There’s a Fiat 850 for sale not too far from me. The ad caught my eye, because I love rear-engined Fiats. This one looks like a decent candidate for restoration, but the way it’s being sold is peculiar. The owner is pitching it as a huge carrying case for a pair of headlights, and maybe some wheels.
Here’s the full ad:
Right there in the headline he’s pushing the “Lamborghini Miura headlights” and the “Dino wheels.” I mean, sure, technically, both the Fiat 850 and the Miura used the same headlight lens and bucket assembly, which you can still find for sale online, for around $600 for the whole assembly.
I mean, the seller’s not wrong, but this sort of thing is hardly uncommon; low-volume exotics used a lot of parts from lesser cars. This would be sort of like selling a clapped out pre-‘67 Beetle as a “Pair of Porsche 356 Headlights in Rolling Case” or maybe a beat-to-shit 2002 VW Passat as a “pair of taillights for an Invicta S1,” or a Nissan 300 ZX as a “Nice set of Lamborghini Diablo Headlights.”
Those may be the same wheels as a Dino, also, but I’m not certain. I’m too distracted by the headlight thing.
Really though, I hope whoever buys this actually restores a nice little 850 Spider and doesn’t go all Oedipal yanking the lights for some improbable project Miura.