When we talk about the Fiat 850, Jan cannot keep his enthusiasm on the back burner. Jan therefore has a whole 850 family that currently consists of a Fiat 850 Idroconvert, now a unique car with automatic transmission. A Fiat 850 Coach in the basic version. A Fiat 850 Spider that still has to undergo a restoration and a Fiat 900 van in the Amigo version.
Delve into the past
The first model of the Fiat 850 appeared in 1964 and since then several variants and derivatives have appeared. In 1965 the Coupé and Spider appeared for the first time. Both versions were based on the basic version of the Fiat 850. The 850 technically did not differ much from the Fiat 600, it had the same engine, but with increased displacement and slightly more power. The car was of course a lot more spacious, looked more mature and more modern in line. The body design of the coupe came from Fiat and the Spider was the work of Bertone. The design masters were artful in seducing, both sports cars have a timeless beauty, which was certainly special in those days when there was no direct competition. Unfortunately, production for the coupé stopped in 1972 and the curtain for the Spider fell a year later.
Thorough approach
The year 1995 was decisive for Jan. He was then completely absorbed in the Fiat hobby. Jan took over the Coupé from a nurse who no longer saw any point in it due to the MOT rejection. It must be said that the rust had effectively struck by now and the restoration took almost 3 years. Certainly this Fiat 850 coupe still continues to stir hearts. Jan considers the model with the beautiful waistline to be the pinnacle of beauty.
Fiat/Seat 850 Coupé club Holland
The club is for enthusiasts of the Italian brand Fiat, which since 1996 has represented the interests of owners of the 850 Coupé 1/2/3 and of all other types such as the Coach, Special, Spider, Siata, Vignale, Lombardi and Moretti . Jan has an administrative position within the club and it is not illogical that he is completely and completely in love with his attractive Italians. They are 'friends for life'.
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In 1970 I was in the Military Service. Was sent to Seedorf. The annoying thing was that once every 6 weeks you were allowed to go home for a week with a bus that brought us to Zwolle and I could then go home with a free ticket by train. I had a friend in Seedorf whose parents were wealthy and already drove a new red Fiat 850 sport coupe. I was lucky enough to be able to ride with him, he lived in Amsterdam and I lived in Utrecht. I was even dropped off at home. This saved half a day of traveling. From that moment on I had more or less fallen in love with Fiat models. The Fiat sport coupe was a beautiful and special car. Bought a second hand one myself in 1974. But drove it a total loss in 1976. From that time I have only driven Fiats from a 128 sport coupe in 1976 to a Fiat Bravo 2014. Now I have been driving various Jeep Renegade for years, which still have a Fiat engine
It was 1980 busy with my driver's license when I saw a Fiat 850 sport coupe in the newspaper under the cars section.
I went there with my father and the Fiat was not good, right in front of the fender in the creases and on both sides fell through the jack stands, but for 250 guilders we could not leave him / her.
Refurbished the car for what we could then and drove it with great pleasure when I had the pink paper in my possession.
After half a year of good driving, I put it in the newspaper for 1600 guilders for fun and yes, there she went…. always regretted.
Now more than 40 years later I still think the model is beautiful and I happen to come across one with almost the same license plate as I had then, namely 82-83-SP and then 82-53-SP, which is pretty close to Jan's Fiat 😄
This one was in an even worse condition, stood still for 35 years, only the bottom was still hard, the rest was crispy
Now in the shed since November and slowly started grinding, figuring out welding and whether it will ever drive, we'll see.
I also joined the Fiat 850 club so maybe I will meet Jan there again…
Regards Peter
In 1976 had a Seat 850 coach as the first car; more than thirty years later a copy (same color inside / outside) on the head here in France.
I'm eighteen every time I drive it...
so interested?
Have 1 more for Jan. Replica Abarth from 1968…..with 1300 block and double carbs….
must be fast
Had two, one in 1971 as the first car, and recently I found one in the Netherlands and love blossomed again in 2020, in perfect condition, some updating such as radio, and chrome air filter housing, spark plug cables in body color I thought I was going back to my youth and only the driving pleasure came up, so resold to someone who was looking for 1, even as far as Portugal, this person was overjoyed, still thinks it is 1 of the most beautiful Fiat 850 coupe sport