of the family and one of the persons I miss most since cancer took her away) the car was still on the original crossplies! The car is from 1967 and we were in 1991!

[henk4]

Originally Posted by McReis

I guess the crossplies should be great to lighten steering.
When my father bought the car from a the previous owner (an adorable lady who worked for my father and was like part of the family and one of the persons I miss most since cancer took her away) the car was still on the original crossplies! The car is from 1967 and we were in 1991!

crossplies definitely were for the ladies....

[McReis]

Pride and joy!

[McReis]

I thought I should add a link to my egg-nog test..
The Official UCP Ownership Challenge

[greg.harvey]

Originally Posted by McReis

I guess the crossplies should be great to lighten steering.
When my father bought the car from a the previous owner (an adorable lady who worked for my father and was like part of the family and one of the persons I miss most since cancer took her away) the car was still on the original crossplies! The car is from 1967 and we were in 1991!

Eek! 25 year old rubber??

Re: turn in - Fiat 500's don't turn in ... they bounce in! They're worse than a 124! The chassis and suspension shares more in common with a pony and trap than a car!! They have a great big leaf spring across the front of the car. Sturdy as hell but not exactly good for a smooth ride and good handling - especially when you factor in little wheels. Hang on to your falsies!!

[McReis]

True love doesn't die easily so, although being a bit distracted since my new affair started with the acquisition of the hairdresser's dream in late January, I still feed my long time relation with the experienced Italian lady. I'm always trying to know her better, so I was very happy when I recently found this fantastic and very detailed article about the three 850 coupé generations in the fantastic June issue of Automobilismo d'Epoca.
Lots of important details for those craving for originality. Great magazine.

[McReis]

Automobilismo d'Epoca part II