This charming little convertible was conceived around the basic mechanicals of the standard 850 Saloon as Italy's answer to the small British sports cars at that time like the MG�Midget and Austin-Healey Sprites. Together with the Coupe version, the 850 Spider was first shown in Geneva in 1965. Interestingly enough, while wearing the obligatory "b" Bertone badge, the 850 Spider was actually designed by Giorgio Guigiaro at that time when he was working for Bertone.

Early cars came with a tuned version of the 843cc block that powered the standard 850 Sedan, except for US Specification cars which had a smaller 817cc version, presumably to evade emission laws. From 1970, a new 903cc 52hp engine was introduced and this engine was successful enough to be "turned around" and mounted in front to power the 127 Sedan which replaced the 850 and was produced till the 1980s.

Styling-wise, early cars were fitted with headlights that were covered by a transparent fairing. But from 1969 onwards, cars sported exposed upright headlights and this style continued till the end of production in 1973. All Spiders were convertibles, although some were fitted with the optional hard top. Fiat also offered a fixed-head version of the 850 Spider, called the 850 Racer. Another related model was the Bertone built 1000 OT Spider, which used his 982cc engine instead for an increase of 10hp to 62 hp. More than 120,000 Spiders were built, although not many remain on the road today.

Technical specifications

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