Rusty But Trusty

Fiat really was at a high point back in the late 1960s. Okay, so they had a bit of a rust problem, but at that time most cars rusted rather readily. Just think of what they had coming out at the time, though – the 850 coupe, the 850 spider, the 124 coupe, the 124 spider, and the Dinos if you count those. Sadly, due to the aforementioned rust issue and the fact that the 850 and 124 were considered cheap daily driver cars, most of them have disappeared or been made into refrigerators. However, some were fortunate enough to end up in places like Texas, and even if their mechanicals didn’t hold up, their bodies lasted long enough so that with some love they could live on in the hands of nuts like us.

With that, I’ll share this example, which is available in Pasadena, TX for $3000. A little rich for an 850, maybe? Well, consider the body work that most of them need. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that this Texas car (with period TX plates, so you can guess it’s been there for a while) has very limited rust, so you can postpone any body repairs and focus on the brakes and running gear.

Check out that straight body. All the chrome trim appears to be present and straight as well, unlike most 850s you see, and by the shine it’s giving off, might even be unpitted. While faded, the red paint seems to have depth, so you might be able to rescue it to some degree by wet-sanding.

The nose is also clean (ha!). Get rid of those overriders on the bumpers, but it’s generally a nice-looking car. With the front area devoted to luggage space, you could probably get away on vacation for a whole week or two. A couple of detail pictures (or more than a one-liner to say it’s a project) would be nice for speculators like me.

How about a peek under the lid there? One nice thing about these is you can remove the rear panel to access and/or remove the engine. Assume it’s not running. Parts should still be relatively easy to get, and here and there I’ve seen upgraded engines from PBS. Chris Obert at Fiat Plus will be your friend, no doubt, if you buy this.

The right is also clean. Pick up this project and you’ll have a great little weekend tourer in short order. At least that’s what I’d tell myself.

Tags: 850, coupe, Feature, Fiat

This entry was posted on March 17, 2011 at 6:00 am and is filed under Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.