I know we have FIAT 850 Spider guys here.

I don't know diddly squat about these, except that they make an A-H Sprite look big.

Anyhow, one turned up in the junkyard today, which is pretty weird in itself. All the easy pickins were gone, but the engine is complete except for carb.

Thing is, it has a fiberglass hardtop, which I've never seen. Now, I don't know the value of such a thing, and this one needs love, but it's only $50. That being said, I have no idea how one would ship such a thing, and I have no idea if anyone would want it.

All clues greatly appreciated.

you can ship glassfibre tops via grayhound. I have done it with a Fiat 124 top

If it's a 67 with the glassed in headlights, they're the same units that were used in the Lamborghini Miura.

Made a few bucks off them when I parted out my 850 years ago.

If the exhaust header is intact you might get a couple dollars for it.

You might be able to sell the cylinder head or even the whole engine. Shipping an engine by truck freight isn't all that difficult.

These things rust worse than anything the Japanes or the Brits could dream up. You could hear mine fizzing if you parked it outside on a damp night.

I had to stop driving mine when I hit a speedbump in a parking lot and I couldn't open the doors anymore.

Also, I think Marelli taught Lucas everything they know about electrical.

Shawn.

Trans_Maro wrote: These things rust worse than anything the Japanese or the Brits could dream up.

This is the desert. Things don't rust here.

EvanR wrote:

Trans_Maro wrote: These things rust worse than anything the Japanese or the Brits could dream up.

This is the desert. Things don't rust here.

I'd bet the Italians could find a way.

Well, it was a '70, not a '67. And I didn't do a PPI on it, but I didn't see a speck of rust anywhere.

It's been a while but I think the later cars like the one you found may have the larger engine (900ish ccs I think), might be desireable.

Shawn

Fiat did some weirdness with the displacement game on those engines. They went from 843cc, to 817cc, to 903cc. The latter are the ones people want, though engines aren't nearly as hard to come by as body parts. I know the chrome hinges for the deck lid were pretty expensive and hard to find in decent shape.

The hardtop is an aftermarket one, so it's not particularly valuable. The "oem" one was steel. Those are pretty rare. Most likely the one you saw was made by Parrish Plastics in PA. I had one on my 850 but don't have a picture of it with it on.

Everything rusted on them. Fiat bought a bunch of them back on a gov't forced recall. I had one in the late 1980s that was cobbled together from several cars. It was fun to drive and had decent power. Reliability wasn't it's strong suit, though, so I sold it to a girl as her first car (hey, her Dad bought it for her. His fault for not doing his research). This past year I found it's carcass in a U-Pull-It; rust had finally done it in.

I've got one (not sure how much longer though), and second TransMaro's comments on rust and electrics.

A couple years ago one was still on a lot in Harrisburg PA.; the old dealership building still intact.

And in 19-ought-73 the only thing that could beat me (Sprite)in hillclimbs was one...

the 850 spider was one of the worst fiats for rust. I have heard stories of these cars in showrooms with rust starting to form.

That said, I think they are a sexy little car that like most fiats.. handles well, just do not expect to win any stoplight grandprix.

Personally. I would love to get my hands on a decent 850 coupe'

Love those cars. Beat many a vintage racing 948 Bugeye with the seven Fiat 850 race cars I built from 1990-1995!

Almost forgot, mine had campagnolo alloy wheels on it, the bolt pattern is fiat specific, someone might be looking for a set of wheels.

Shawn

Trans_Maro wrote: Almost forgot, mine had campagnolo alloy wheels on it, the bolt pattern is fiat specific, someone might be looking for a set of wheels. Shawn

If this car has Campagnolo wheels then there is certainly a market for them. Local Ebay they will bring $500 easily. I have a 1970 Coupe I bought new. Has the same engine and running gear as this Spider. In 1970 Fiat were having massive strike problem and cars from that period had paint issues, I had a partial respray under warranty. The 903cc motor, particularly the head will have a ready market. Interestingly this engine is still in production in a front wheel driver and rotates the other way! The earlier versions of the 850's were 843cc engines world wide except for America. There they were sleeved down to just under 50 cubic inches so they could be sold with no pollution equipment. My car is being rebuilt as a hillclimb special. This Spider would be superb as the same.