Born from an idea of Nuccio Bertone and designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the FIAT 850 Spider was graceful and full of verve.

Because of its structure, this sporty version appealed to the youthful clientele, who wanted brilliant performance from the car combined with a certain economy in operation.

The first version featured a distinctive front end line, with slanting headlights, inspired by the Chevrolet Corvair Testudo prototype signed by Giorgetto two years earlier: proof that styling exercises on concept cars were never sterile or an end in themselves, but sought aesthetic solutions applicable to mass production.

It was presented at the same time as the coupe version in March 1965 at the Geneva motor show, going to complete FIAT's range of "850" cars.

The car was put on the market in the same year (and remained on the market until 1973), with a wide range of colors: red, dark green, light blue, beige, black and light gray, immediately registering excellent sales figures in Italy, Europe and, above all, in the United States where it was christened "Little Ferrari."

The day of the 850 Spider's launch at the Geneva Motor Show was doubly unforgettable for Giorgetto Giugiaro: March 7, 1965, was in fact also the day of his son Fabrizio's birth.

The technical basis from the body to the engine comes from the Fiat 850 with rear engine and rear-wheel drive. The OTR 1000 was created in several versions, some for company purposes, one version also for customers. In 1965, Abarth and Bertone, who had designed and manufactured the body of the Fiat 850 Spider, built a Berlinetta variant for display purposes; it had a redesigned, fixed-mounted coupe roof on a Spider body-in-white. This body variant eventually went into production in 1968 as the Bertone 850 Racer Berlinetta, but with the production engine from the Fiat 850 Sport Coupé.

The Mazda Luce had some unquestionably unusual proportions for its day: the passenger compartment is quite long with respect to the car body; the window surfaces rise up in a strongly vertical position, almost equalling the sheet metal on the side. On the whole the result was sound and definitely innovative, but perhaps not a complete success. At this point in time Giugiaro was comfortable with sports car shapes, but clearly less so with sedans. His first really successful three-box model came only with the Alfa Romeo 1750 (1967). It must be said, however, that the Mazda Luce clearly anticipated the proportions of European sedans of the Seventies, while it was to remain the only example of a modern three-box sedan in Japan for many years.

Giorgetto Giugiaro’s solution was to aesthetically lighten and streamline the Mustang’s chunky form. At the front, he redesigned the body to sit lower on the chassis, and gave it a lower, sloping nose. Also necessary, were three “power bulges” in the hood, with two sporting small vents. The cowl was also lowered by an inch. The front mask of the Mustang acquired quad headlights hidden behind retractable covers that extended the pattern of the grille across the front of the car. The Mustang symbol, centred on the fascia, was about the only recognizable piece from the original car. At the glasshouse, the sail panels of the Mustang fastback were replaced by a wraparound rear window. Roof pillars were whisper-thin allowing for more glass. The roof was stainless steel; another trick to visually lighten the car. The Mustang became an international hit, winning the Best of Show award at the 1965 New York International Automobile show.