1965 Fiat 850 Spider Photos, engines & full specs

In the mid-60s, the market for affordable open-top vehicles was small and dominated mainly by British brands, and Fiat tried to change that when it introduced the 850 Spider.

The Italian automaker introduced the 850 lineup in 1964 as a replacement for the 600 model. It was a two-door vehicle that could fit four people inside and was affordable. But Fiat had bigger plans with the newly developed platform that resulted in the 850 Coupe and the 850 Spider, which was designed by the Bertone Design Studio in Turin. Unlike the closed-cabin versions, the convertible was made to enchant its owners with the open-top driving experience, and unlike the British MGs or Austin roadsters, it wasn’t made to be raced.

When Giorgetto Giugiaro penned the 850 Spider for the Bertone Design Studio, he had to adapt the car’s shapes to the platform and other components that allowed Fiat to lower production costs. As a result, at the front, he extended the fenders that incorporated the headlights and covered them with an additional piece of glass. The clean design of the hood was continued downward by a curved panel that supported the chromed bumper. Two small horizontal blinkers found their places between the bumper and the headlights.

From its profile, the low waistline of the vehicle was clean, without any fancy trims added on the doors or fenders. The only particular badge noticed was on the front fenders, where the automaker placed the Bertone logo behind the wheel arches. An almost vertical windshield was supported by thin A-pillars, with no concern for the occupants’ safety. A hard top was available at extra cost. There were no door handles, just a small button that also included the key fob and a dent on the rear fenders that allowed customers to get two fingers behind the door panel to open them. At the back, the long deck concealed the retractable canvas roof and the engine compartment. The rear fascia featured a pair of horizontal taillights and a chromed bumper underneath them.

The tiny cabin was good for two people, and the driving position was very low. Between them, Fiat installed a center console that housed the hand brake and the gear stick. The instrument cluster mounted in front of the drivers sported large dials for the speedometer, tachometer and a few smaller gauges for the fuel level and water temperature. The factory offered no center stack, but some dealers created one to mount a radio and a speaker.

Behind the cabin, in the engine bay, the tiny 850 Spider had an inline-four engine that produced less than 50 hp and was mated to a four-speed manual gearbox. The rear-wheel-driven vehicle wasn’t meant to be driven fast and couldn’t hit 90 MPH (147 kph).