It was 1976 and my head did a double take as I passed by the gas station. There she was, a sexy Italian with big eyes that seemed to follow my every move. Her skin was beautifully smooth and flowing, wrapped in a look-at-me shape that left little to the imagination. I have to admit that she was also topless and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.
I loved my Camaro, but here was a real head turner. Could I be forgiven for a summer fling with a sexy little Italian?
At that time I was young, I was free, and I decided that a summer fling was exactly what I needed. I’d be working as a lifeguard and living in the mountains of Southern California that summer. So what better place for a little top down and road hugging motoring? I took her for a test drive, money changed hands, and I was now proudly owned by my Italian mistress.
The Fiat 850 Spider was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and built by Bertone. Giugiaro also designed such beauties as the De Tomaso Mangusta, Maserati Bora, DMC DeLorean and the Fiat Dino. Bertone, not Fiat, was the actual manufacturer, building about 124,000 Spiders worldwide. Despite America’s love affair with land yachts such as the Electra 225 and Sedan de Ville, most of these diminutive beauties were imported to the US. The earlier cars had faired over headlamps, but the government apparently decided that some cars are just too sexy and ordered them changed. Have I said that these were “little”?
Banana for scale
The 850 Spider is so beautifully styled that it’s difficult to get a sense of size without something nearby for reference. Good items for reference might be a ten year old child, a guinea pig, or a banana for scale.
Anything larger than those made a Spider look like a toy car that you assembled yourself. Because these seemed to stay closer to the west and east coasts, some readers may never have actually seen one in the flesh. So let me try and give you a sense of the size of an 850.
I’m going to pick a Kia Forte as a modern small car so we can make some comparisons. Although the Kia is a proto-typical small car in the US, it is almost three feet longer and eight inches taller than our Italian 850. In fact, let’s take a closer look:
Specification 850 Spider Kia Forte
Length 149 182.7
Wheelbase 79.8 106.3
Width 59.1 70.9
Height 48 56.5
Weight (lbs.) 1600 2707
In the 850, I got used to looking up at other car’s mirrors. On a lifted pickup, I could tell whether they’d washed the underside recently, and it sure looked like you could slide right under a semi-trailer.
Being rear-engined, you might be concerned about terminal oversteer like a similar vintage Porsche 911. The thing is, you’d have to have some weight back there to do that, and the engine in the 850 was about the size of a Singer sewing machine – a whopping 49.86 cubic inches of pure pavement ripping power. In the land of 426 Chryslers, 427 Chevys and 428 Fords, Federal emission controls only applied to engine displacements over 50 cubic inches, as nothing could be smaller than that, right? To that, Fiat said “Hold my beer” and downsized their 903 cc (55 cu in) engine to just under the federal limit, thus avoiding emission controls for another few years.
The radiator, which was about the size of a cereal box, was also located in the engine compartment, so everything was compact with no long cooling pipes to the front of the vehicle.
Relaxed highway cruising was not really the 850 Spider’s mission, as 60 mph required a lofty 4,425 rpm. Even though it used pushrods instead of an overhead cam, it could easily spin to 7,000 rpm as there just wasn’t any mass to the moving engine parts. Oh, and you never had to worry about radio reception when driving on the highway, as Fiat thoughtfully provided a standard soundtrack of “angry hornets chasing two feet behind your head”.
With so little weight to move, my bite-sized Italian kept up with traffic just fine and topped out around 90 mph. The size was also perfect for driving on city sidewalks and a few of us could pick it up and move it from being parallel parked at a curb to sitting perpendicular on the sidewalk. Remember the Kia Forte above? The Spider weighed about 1,100 pounds less, so it was easy for my partners in crime to pick it up and place it in…unusual…situations. The gas tank held only 7.9 gallons, but at 35+ MPG you could still go a reasonable distance.
The handling really was bravissimo!, and my little Italian taught me the joys of curves and the intricacies of dancing together in close proximity. Shod with Pirelli Cinturato radials, driving at any speed on winding mountain roads was engaging and she never displayed a wrong move or an ill temper. The standard front disc brakes were also a welcome change after the adventures of my drum braked Camaro. The heater on the Spider was excellent, which meant that top down driving was comfortably available down to 45 degrees.
The interior exhibited a timeless beauty, with full gauges, real wood dash inserts and a classic arms-out Italian driving position. The top was easy to put up or take down, and when down, stored under a hinged metal panel, so not a line was out of place on the shapely exterior. You didn’t really sit in the car as much as you wore it like a good suit. It was perfectly sized for top down motoring with someone that you liked being close to, but NFL or NBA players need not apply. Behind the seats was a covered package shelf that stored the top when it was down, and offered about as much storage as the minuscule trunk. Everything had its place and no space was wasted.
With the engine in the rear, a front trunk was thoughtfully provided; the perfect place for two small overnight bags, four bottles of wine or 322 ping pong balls.
At some point, the popular butterscotch paint had been resprayed in an oh-so-eye catching purple, and the previous owner had thoughtfully used fingernail polish as touch up paint. The ravages of time have stolen any photos of my purple Spider, but picture the high impact “Plum Purple” from a 1970 Dodge Challenger. I wonder if painters offered a discount when painting the Spider, as it was less than ½ size of a normal American car?
Being a lifeguard at a summer camp offered many pleasures and opportunities for a young male, and I had another kind of summer fling with a camp counselor. She and I spent countless hours driving back roads with the top down in the 850, making up fictitious stories of our non-existent future life. Life was warm and simpler then, and like a fine Italian wine, we drank in every drop.
Summer ended, as did the summer fling with the counselor. And as the season turned to fall, I realized that I needed to let my little Italian mistress go as well. She had taught me about simplicity, sensuous looks and that great things could come in small packages. I let her go to another, so she could teach him all that she had shared with me. She left my wallet undented and my heart full of memories. And what more can you ask from a summer fling?
As attractive as these Spiders were, I always preferred the 850 Coupe.
Having spent 2 summers in Sicily in the early 70s I was surprised that I never saw even 1 of these little cars. Maybe the typical Italian male thought these little roadsters weren’t macho enough? Or more likely they were too easily stolen?
The vast majority of the Spiders were sent to the US, which seems odd as they’d be a natural on Italian or British roads. Instead, they congregated in the country of Land Yachts, particularly on the West coast.
That was the same with all roadsters back then: British sports cars, Porsches, Fiats, you name it. The great majority were exported. The reason is simple: Americans could afford to snap them up, as they were not exactly cheap in Europe. The Fiat 850 Spider was significantly more expensive than the Coupe. Everyday working Italians in the 60s didn’t nearly have the p income as Americans did. Same with other Europeans.
And if they could afford a sporty car, it was almost always a 2+2 coupe, because they likely had kids, or other family members wanted/needed to ride too (got to take Grandma out on Sunday). A 2 person roadster was a double luxury: price and limited passenger space.
All European roadsters were in large part designed to sell in the US, for this reason.
The opposite applies to the coupes in the US: they did’t look unique and sporty enough to attract buyers. Americans wanted a “real sports car”. The Fiat 850 Coupe was always a very rare sight in the US; the Spider undoubtedly outsold it here 10:1, or more.
One of the few cars where the coupe is as attractive as the convertible.
While some say that the Chevrolet Vega hatchback’s roofline was inspired by the Ferrari 365 GT 2+2, to my eyes the Vega resembles an enlarged 850 Spider coupé, at least from the side view.
The latter 850 Spider was an on-order only basis in Europe, as Fiat found it too niche; “You can afford a roadster type vehicle? You have deeper pockets than what this costs” mentality. Bertone swore there was still a business case, and got Fiat to build the revised front model on the condition they paid for the updates to comply in the US moving forward, and every one sold thereafter, Fiat got a cut from Betone to keep selling it. In Europe Bertone was also allowed to market the car themself, hence the Racer, as well as the Europe only CL spider, which was loaded compared to the Fiat version, and was vastly more expensive. Abarth even got in on these In the early years in the US with a 998cc and faced a similar “can’t sell them here anymore” once the 1968 regs took effect, and Bertone wasn’t about to allow them the revised shell and parts once they started footing the bill… For the record, approx. 87,000 of the 140,000 spiders sold were US bound. That number would be a hell of a lot closer if it weren’t for the Euro Bertone CL.
A beautifully written memoir, and timely at the beginning of June and unofficial start to summer.
I fell in love with the 850 Spider after watching the made-for-Italian-TV movie “L’Automobile” starring the great Anna Magnani. At that point, I realized either how tiny the car was, or how tiny she must have been.
These were very common where I grew up, and a fraternity brother had one. The light weight made them easy to move around with a few guys; I recall one ending up on a house porch.
Nice story, Ed.
These do make the Fiat 124 or Mazda Miata look rather “excessive” from a size standpoint…A dormmate of mine in the mid ’80’s had one, as a counterpoint to his ’68 Pontiac Firebird 400, he enjoyed both for very different reasons. It was a very fun little ride!
One of these, in butterscotch, was a regular in our shop, owned by a young school teacher. Certainly light weight. You had to be careful not to dent the sheet metal by leaning on it too hard. Source of constant electrical gremlins was finally discovered when we pulled the engine to do a clutch job. The factory had let a wiring harness drop between the engine and transaxle upon assembly.
Slower than my ’67 VW, but such a charming car to drive around town. I prefer the look of the Spider over the coupe. Comparison with the Forte, which is bigger and heavier than my Fit, is unfair, how about the Miata?
0-60 times for these are quoted at between 16 and 19.9 seconds. R&T timed their ’67 VW at 22.5 seconds. I’ve never heard of a stock Beetle getting to 60 below 20 seconds.
Also, due to their much lower aerodynamic drag, these Spiders had a top speed of 90 mph.
You must have had an exceptional VW (or a modified) one.
Yea, I tuned the VW a little bit, but no major mods. The main difference was noticed on steeper grades in Palos Verdes, near Los Angeles. I’m sure top speed was much higher with the Fiat, aero and ability of the engine to rev. Stock, the 1500cc VW was rated 53 gross hp and the 843cc Fiat, 49hp. Cannot find rating on 817cc engine.
The ’69 817cc was rated at 52hp. The ’67 843 was rated at 52hp too.
Great story!
So true that it’s tough get a sense of size of these cars without seeing it in person. My first introduction to the 850 was seeing old ads, such as the one below. The ad’s tagline of “A sports car you can afford while you’re still young enough to enjoy it” struck a chord with me as a teenager in the 1980s… I figured that one would make a fun and affordable first car.
But then I saw one in person, and I thought it must be like the MGB and Midget… that the one I was looking at was some sort of miniature version of the car I remembered from the ad. But no… it was the real thing. And even for my relative risk-dismissive teenage self, I thought this was way too small for me.
But just like an MG Midget, part of me always longed own one anyway. Maybe just for a summer, like you. Thanks for the enjoyable read this morning.
A lovely reminiscence of a car I would love much more from the inside. If I may be that unloved bucket of cold water, had Fiat moved the front wheels about ten inches farther forward it would have been a beautiful car. As it was, it appears to have been the inspiration for all of those 1970s Ford products with overly long front overhangs.
I do love the way the center portion of the dash was wide enough for an ashtray but not wide enough for a radio – something not often seen.
A summer as a lifeguard in southern California in the 70s with an Italian roadster that never broke down. You did indeed live the dream.
There’s front overhang and there’s front overhang. Its visual impact depends very much on what’s behind that overhang, or above it. Almost all the great rear-mid engine sports cars, especially the Ferraris had gobs of it. It had the visual effect of balancing out the heaviness of the rear, and it was functionally necessary. It also helped significantly with weight distribution.
The 850 Spider’s body sat on the same chassis as the Coupe and sedan, so moving the front wheels forward wouldn’t have been easy. And I strongly suspect if someone did a PS of that, it would look odd. These guys knew what they were doing, to achieve an effect with what they were given. A shorter front end would have resulted in a much stubbier and inferior overall looks.
The problem with the Fords of the great front overhang era was that the very blocky and boxy front ends created tremendous visual “weight” in front of the wheels, something these Italians didn’t have.
It was a time that I cherish JPC. And ownership of an Italian car, similar to a summer fling, is dependent on when you get out. Stay the right amount of time and you get good memories and warm feelings. Stay too long and you get horror stories of why you’ll never go down that road again!
I enjoyed reading your tale of the 850, and found it mostly true. My wife made me buy one new in 1969, and we kept it for about 7 years. It was our only car for the first year, and we made do with some sacrifices. I recall going camping, with a luggage rack on the back holding our large suitcase and the spare tire, with a large tent strapped on behind the top. Cooler, stove, food, etc. filled the trunk and rear shelf. Loaded that way, I managed to hit an indicated 95 mph going to the beach. We also used it for one of our annual pilgrimages to the midwest for Christmas – also loaded.
But leg-room was plentiful, much more than I needed, and I’m just over 6 feet tall. And I found the top a real hand-full to take down or put up – a real Chinese fire drill. And I guess you never had to deal with rust, which was the reason I finally gave up on the car. It became a structural problem.
Nicely done!
Great write-up on a good car that I now know is better than I realized.
Now we need one on the Fiat X1/9….a fun car with a goofy nameplate, also made by Bertone.
Great reminiscence.
These were surprisingly popular at the time. Saw many of them in the affluent areas of Washington DC and Baltimore at the time, with beautiful young women at the wheel. It was a popular graduation present or such.
I suspect they probably didn’t have a long tenure with their original owners.
A note on the engine displacement. They were first 843cc, using the nominally 850 engine from the sedan. Then reduced to 817cc for the US market, to skirt the 50 cubic inch federal emissions requirement. That loophole was soon closed, I believe, and the later engines were a massive 903cc.
Very true dman – good catch!
Aside from whether or not Fiats were reliable, living anywhere near salt-water or the rust-belt was the death of these. My best friend from high-school lived in Oklahoma during the late ’70s, and had an 850 Spyder. I think it was still fairly solid in that dry climate, But it eventually succumbed to some mechanical ailment.
Back at the Northern Virginia repair shop where I worked during the ’80s, a young single mom with two small children would occasionally bring her 850 Spyder, nicknamed ‘Nino’, in for safety inspections and minor repairs. Usually, one or both kids would be riding in the front passenger seat – until she came by, one day in 1989, and I discovered that the seat was ready to drop on the pavement from rust eating away the floor! The driver’s seat was still relatively solid, so I warned her to no longer carry any passengers in Nino. The next time I saw her, she was driving a hand-me-down Camry from her parents!
Happy Motoring, Mark
An Air Force buddy of mine had one of these, at least for a couple of months, back in the mid-seventies. The Fiat 850 was one of the all time great cars for hooning around as you could drive it as hard as it would go, and still not be going fast enough to be noticeable. The little Fiat was in its element being driven on a winding road, downshifting for every corner and then back up through the gears on the straightaways. Unfortunately the Fiat 850 was not designed with Interstate highways in mind, 70 MPH in top gear saw the little four banger straining its guts out to keep up traffic. As I recall Bob drove the car for a couple of months before the combination of insufficient oil and too many RPM caused a catastrophic engine failure. Apparently it wasn’t worth the money to replace the engine and the 850 was scrapped.
I haven’t seen an 850 on the road in ages but I remember seeing them in the dealer and occasionally in the wild in the 70s. They were neat little cars and oddly most of the ones I saw were blue. It makes an interesting comparison with an MG Midget or Triumph Spitfire as similarly small 2 seaters of the period.
After our next door neighbor bought a pair of 124’s (a sedan & a spider), my older brother bought a new orange (?) 1972 850 spider. When he left for Air Force boot camp in September of 1973, he asked me “to keep an eye” on his car while he was away. Being a good brother, I watched it by putting about 2000 miles on it in about a month. Even though it wasn’t “fast” by any stretch of an imagination, it was a blast to drive. I remember it topped out close to 100 mph (speedometer exaggeration?) on I 8 between I 5 & freeway’s end by Ocean Beach. Another time a girl friend went with me up PCH from La Jolla to San Clemente where we saw a Model T roadster in a driveway. When we stopped to look it over the owner came out & gave us a ride around the block in his antique auto. A close friend liked my brother’s car so much, he bought one of his own which we drove up the coast from San Diego to Vancouver, BC. As far as the size of the cabin, my brother is 6’1”, I’m 6’3 & my friend is 6′. We were able to drive the spiders with ease. Getting in & out was something else entirely, especially with the top up (but then it was down most of the time).
So true about the ingress & egress. Once you were inside it was comfy. But trying to fold your legs to get them outside the car was a whole ‘nother problem..
I had one for a few months in the mid-70s. Blue. I was probably 16-years-old or so and it was a fun little car, until the window regulator spot welds holding it to the door broke. Hard to fix. Body integrity was not the Italian’s forte back then. Miscellaneous carb problems too. But it was an OK car for the summer.
I have one for sale if anyone is interested. A great restoration project! Located near Dubuque IA
Weispreservationfarm@gmail.com