My friends' neat new sports car...

[Sherlock]

My procrastinating friend made a purchase of his first sports car yesterday, a very nice 1967 Fiat 850 Spider /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

It's fresh off a restoration, it just needs some minor work to make it look nice. Will need some minor bodywork (but the body is really quite solid), it is mechanically ready for the road.

I'm told that the early 850 Spiders are particularly desireable due to the covered headlights (before North American regulators wrecked that...) And I think he got an incredible deal, $1,500 in Canuck dollars. From what I saw it could easily be worth twice that, but I know he plans to keep it for awhile.

Oh yeah one more thing... he doesn't know how to drive standard and is learning on this car! He promised me to try to learn well enough to personally drive it down to our European Field Meet next weekend, but one way or the other he plans to have it down there to show off.

 

[Darcy]

Mmmmmm Italian design /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I'd rather have my GTV than a Fiat/Alfa Spider /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

 

[Bugeye58]

The 850 Spiders were a blast to drive, and almost as much fun as a Bugeye.
However, the Magnetti-Marelli electrics made Joeseph Lucas look like Thomas Edison!
There is one sitting in covered storage not far from me, and periodically I get the urge to ask about it, but then regain my sanity.
Jeff

 

[aeronca65t]

I have a friend who drove one on the street for years and now is building it for vintage racing.
It's-a-fun.....but-it's-a-break-down-a-lot!

 

[Bugeye58]

<u>F</u> ix <u>I</u> t <u>A</u> gain <u>T</u> ony!

Jeff /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif

 

[Sherlock]

Latest report as of last night... Got a phone call and apparently they are having a little trouble getting it started. One good thing though, the car is small enough to easily do a push start /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

May head over there sometime today to help fiddle with it, the only thing I know how to do though is to hand tools to him.

 

[Eric]

Cool! One of my favourite oddball cars. My wife owned an 850 coupe years ago, and it was great fun. I've occasionally looked at 850 Spiders on EBay, but they've all been terminally rusty. I hope your friend's opinion of the mostly solid body remains like that. Most Fiats of that era came with factory installed rust as standard equipment.

 

[waltesefalcon]

When I was looking for a car to replace my Opel GT I considered an 850 Fiat that was here in town, but it was almost as rusty as the Opel so I went with the Triumph. Cool little cars though, I'd like to find one someday that isn't a rust bucket.

 

[Super 7]

I had a '70 or so 850 Sport Coupe I loved it, but never looked back when I bought a 124 Sport Coupe.

I blew a couple head gaskets on the 850. You were supposed to torque the head every 3000 miles. This required the carb to come off, then the valve cover, then the rocker shaft. The radiator had to be drained because one of the head bolts was under the radiator hose fitting. All the while, bent over at the waist and reaching forward. Even the age of 19 it hurt.That every 3000 mile maintenance was hardly different than changing the gasket every 6000 miles.

There were a couple Fiat dealers near me at the time, but parts were difficult to get.

It got about 34 mpg commuting and 42 on the road, with me driving like a 19 year old idiot (as opposed to the 49 year old idiot I have become).

I hope he has fun with it. The motors are willing free reving and fun to flog. The front suspension is a cheesey full camber change set up with a transverse leaf spring acting as the upper suspension locating link. A couple steps below Macpherson Struts in my opinion.

This sounds pretty negative, but I actually liked and had fun with it.

 

[Steve]

I actually went to look at one of these cars with a view to buying it a few years ago, but passed on it, even though it was a rust-free, low-mileage example. Nice for the rarity value and pretty as all get out, but it didn't do it for me somehow.

 

[Sherlock]

Wasn't able to make it to his place yesterday, not sure if he made any progress on the starting problem...

Anyway this car likely won't rack up huge annual mileage, he only drives his "daily driver" vehicle about twice a week so you can possibly imagine how much mileage the Fiat will get... although if he falls in love with it maybe he'll drive it even more than he usually does /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif