Last update of this site:  3 june 2003

Contents of this site:

• About Fiat 850
• Pictures
• Engines and spark plugs
• Dimensions and weight
• Colours
• Literature
• Electrical installation Fiat 850 coupe
• How to buy or sell a Fiat 850 coupe or parts
• Sales Price indication
• Links to other Fiat 850 sites
• Dutch licence plate system
• 1:43 scale models of Fiat 850 coupe

ABOUT FIAT 850

The Fiat 850 has been developed in the early sixties, and has been introduced in
the spring of 1964. At the start of its development the design of the Fiat 600
was taken as a starting point. The Fiat 600 had the internal Fiat project code 100,
so the Fiat 850 project became code 100G (G= Grande, the Italian word for great).
Later on we will see this 100G code back in engine- and chassisnumbers.
In 1964 only the "Coach" model was introduced. It was available with two engine types,
the 843 cc 34 HP Normal-version or the 843 cc 37 HP Super version.
The Fiat 850 has its engine at the rear of the car like the Fiat 600.

At the Geneva car exhibition in the spring of 1965 the "Coupe" and "Spider" model were
introduced. The Coupe with a 843 cc 47 HP engine and the Spider with a 843 cc 49 HP
engine (see engine section of this page for more details).
Later on we will call this version of the Coupe the "series 1" version

In February 1968 the Fiat 850 Special was introduced, a luxury version of the 850 Coach.
It had the 843 cc 47 HP engine of the 850 Coupe and disc-brakes on the front wheels like
the Coupe. From that moment on the 37 HP version of the Coach was not available anymore.
A fast way to distinguish a Fiat 850 from a Fiat 850 Special are the wheels: the Special has
holes in it for cooling the disc brakes.

In March 1968 new versions of the Coupe and Spider were announced.
Both got the 903 cc 52 HP engine. From the outside they can be distinguished in the following
way from their predecessors: this model of the 850 Coupe (the "series 2 model") has now
4 headlights (2 large ones, two small ones) instead of 2, and has 4 rear lights instead of 2.
The Spider from now on has the so-called "vertical standing headlights" instead of
"laying headlights". On this page you find a photograph of a Coupe series 2.

In one of the last production years of the Fiat 850 coupe the front design got a change, and
the "series 3" of the Coupe was introduced, it has 4 headlights all of the same size.

Production of the Fiat 850 Coupe was stopped in november 1971, the production of the Coach
was stopped by Fiat in 1972, but was continued in Spain as Seat 850.
The Spider production stopped in 1973.

Note that the engines in modified form have been used in later Fiat models such as Fiat 133, Fiat 127, Fiat Panda. See engine part of this page.

Alltogether the Fiat 850 was very succesful. Production quantities:

• Fiat 850 Coach and Special:   approx. 1.800.000 units
• Fiat 850 Coupe:                    approx.    340.000 units
• Fiat 850 Spider:                    approx.    120.000 units

PICTURES
 

For Fiat pictures see the picture pages.
There is an old picture page with only 3 pictures on it, and the new picture page (added 15 feb 2000) with much more pictures, including some pictures which indicate the weak spots of the Fiat 850 coupe body.

But also on this page there is a picture available, my Fiat 850 sport coupe (series 2 model from 1969).
It has been imported from Italy to the Netherlands in 1998
 

ENGINES AND SPARK PLUGS

The history of the engine of the Fiat 850 goes back to the 633 cc engine of the Fiat 600 (introduced in 1955). After the production stop of the Fiat 850 the engine (or types that have been derived from it) has been used in the Fiat 127 and 133 and even in the early models of Fiat Panda and Fiat Uno.
For example the First Fiat 127 (introduced in 1971) has the 903 cc 47 DIN-pk engine of the Fiat 850 coupe with engine code 100.GL.000
Keep in mind that when using engine parts of later Fiat models for your Fiat 850 that the turning direction of the engine is different for cars with the engine at the rear.

The following engine types exist for the Fiat 850:

• 843 cc  34 HP used in Coach, engine code 100G.000 (Normale)
• 843 cc  37 HP used in Coach, engine code 100G.002 (Super)
• 843 cc  47 HP used in Special, engine code 100.GB.000
• 843 cc  47 HP used in Coupe,series 1, engine code 100GC.000
• 843 cc  49 HP used in Spider series 1, engine code 100GS.000
• 903 cc  52 HP used in Coupe series 2 and 3, engine code 100.GBC.000
• 903 cc  52 HP used in Spider series 2, engine code 100.GBS.000

Bore  x  Stroke for the 843 cc engines are 65 x 63.5 mm
Bore  x  Stroke for the 903 cc engines are 65 x 68.0 mm

• The compression ratio for the Normale version of the engine is 8.0 to 1
• The compression ratio for the Super version of the engine is 8.8 to 1
• The compression ratio for the 850 Special engine is 9.3 to 1
• The compression ratio for the 850 Coupe engine is 9.5 to 1

 

 
 
 
 

If you strive for originality of your Fiat 850 coupe series 2 you have to take care that the original 903 cc engine is fitted. When looking at the engine (even in case mounted in the car) you can check:

• the engine code (Fiat 850 coupe series 2 must have code 100.GBC.000 (see above)
• a coupe engine must have an profiled aluminium oil pan (oil sump). The Fiat 850 coach has a steel oil pan without profile in it
• the tubing between the exhaust manifold and the exhaust damper/silencer of the Fiat 850 coupe consists of 4 tubes, for the Fiat 850 coach this is only one tube
• the coolant pump on the Fiat 850 coupe engine is bolted with 4 bots to the engine, in the Fiat 850 coach you will find 3 bolts. In case a non-original engine is fitted in a Fiat 850 coupe you often see that the fan is not properly positioned in front of the radiator


Spark plug types for the various Fiat 850 models

Source: Gabor Andrassy (22-8-2001).
Note that some of these plugs are discontinued (as KLG), or the markings
changed (as Bosch), but the overview below is a good base-point to your dealer for looking
for a compatible one.

850 normal/super:
(Source: Bruno Steiner's book Udrzba a opravy automobilu FIAT and stock 850 normal owner's manual)

  Marelli CW240L
  Champion N4
  Bosch W225T2
  AC 43XL
  KLG FE80
  Autolite AG3 or AG2
  Lodge 2HLN
  Beru 240/14/3
 

850 special/coupe (843cc):
(Source: Bruno Steiner's book: Udrzba a opravy automobilu FIAT)

  Marelli CW260L
  Champion N3
  Bosch W260T2
  KLG FE100
  Autolite AG2
  Lodge 3HLN
  Beru 260/14/3
 

850 coupe (903cc):
(Source: by stock serie-2 coupe owner's manual)

  Marelli CW8LP
  Champion N7Y
  Bosch W230T30

---

weight:

• Coach                             670 kg
• Special                           690 kg
• Coupe series 1              730 kg
• Spider series 1              735 kg
• Coupe series 2 and 3    715 kg
• Spider series 2              705 kg

COLOURS

For the Fiat 850 series 2  the colour numbers for Fiat 850 coupe and Fiat 850 spider are:

Coupe only:
159 Rosso (= red)
233 Bianco (= white)
234 Avioro Antico (Avioro = ivory)
386 Verde Scuro (Verde = green)
419 Bleu Turchese (= blue)
456 Bleu Scuro (= blue)

Both Coupe and Spider:
208 Giallo Positano (= yellow)
601 Nero (= black)

Spider only:
120 Rosso Corsa (= red)
384 Verde Inglese (= English green)
0434 Azzurro (= light blue)
0614 Grigio Chiaro (=grey)
 

More info about colours including pictures you find at:

http://hexenberg.free.fr/fiat850/couleur.htm

http://www.fiat850spider.de/Fahrzeug-Info/farbnummern.html
 

LITERATURE

If you click on the link in the column "TITLE/DESCRIPTION" you get a picture of the book.
 

A lot of Fiat 850 literature can be found on the site of Oliver Tregl (language = German)
He even put a complete Fiat 850 book (German text) from the series "Jetzt helfe ich mich selbst"
on his site.

In two .gif files you find information about the electrical installation of Fiat 850 coupe:

gif file number 1
gif file number 2

See separate page (created 20 dec 2002)

See separate page (created 20 dec 2002)
 

Prices which are given here are for indication only and I am not responsible for correctness of these !

Prices are listed for Coach/Coupe/Spider in Euro

•  in perfectly restored condition : 3500/6000/10000
•  in original state, but used, and possibly partly modernized : 2500/4000/7000
•  needs work, but with or close to APK (*) certificate : 1500/2500/5000
•  project car for restauration 750/1000/2500
•  parts car 250/??/??       (?? = no price known, and rare to find these days)

LINKS TO OTHER FIAT (850) SITES

Fiat 850 coupe club Holland
Fiat 850 spider club (The Netherlands)
Fiat club in New South Wales, Australia (not only Fiat 850)
Fiat 850 site of Jean Brulbault (language = French) with many links to Fiat sites
Fiat 850 site of Jeff Stich (USA) with nice overview of Fiat 850 literature
Overview of Fiat sites (www.mirafiori.com)
Overview of Fiat sites and clubs (www.geocities.com/MotorCity/9726/)
Overview of Fiat 850 sites and clubs (members.tripod.com/fiat850/fiat850/links.html)
Fiat 850 spider homepage of Olaf Vulto (in Dutch) with also a Fiat 500 restauration report
A lot of Fiat 850 literature can be found on the site of Oliver Tregl (language = German)
He even put a complete Fiat 850 book (German text) from the series
"Jetzt helfe ich mich selbst" on his site.

In the Netherlands the licence plate of a car gives an indication of the age of the car.
For the production years of Fiat 850 (1964-1973) I made an overview of used series.
You can see that the system used from 1959 on is not pure chronological, and has overlap in 1965, 1966 and 1970 with the system that has been introduced in 1965.

Licence plates with 2 letters followed by 4 numbers are used from 1959 till 1970
(example AD-11-11) and in later years for classic cars (see below)
1964: GF, GH, GJ, GL, GM, GR, GS, GU, GZ, HE, HJ, HL, HM, HN, HR, HS, HU, HV, HZ, JA, JE, JF, JH, JJ, JL, JM, MA
1965: EF, EL, EN, ER, ES, EV, EZ, FA, FF, FL, FN, FR, FS, FU, FV, FZ, GE, GF but note that also the new system was already used in 1965, see below
1966: EH, EJ, EL, EU, FE, FJ, FM but note that also the new system was already used in 1965, see below
1970: EA, EE

Licence plates with 4 numbers followed by 2 letters are used from 1965 till 1973
(example 11-11-AD)
1965: AD-BA
1966: BA-DK
1967: DK-EZ
1968: EZ-HN
1969: HN-ML
1970: ML-RA
1971: RA-TA (SV, SX, SZ AND TA USED IN 1971 AND 1972)
1972: SV-VZ (VR, VS, VT, VU, VV, VX, VZ USED IN 1972 AND 1973)
1973: VR-ZX

In 1973 a new system has been introduced: 2 numbers, followed by 2 letters, followed by 2 numbers (example 00-AB-00)
1973: AD-BH
 

Classic car licence plates
From later years on (early 90's) unused series of the "two-letters-followed-by four number system" (AD-11-11) have been used for (imported) classis cars built in 1973 or earlier. Till now a few letters are being used in this system: DE, DH, DL, DM, AE, AH, AL.
Recently also in the range 2 numbers, followed by 2 letters, followed by 2 numbers YA, so as example
11-YA-11