This was in my "drafts" pile. Not sure why I never sent it. But, here it
is.
I found the article on the Fiat-Abarth 850 - October, 1960 R&T. This car
is not the mid-engined 850, but based on the earlier Fiat 600 chassis, it
is a front engined coupe that sort of looks like a puffed up VW Karmann
Ghia It has a little badge on the front with a scorpion with a white and
black (or red) diagonal background. All doors, trunks and hood are
aluminum. 47 inches high, with 78.7 inch wheelbase, weighing in at 1345
curb weight, 1720 test weight, with 41/59 distribution, all on 12 inch
wheels.
The engine is a four cylinder, ohv, single down draft carb, 833 cc, 9.0:1,
52 hp @ 6000, 51.3 lb @ 4500, 0-60 in 17.6, 1/4 mile 20.6 at 64 mph. The
engine has a special crank, pistons, cam and special porting, all balanced.
>From the pictures, there is no grill, and it appears that the radiator is
mounted to the side of the engine with a huge electric fan, with an all
encompassing fan shroud.
I do not know if the engine was used in the mid-engined 850.
LOsoccer@aol.com on 11/09/98 06:19:07 PM
To: Jay_Laifman@countrywide.com, alpines@autox.team.net
cc: (bcc: Jay Laifman/Attorney/Legal/CF/CCI)
Subject: Re: Treasure
I raced a Fiat 850 in SCCA and CSCC in the northwest. Those little guys
had a
lot of power no weight and rear engines. What I lost in the long straight
at
PIR I made up in the turns. The Datsun and Toyota guys couldn't figure
out.
Fiat made a great car with some bad press.
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