850 StoryBy Peter Jones
850 Saloon - Standard and Super versions were identical in appearance
The 850 saloon was put on the market in May 1964. It was developed from the 600 from which it inherited its basic character. A two-door 4 – 5 seat saloon of integral body construction, it had a four-cylinder water-cooled rear engine of 843 cc and all round independent suspension. Two versions were announced, the standard version producing 40 BHP top speed 74 MPH and the super 42 BHP with a maximum speed of 78 MPH then in 1966 they introduced a semi-automatic version. In 1965 at the Geneva Motor Show the coupe and spider versions were introduced. The coupe design was in-house while the spider version was by Bertone. Both versions used the 843 cc engine but with the power increased from 42 BHP to 52 BHP. In the same year they introduced the 600 station waggon II. It was described as a restyled multipla then in 1966 the 850 engine replaced the 600 engine and in 1971 the engine was uprated to a 903 cc engine. The acceleration was 0-50 in a week. 1968 saw the introduction of the 850 Special Saloon. It had the coupe 52 BHP engine to cope with the additional power disc brakes. You could also have the semi-automatic gear box the Idro-convert transmission for an additional L75,000 – God knows how much that would be today.
In March 1968 modified versions of the coupe and spider went into production. A 903 cc engine 52 BHP an alternator and larger radial tyres were included in the upgrade. There were also four headlamps and four tail lamps for the coupe and different frontal treatment for the spider.
850 Coupe and Spider (Second series)
1971 saw the last versions of the 850 sport coupe slight modification of the lights to comply with regulations in export markets. The last of the 850 saloons, the 850D was manufactured by SEAT. It had a notice in the instruction book saying so. I know because I owned one and the one big advantage I noticed was that the SEAT-built version was disinclined to rust since SEAT did not use Russian steel.
850 Coupe (Series Three)
In 1971 the 127 was introduced to replace the 850 saloons and the 128 to replace the 850 coupe. The 850 spider had no replacement and it would have been a hard act to follow so just as well no one tried. The 850 models currently dominate the club auto test competitions which we 850 lovers feel is only right and proper.
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