Seat 850 Lujo Coupe

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Launched in 1964, the Dante Giacosa-designed Fiat 850 was an evolution of the popular Fiat 600 which had made its debut nearly 10 years previously.

Beautifully proportioned like all Giacosa’s cars, the little two-door saloon was powered by an 843cc rear-mounted water-cooled engine with 37bhp which gave it a top speed of 78mph. Estate and van versions were also available but prettiest of all was the sporty Coupe version which made its debut at the 1965 Geneva Motor Show.

Cute and perky with a wonderfully cheeky face, it was designed by Fiat’s Centro Stilo (under Boano) and had more than a whiff of scaled-down Dino about it. Fitted with a more powerful, rev-happy 52bhp engine and a taller final drive, it had a top speed of 98mph. To further differentiate it from the lesser models, the Coupe also had sports seats, a sports steering wheel and twin instrument binnacles ahead of the driver with a dash of wood veneer.

Weighing just 720kg it also had front disc brakes and excellent handling which made it a hoot to drive. A natural contender for the race track, the Coupe was eminently tunable and companies like Abarth were soon turning out hotter versions which ran rings around much more powerful machines on continental race circuits. It was also made under licence in Spain under the Seat brand.

This Spanish-built Seat 850 Coupe dates from March 1968 and was imported to the UK in September 2017. The Lujo badge suggests it is a Deluxe model while a couple of documents on file suggest that it was in use in Seville prior to export, with what looks like a Spanish MOT and certificate of title, but as our Spanish is muy limitado you will have to satisfy yourselves on that score. It has certainly passed our own MOT test, although this expired in September 2018 and it has only seen limited use on private land since arriving here.

Starting promptly and running well as we moved it around for these photos, it has not yet been UK registered but does have a NOVA reference which should make this a formality with the requisite DVLA form. There are only a tiny handful of Fiat 850 Coupes in the country and this is probably the only Seat version, so it is sure to arouse mucho curioso wherever it goes.