People's choice

The diminutive but multi-million-selling Fiat 850 packed a remarkable diversity of form and function into its compact footprint

- SIMON HUCKNALL

Wasn't the world a far more interesting place when cars had a genuine national identity? Not by dint of slapping a badge on a Eurobox with a mildly restyled body, underpinning it with a chassis and mechanicals common to 14 other brands and 100-odd other models; but cars that you chose simply because they were British, German, Italian or whatever, and because their then well-defined characteristics aligned with your buying criteria - or perhaps even attuned with your own sensibilities.

The Fiat 850 was one such car. Like the rearengined 600 and Nuova 500 models that had gone before, it was archetypically Italian, from its zingy, rev-happy engine to its pert and petite lines, no matter the derivative. While the 850 was little more than essential transport for millions in basic Normale or Familiare guises, it also created an enthusiast following with sporty Coupé and Spider versions, each of which looked like little doses of scaled-down exotica. All four are here with us today, and instantly the world is a happier place.

It is slightly ironic that Dante Giacosa, Fiat's legendary design engineer and father of the 500, 600 and 850 models, became a poster boy for front-wheel drive in his final years, establishing with the Primula - from (Fiatowned) Autobianchi and the Fiat 128 a template for most modern front-drive cars.

But launching that technology en masse would have been commercial suicide 60 years ago, especially in Italy where Fiat held 70% of the new-car market and most buyers were well used to rear-engined, rear-drive motoring.