Who’s ready for some open-air fun up in the high country? For your viewing enjoyment today, I have found two tiny convertibles from the Rocky Mountains. They’re both nice bright colors, and in what might be a first here, they’re both just under one liter of displacement.
One of yesterday’s cars had a tiny engine too, but it didn’t do it any good. Uniqueness and a manual gearbox wasn’t nearly enough to pull votes for the Daihatsu Charade. Kermit the Frog’s Ford ZX2 beat it by a country mile. I guess being both cheaper and in better condition made up for its slushbox.
I have to agree. If the prices were equal, and the Charade didn’t need tires right away, I might feel different; I do like small hatchbacks with stickshifts. But I had a regular Escort with an automatic for years, and it was fine. I wouldn’t mind this one with an automatic and more power.
“Welcome To Colorful Colorado,” a large friendly sign announces when you enter the state. And they’re not kidding. Between the wildflowers, the forests, and even the rocks themselves in some places, the big rectangular state is anything but boring. Well, except for the eastern third; that drive down Interstate 76 from Ogallala, Nebraska to Denver gets pretty tedious. Today’s cars add even more variety to the palette, and offer plenty of outward visibility to let you enjoy the sights. Let’s check them out.
1973 Fiat 850 Spider – $3,750
Engine/drivetrain: 903 cc OHV inline-4, four-speed manual, RWD
Location: Denver, CO
Odometer reading: 86,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives, but needs brake work
There’s a fact about project cars that non-car-people don’t know: they’re never finished. Nope, not even that 100-point restored Hemi Cuda gleaming on the auction block. There’s always something to do on an old car. Most of us never get to that flawless Mecum status anyway; we make do with some rust spots and dents, and live with minor mechanical problems for years. That doesn’t make the car any less fun, or the owner any less proud, or having to sell a car before you’re done with it any less difficult. The seller of this little green Fiat has done a lot to it already, but life has gotten in the way, and now it’s time for a new steward to carry on the work.
Fiat revolutionized automobile design with the front-wheel-drive 128, but before that, its small cars were rear-engined and rear-wheel-drive. The 850 range consisted of a two-door sedan, a small van, a fastback coupe, and this two-seat convertible Spider. Looking at all four side-by-side, you’d never guess they shared the same underpinnings; they look completely different. 1973 was the final year of production, and only the Spider was still available. It’s powered by a 903 cc pushrod four-cylinder, mounted longitudinally behind the rear axle. It only makes 47 horsepower, but the Spider weighs 500 pounds less than an NA Mazda Miata, so it doesn’t need much. The seller has gone through the fuel system and tuned it up, and it runs just fine. It also has new tires. However, trailering it home is recommended, because it still needs new brakes.
The interior is a mixed bag; the door panels look nice, but the seats have covers on them, and I imagine they need reupholstering. The dash top is cracked in several places, but a new dash is included – probably bought years ago, just waiting for the time to take it all apart and replace it. It has an aftermarket-looking hard top on it, and comes with the soft top frame, but it sounds like the fabric is MIA. Both seat upholstery kits and top fabric kits are available to fix it up.
Outside, it’s colorful, and has a lot of stripes. As befitting an Italian car, the color scheme echoes the tricolore Italian flag. The stripes and lettering on the doors are confusing; I’m not sure why they’re only on the doors, and don’t carry over onto the fenders. It looks a little strange. The whole thing could use repainting anyway; the green paint is blotchy, like it’s been touched up over the years. And yes, it does have a little rust, but if you’re scared of rust, don’t buy an old Fiat.
1993 Geo Metro LSi Convertible – $3,500
Engine/drivetrain: 993 cc OHC inline-3, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Lone Tree, CO
Odometer reading: 102,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Of all the great cars of the early 1990s, the one I never expected to still be in demand thirty years later is the Geo Metro. This little Suzuki-built three-cylinder wonder just won’t fade from relevance. I guess it makes sense, in a way: it’s tough, easy to fix, and fun to drive, as long as you aren’t in a hurry. The vast majority of them are hatchbacks, of course, but for a couple of years, this convertible version was available. You lost the back seat and most of the cargo space, but gained a whole lot of headroom.
The Metro’s engine is a study in minimalism: three cylinders, one overhead camshaft, throttle-body fuel injection, and a total lack of pretense. It also has a really distinctive exhaust note that makes it sound more powerful than it is. You could get a Metro with a three-speed automatic, but trust me, you don’t want one. This one has the standard five-speed manual, which is the only sane choice. It just had its head gasket replaced, and a new clutch was installed at the same time, It runs great, according to the seller, but is hard to start sometimes; it sounds to me like the fuel pump might be a little weak.
It has a couple of minor upgrades inside, including a nice wooden shift knob and a steering wheel from a Suzuki Swift GT. It also has the post-facelift dashboard, which is much nicer than the earlier version. It all looks to be in pretty good shape, though there’s no telling what’s lurking under that dash cover.
The minor improvements continue outside, with taillights and wheels from a Swift as well, probably the same one. Upgrading your car with a few bits from a fancier model in the junkyard is a time-honored cheap car tradition. The paint isn’t great, and there are some dents and dings, but it’s rust-free.
With safety regulations the way they are these days, it’s unlikely we’ll ever see small, lightweight convertibles like these for sale again. And I think that’s a shame; I really like them. These both have the potential to be a lot of fun. All you have to do is decide which end you want to carry the engine.
I’m not too interested in the Geo when it’s up against something I consider more “classic”. In comparison, the Geo it just an old car.
The Fiat looks like something that fits my skill level and would be fun, to boot. Fix it again, Balloondoggle.
Both of these are absolutely delightful and joyful death traps. The Metro is marginally more of a death trap because it will actually run long enough to get out of your neighborhood.
But I picked it anyway. Love that raspberry color!
Death traps are my favorite type of car.
My guess is the car without brakes is marginally more a death trap
Tough call today. I went with the Metro.
I drove a Metro once… once. Got one as a rental car many years ago. After driving about a block from the rental office, I flipped a bitch and demanded a different car. It was the most miserable riding car I’ve ever driven.
OTOH, that FIAT is adorable in its perky little red, white and green livery. I’ll take the Rustian FIAT please!
Tough choice. Both have their charms, but neither are particularly good deals or something I want to own. That being said, I like the colors of both. I’ve said it before and I presume I will continue saying it again for all eternity, but more cars need to come in fun colors.
As for my vote, I went with the Fiat. I find the Metro convertible interesting in the same way I find a Yugo interesting. It is rare and unusual, but not necessarily good. It appeals mostly as a novelty. Sure, its fuel economy is good even compared to modern hybrids, but it achieves that by being a one-trick pony. It suck at any task aside from sipping fuel.
The Fiat is also a novelty, but I think I could enjoy it as a car as well. It looks like it would be fun to drive. Also, some thought went into styling, unlike the Metro. I think this car looks nice. Overall, the Fiat appeals both as a novelty and as a car, so it should win.
I’m not opposed to Metros but I cannot take that color seriously.
The Fiat is a bit goofy looking but I’ve never seen one in person and it looks like a hoot.
I’ll take the Fiat, and keep Bayless on speed dial.
Maybe it’s just me but these both look like they’d be driven by somebody who calls themselves Captain something or another in spite of never having been an actual captain of any sort
Captain Morgan, perhaps, who’d drive it down to the inflatable kayak club. But with full self-awareness, because both of these are all about whimsy (even if the Fiat is more classically sporting), for better or worse.
Cmon now, I’m the captain of our co-ed softball team. Ok you got me, former captain….
I’m going to go with the Fiat, mainly because it reminds me of a fun but culturally stereotyped character in some car-based cartoon or movie. I danced around that one, didn’t I?
Metro, but I’d need to paint it with rattle cans from Ace Hardware.
Especially the air cleaner. Yuck!
I’m assuming that’s how it got the current color? I can’t imagine they came that way.
I still miss my Metro. I’d rather have a hatch, but at least it’s a manual.
in 1970 while stationed in Germany I bought a 68 Fiat 850 Coupe. Several months after purchase I finally got a 4 day pass and was on my way to Holland when there was a loud bang from the engine near Cologne. Turns out the crankshaft broke in half. I’ll take the Geo please !
Like a sailor who forgoes the earplugs, I find myself inextricably drawn to the jagged rocks by the Fiat’s song. It’s a bad idea but I just cannot turn away.
The Geo is probably a better choice if you’re looking for more of a daily.
But I drove one in ’91 when I worked at a dealer, it tied for the most gutless I’ve ever driven with my friend’s 88 Hyundai Excel. And it felt like it flexed going over every bump.
The Fiat is what you’re driving to Cars and Coffee on a pretty Saturday morning, then for a nice cruise around some country roads. The charm, the paint job. Yeah, it’s a Fiat but I’m not buying it to daily to work 5/week.
I had a ’71 850 orange Spider as a yoot. I was 22, and it was 1979. I loved blasting pop rock as I sped (or close to it) down The Garden State Parkway.
Learning about oversteer on tight exit ramps was a blast!!
The Fiat had me before I even opened the article.
3 brothers (2, my neighbors) used to run a family junkyard business less than a mile from my place. It was awesome having a field full of parts cars always at your disposal; they would never charge me so I’d have to figure out creative ways to repay them.
Anyway, 1 brother was collecting those Metro convertibles. He loved them because they were cheap and fun and got great fuel economy, 40 – 50 mpg he claimed. I still think he has 2 or 3 of them.
I’m pretty sure my non-car friends, neighbors, and colleagues have figured this out by inspection.
Dang, this is HARD.
That Fiat is charming as all h*ck, and if I were even a tiny bit handier (or had garage space), it’d be my pick. But Barbie’s Dream Metro is cute too, and probably more likely to be reasonably reliable. We’ll take the Geo, and start by peeling those stickers off the aft end.
Oh you’ll have to fight me for that Metro. I’d gleefully daily that all summer long!
the sheer number of them that were dragged behind motor homes and eventually stored in the summer home in texas or florida should mean you can find a Blue or Yellow one pretty easily these days.
What’s wrong with Magenta?
Nothing, jut not as plentiful in my experience. Magenta Metallic is pretty close to Plum Crazy. I like the color but there are plenty that do not.
We may have to fight then, that thing is awesome!
So, it’s a choice between a car that you don’t want to drive, but will run forever, and another that you do want to drive, but will never run.
Sums it perfectly
pretty much. But you might be inclined to try to at least fix the Fiat, or if you had plenty of project car cash, I would almost think the EV West VW ev conversion kit would work in the little roadster.
But this brings me to something I feel like we gloss over and poopoo, and that is the Fiata. I liked the Fiat 124 styling far more than the miata of the day, but was not in the market for one and I probably would have gone SKY redline were I looking for a 4 wheeled weekend motorcycle alternative. But that brings me back to the fact that I saw a Fiata in the movie Old Guard 2 and I am wondering if they are making a comeback…like would you rather have a Fiata over say an old but restored Fiat 850?
Stock-bodied, that Fiat will be roughly as efficient as a Lucid Air, at least at lower speeds, and greatly worse at highway speeds, because its Cd value sucks. It does have an exceptionally small frontal area and if given an aero-hardtop with a front air dam, it has great potential. As is, that front is going to induce lots of lift and that convertible top lots of drag.
There isn’t much room for batteries, so if you want decent range, addressing the aero is necessary. If you did so, you could easily have a 1,500-ish lb rocket on wheels with enough horsepower and torque to keep up with a supercar. This does have potential to be a < 0.15 kWh/mile car at highway speeds with aero work. And if you do that EV conversion, you’re going to want more suspension than the car comes with, as well as chassis reinforcements and a replacement of most of the existing mechanicals because the electric motor torque will rip it apart.
I think it would be worth the effort and expense. But it would be cheaper and less time intensive to find a Fisher Fury kit car and do similar, and you’ll have something even smaller, lighter, faster, and more efficient than the Fiat could be.
A liter bike engine swap would be far easier for this Fiat, and every bit as fun.
I think the Beetle conversion get maybe 100 miles on a charge, as you allude to battery space is not huge, and the suspension could not handle a lot of them either. basically you just swap drivetrain weights with maybe a little on the top. But it would be kind of fun since it would basically be a toy you occasionally drove to work.
I do feel like this would have been a good plan for many of the odd old cars out there with Lucas electrics or questionable reliability coupled with unobtanium parts. but those kits are not getting any cheaper, so I get it that nobody would likely buy a 40K Fiat 850 that only went 100 miles on a charge and likely could only be charged in a level 2 stations at best.
Basically how the gods punished Tantalus.
The Fiat is just begging for an engine swap from a liter bike.
Hayabruschetta.
Unpopular opinion; that Fiat is goofy looking. It’s like 30% of the car is in front of the front wheels.
I won’t fit in a fiat. And not much better in metro. So I’ll take whichever I can get my long legs into.
The Metro convertible is actually pretty roomy. When they took out the back seat, it opened things up a bit. There is storage room behind the seats and a roomy trunk as well.
The purple one for sale here needs body work and paint, but at that point it will be ready for another 75-100K miles with just basic maintenance. Parts are easy on Rock Auto.
The Fiat looks like a good example of that model, probably better than most that have not been restored. It would need its fair share of restoration (brakes, seats, fuel system). I had a friend with a Fiat convertible when I was in college, and for years (and many mechanics) he could never get it to run quite right. My auto parts counter days also included taking care of Fiat buyers who swore they would never own another Fiat. I love the style and it is definitely a classic, but like most people, Fiat’s reliability reputation is pretty much spot-on.
I already have a great summertime convertible. I guess I could make the Fiat a go-kart.
Never thought I would see one of these where the Metro is the most powerful car being offered.
The video of the Fiat blasting through that neighborhood at full chat sold me, as did the convenient spare-parts rack on the engine cover.
The Fiat comes with a Haynes manual (on the driver’s seat), and the Geo comes with a funnel (in the engine compartment). For those who can not decide, perhaps the freebie will sway your decision.