If you’ve a penchant for enjoyable in the solar within the sluggish lane, then right now’s Nice Price or No Dice Fiat 850 might be your cup of Chianti. Let’s see if this traditional roadster’s value is something price toasting.
Bill Withers’ Just the Two of Us is a type of earworm songs that appears to have permeated fashionable tradition ever since its debut in 1980 on Grover Washington’s sultry Winelight album. It may be a becoming theme music for yesterday’s 2013 Mini Cooper S Coupe JCW, which was one of many solely two-seater automobiles Mini has produced in its trendy renaissance period. Unfortunately for the Mini’s vendor, few of you had been sufficiently keen about the automobile, and its $15,500 price ticket proved lower than music to most ears. After the mud settled, that resulted in a 73 % No Dice loss.
It gave the impression to be extra the seems to be and anticipated reliability that drove the voting on yesterday’s two-seater Mini. Let’s see how attractiveness and… properly, equally suspect reliability, have an effect on opinions on right now’s two-seater Fiat.
If you’re something like me, you then take pleasure in regaling folks at events with mundane details and tepid trivia about automobiles and the auto business. This is the rationale why I don’t get invited to all that many events.
One such ‘fun fact’ is that when designing the Lamborghini Miura, Marcello Gandini sourced its expressive and iconic eyelash bracketed headlamps from the Fiat 850 Spider. That’s not the place the connection ends, both. Other commonalities between the 2 disparate fashions embrace the inside door handles and back lights. Considering the components bin theft, it’s unsurprising to find that both the Miura and the 850 had been the work of Bertone, though Giorgetto Giugiaro led the diminutive Fiat’s design, whereas Gandini was placed on level for the Lambo. Still, they’re like kissing cousins, proper?
![Image for article titled At $5,900, Could You Be Drawn Into This 1968 Fiat 850 Spider’s Web?](https://i0.wp.com/i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,g_center,q_60,w_645/1ac0f27aeeee18fa2e10f6210decced6.jpg?w=788&ssl=1)
There’s extra intrigue with the 850 as properly. The Lambo-shared headlamps solely lasted within the U.S. for one 12 months, as encroaching lighting rules demanded a change to sealed beams. That meant a major redesign of the Spider’s nostril, elevating the fender line and capping every entrance nook with a ‘sugar scoop’ fashion bucket every housing a single seven-inch lamp. It’s nowhere close to as elegant as Bertone’s unique design and ruins the entire Lamborghini connection, however it’s not too horrible.
Another oddity concerning the U.S. market 850 is its engine displacement. As you may need guessed, the 850 within the Spider’s title was supposed to indicate the engine measurement, which initially was a ‘close-enough-for government-work’ 843 ccs. For the 1968 U.S. mannequin, that displacement was diminished to 817 ccs as emissions necessities enacted to take impact in the ’68 mannequin 12 months exempted engines of lower than 50 CID. That meant that, whereas smaller in displacement, the little Fiat wringer might be tweaked to supply as a lot energy because the bigger motor. Tricky!
![Image for article titled At $5,900, Could You Be Drawn Into This 1968 Fiat 850 Spider’s Web?](https://i0.wp.com/i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,g_center,q_60,w_645/844101b59868b854d58ef1b95096cbf0.jpg?w=788&ssl=1)
Regardless, that’s not a lot energy, and this 1968 Fiat 850 Spider — in sky blue over a black vinyl inside and high — comes with a paltry manufacturing unit score of simply 52 horsepower. That’s nonetheless sufficient to push the sharp automobile to a 90-mile-per-hour high pace, though it’ll take a Moses’ Month to get there.
That mighty mite of an engine sits in the back of the automobile, sending its meager corral of ponies ahead by a four-speed transaxle and powering the independently sprung rear wheels. A disc/drum setup does braking obligation on the automobile.
![Image for article titled At $5,900, Could You Be Drawn Into This 1968 Fiat 850 Spider’s Web?](https://i0.wp.com/i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,g_center,q_60,w_645/7f92595d1ed6d8311cb31e4ec23aff1c.jpg?w=788&ssl=1)
According to the advert, all the things is full on this 850 save for the rear window within the convertible high, which has aged out of lively obligation. It seems to be working and to hold present registration, though the vendor warns that the brakes have to be bled.
That’s a little bit of a purple flag. I imply, wouldn’t that be a straightforward sufficient job that you simply’d deal with it earlier than pushing the put up button on Craigslist? Even if the brake challenge proves extra critical, requiring, say, a brand new grasp or wheel cylinders, that shouldn’t be a giant deal as components for these automobiles are nonetheless available.
![Image for article titled At $5,900, Could You Be Drawn Into This 1968 Fiat 850 Spider’s Web?](https://i0.wp.com/i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,g_center,q_60,w_645/f66e37803e786249670e8830ead8d895.jpg?w=788&ssl=1)
On the plus facet, the automobile seems to be moderately good within the pics, with just a few tough patches of paint, a damaged entrance flip sign lens, and a break up within the passenger seat to name out. Countering that, it does include its manufacturing unit software equipment and jack, objects usually misplaced to time on any outdated automobile.
The mileage is claimed to be 80K, and the automobile comes with a transparent title. The asking value is $5,900.
What’s your tackle this “Baby Lambo” and that $5,900 asking? Does that appear like a deal for a small automobile that also carries a ton of get together trivia? Or does that value on this Spider chew?
You resolve!
Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.
Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up at remslie@kinja.com and ship me a fixed-price tip. Remember to incorporate your Kinja deal with.
Source: jalopnik.com