Pneus Abarth 850

History of the Abarth 850

1961 Abarth 850 Coupe Allemano

The Abarth 850 contains two different bodyworks based around the Fiat 600.

• The 850 Spider by Allemano.
• The 850TC Berlina.

The Abarth 850 Spider has bodywork by Allemano and was first shown in Spring 1960. It came with a Fiat-based 850 single-cam engine. This same bodywork would also be available with the larger 1000 engine in the Abarth 1000 models.

The Abarth 850TC Berlina was introduced in the winter of 1960. It used the bodywork of the Fiat 600 but included a few modifications, such as the distinct feature of the small box at the front bumper which held the engine's oil cooler. This car brought Abarth some great success in racing, with a class victory at the 1961 Nürburgring 500km race, after which a celebratory nameplate was made: The 850TC Nürburgring and later the 850TC Nürburgring Corsa.

Between 1962 and 1971 the 850cc and 1000cc class cars dominated races across the world, having superior performance compared to their larger competitors, earning the cars the nickname "Giant Killers". In the USA, the SCCA dictated that Alfred Cosentino was not allowed to use the Radiale engine in his Abarth Berlina Corsa 1000TCR as it was wiping the floor with the V8-powered competitors in the wet, and even in the dry, it was performing brilliantly. Even after swapping to a non-radiale engine however the car won 51 out of 53 races which, to this date, is still the most wins in SCCA racing history.