Archive › United States › Fiat 850 Spider amphibious conversion
Fiat 850 Spider amphibious conversion
United States · Car
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Type | Car |
| Status | Homemade |
| Use | Civilian |
| Propulsion | |
| Land drive | 4x2 |
| In water | Waterjet |
| Hull | Aluminium |
| Engine | Fiat 900 cc four-cylinder with four-speed gearbox |
Specifications need checking. Some figures here were taken from the archive and have not been confirmed against a source.
This one-off amphibious Fiat 850 Spider was built by an owner in Washington State who turned his 1975 Fiat roadster into a boat-car. With a saw, a large quantity of aluminium and about 25 years of on-and-off engineering, the little Italian sports car became capable of going out on the water.
Design
On land it still uses the Fiat's 900 cc four-cylinder engine and four-speed transmission. For use afloat, a Berkeley jet unit is driven from the crankshaft of the Fiat engine through a clutch mechanism. When the car takes to the water its wheels partly retract into the body, a feature the write-up likened to a James Bond car.
History
The car came to wider notice when it was offered in a no-reserve online auction, with a video showing it on the road and on the water. The archive holds a copy of the web write-up and a set of photographs showing the car and its mechanisms.
3 Photographs
21 photographs in the archive folder. Click any image to view it full size.
4 Related vehicles
Compare the Fiat 850 Spider amphibious conversion with another vehicle.
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