5k: Cheap Track Rat: 1971 Fiat 850 Abarth 1300 Spider

The Fiat 850 Spider was a small 2-sear roadster with a body designed and built by Bertone and mechanical bits from the Fiat 850 sedan. The 850 is pretty slow, even by X1/9 standards, but today's feature has had an injection of scorpion venom.  Find this 1971 Fiat 850 Abarth 1300 Spider for sale in Clovis, CA currently bidding for $3,500 reserve-not-met with buy-it-now of $5,300 via ebay.

This Fiat 850 was given a full restoration in 1995 and turned into a sweet looking racer, complete with gutted interior, roll cage, and big meaty Abarth 1.3 liter engine.  This track rat even comes with its own trailer. 

The Spider featured a rear mounted small inline-4 mounted longitudinal and mated to a four speed gearbox.  The original engine was exchanged for a custom reverse rotation, lightened, balanced, fancy pants, 1.3 liter inline-4...expect 100-120 horsepower?  It should be enough to get the ~1500 lb racer moving very well.

The 1995 restoration on this car is  starting to look a bit old, with non-coated/stainless parts showing corrosion and the entire thing is very dirty.  It is probably something that could be touched up by a DIY mechanic but it isn't worth trying to turn this back into a street car.

With all the ways to spend your kid's college funds on a overpriced racer, this cheap one makes the most sense.  You'll still need a few grand per weekend to campaign it in anything competitive but your worthless kids don't deserve your money anyway.  See a better cheap track rat? tips@dailyturismo.com