MEET THE OWNER – MATTY CRISELL AND HIS FIAT 850 SPORT COUPE

It is in very good condition for a 55-year-old car. The Coupe was imported from California and had been off the road since 1994 with a seized engine, but the only complete panel that needed changing was a sill that I’ve managed to find an original from Italy. The Fiat is now RHD; I found a UK car and switched the necessary parts over.

Fiat launched the 850 saloon in 1964, followed by the Coupe at the 1965 Geneva Motor Show. One sales attraction was a more powerful 47-bhp version of the 843cc engine, resulting in a top speed of 87 mph and the Veglia instruments were another. Plus, of course, those beautiful lines created by Felice Mario Bonano and his son, Gian Paolo, at Centro Stile Fiat.

In 1968 the Sport Coupe with quad headlamps and a 903cc engine, giving a top speed of 91 mph, replaced the standard version. Autocar thought: “There is little or nothing which offers the blend of value, performance, economy, chic styling and reliability plus above all a sporting temperament.”

The Sport Coupe was far from a cheap prospect – at £916 3s 8d in 1969, it was £200 more than a Mini Cooper Mk. II and £100 more than the Sunbeam Stiletto. This was a car for the would-be international driver of mystery, even if some Italian male chauvinist motorists referred to the Sport Coupe as “the secretary’s Ferrari”.

Meanwhile, Motor Sport noted that Fiat GB had commissioned journalist Frances Howell to write a booklet “of hand-bag size” to advise potential female customers. In their words:

The booklet, written by an experienced lady driver who believes that while women do not want to know about bores and strokes and final-drive ratios they are keen about more technical things than just ‘pretty-pretty’ colours, is available free, from any Fiat dealer in this country or direct from Fiat (England).

Coupe production ended in 1971 after 342,873 units, a year before its saloon counterpart. Their numbers are now few – the 850’s rust-prevention methods were not 100% effective – which means the Crisell Fiat is a highly exclusive sight. You can follow the story of its refurbishment here – https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=mattea.crisell&set=a.2601903583161448 – and we look forward to hearing of Matty’s experiences when he takes to the road in his exuberantly red Fiat.

Perhaps the best summary of the 850 Coupe’s virtues was from Road & Track, who wrote in 1967 that it was “one of the handsomest, best-balanced designs ever seen on a small car”. Or as Fiat GB put it in 1968: “There are three types of GT. The ones that are little more than an ordinary saloon car, nicely packaged. The ones that are hot but leave you cold aesthetically. And the ones that are real stoppers to look at – real goers when you get behind the wheel.”

With thanks to: Matty Crisell and https://www.facebook.com/groups/fiatmotorclub/