Baby classic sports cars do battle: Honda S800 vs Fiat Sport Spider vs MG Midget

Not content with embarrassing Britain’s leaky kick-start motorcycles, Japan was now picking a fight with the top of the sports car pops.

Honda’s contender was unconventional, yet still featured traces of arcane pre-WW2 practice: here was a small, high-revving sub-1-litre sports car that was underpinned by a ladder-frame chassis and, initially at least, chain-drive.

The origins of the S800 date to the 1962 S360, a prototype Soichiro Honda had instigated as a small car for the Japanese market.

He briefed the team of young engineers to give the S360 a competition flavour, and that the car must be something they themselves would like to own.

Although not produced, the prototype evolved into the Japan-only S500.

The sweet, high-revving ‘four’ is tiny but punches well above its weight

The S360’s 33bhp 356cc ‘four’, which had been developed from Honda’s tiny T360 truck unit, grew into a 44bhp, 531cc motor.

In 1964 the S600 came along – bringing with it a new fixed-head-coupé sister – and was powered by a 57bhp 606cc engine.

The S600 was the first Honda car to be mass-produced and offered in left-hand-drive markets, paving the way for the 791cc, 70bhp S800 in 1966, which went on sale in Britain in 1967.

The cleaner, safer S800M was introduced in 1968, but it never reached its intended US market.

Ironically, the star-spangled home of the gas-guzzler claimed that the little Honda was too dirty. Production ended in 1970.

The diminutive Honda makes a compelling case for itself

Outside and in, there is a hint of the Midget about Neil Barber’s restored 1967 S800, which is a favourite among his collection.

Although there is marginally less room, the slightly offset driving position and the gentle shiver of scuttle shake will be familiar to MG owners.

The S800 experience, though, is dominated by the unique persona of its bombastic miniature engine.

A glimpse of the 11,000rpm rev counter raises a smile that never quite leaves your face.

The Honda’s gearbox is a delight to use

Once on the move, initially there is a bit of cam chatter overlaying the chanting gears. The tiny gearstick for the four-speed ’box is so light and precise it’s like flicking a toggle switch.

The throttle, though, has to be shut off crisply to avoid riding the clutch.

There is a slight flat-spot in the middle of the bottom half of this car’s rev range, but the twin-cam, quad-carb star attraction soon clears its fluffiness in second gear at 35mph and 5000rpm.

At first there is an almost abrupt, Wankel-esque blatting from the wicked little fiend, then it’s as if you’re in the midst of a wailing dive-bomber raid as the tacho needle spins around to 9000rpm.

Each one of this classic trio is a treat, especially when the sun is shining

The Honda doesn’t need a fifth gear, for that would spoil the fun and dilute its manic nature.

The sound is like a howling motorcycle while the keening gears climb in their intensity, creating a glorious noise that must be bothering the next county.

The brake pedal is sharp and effective, if a bit wooden – rather like the steering. Jump off the throttle and it spits and pops on the overrun like a ring-a-ding-ding two-stroke.

The ride is fine and, away from the straight and narrow, the nimble S800 rolls slightly, but it flies around corners with only a touch of front floatiness.

Dynamically it does everything well but, to be blunt, the chassis’ main job is to cradle a headline-grabbing motor that’s capable of providing the maximum performance from the fewest cubic centimetres.

The Fiat could only be bought new in the UK if by special order

It took a while, but Fiat had obviously noticed how well tuners and coachbuilders had been doing with its factory underpinnings.

Firms as diverse as Siata, Moretti and Abarth had either fitted new bodies or bolstered the base Fiats’ performance, but these specialist machines were produced on a tiny scale compared to the appetite of the sports car export market.

The basis for the 1965 Spider was Project 100G, the 850, which evolved from the 1955 600 and was designed to counter the Simca 1000.

As one member of a family of 850s – along with the saloon, the Multipla-replacing Familiare and the Coupé – this incy-wincy Spider differed from its siblings in having been designed and built by Bertone rather than in-house.

The Spider is also unique in this trio in that it was available only by special order in the UK.

The Fiat’s Bertone styling still impresses today

The pretty 843cc Spider made the most of having its drivetrain mounted in the rear: it featured a low, sleek front end with an elegant nose – a shape that stands out in our group today.

Its clean lines were diluted slightly in the 1968 Sport Spider makeover, which brought larger, repositioned headlamps, plus a 52bhp, 903cc iteration of the overhead-valve engine fed by a single twin-choke carburettor.

The Sport Spider is the only model here to have been directly replaced by its manufacturer. Tim Milnes’ 1973 Sport Spider is a US-market Series III built during the final few months of production alongside the first of the X1/9s.

Restored 30 years ago and fitted with uprated front brakes, high-backed X1/9 seats and 124 Spider alloys, the car is used frequently.

The later interior lacks some of the chrome-laden charm of the early cars, but it’s still chic

The nonconformist Spider might stand alone with its sleek styling, but the driving position is typically Italian.

The narrow pedalbox is so offset it feels as if it’s located in the passenger footwell, while your knees are caressed by the steering wheel.

The wood-effect dash trim, meanwhile, strives for a degree of sophistication that isn’t present in the front-engined pair.

The Spider’s steering box is sharper and quicker than the Honda’s rack; it’s also incredibly consistent from lock-to-lock, without any slop or dithering, but it does lack the feel of rack and pinion.

The lively original 843cc ‘four’ grew to 903cc (as here) from 1968, and with a single twin-choke carb it musters 52bhp

It scampers around corners with minimal roll, while the absence of weight over the front makes the suspension bop slightly over the road’s furrows, lumps and bumps.

As well as being the largest car here, the Spider is also the most refined, its sweet engine slung way out back sounding almost subdued, and the pleasure of keeping a hold of each mile per hour through every twist and turn becomes almost as addictive as it is easy.

The tractable 903cc ‘four’ shoves you out of corners in a far more progressive manner than the Honda.

The rear-engined 850 is the most refined of the group

The ride is good and there aren’t any suggestions of rear-engined treachery.

The Spider’s throttle is stiffer, while its four-speed gearbox has an easy change with a longer throw and a wider gate, yet is both positive and engages cleanly.

Its brakes combine the best feel and efficiency of the three and, being Italian, the Spider is always up for revving con forza.

The second choke kicks in at 3000rpm and it feels at its most potent from 4-5000rpm, when the exhaust-driven soundtrack is at maximum fizz.

The Midget handled well when new and still thrills today

After the foreign invasion, the Midget feels – and is – the oldest design, with the oldest name and the longest production run.

It is also, arguably, the classic with which most enthusiasts associate the ‘small affordable sports car’ tag.

After a six-year gap in the Midget bloodline, the name returned on a classically BMC proposition: effectively an upmarket, badge-engineered version of the 46bhp, 948cc MkII Austin-Healey Sprite – itself an evolution of the 1958 original.

The 1961 Midget’s pretty cheekiness was the work of Syd Enever and Geoffrey Healey, a design that clearly influenced the Honda.

This tweaked engine gives the little MG added zip

Improvements came thick and fast: in 1962 it was up to 1098cc and 56bhp; the MkII of ’64 got 59bhp; and maximum Midget was achieved in 1966 with the MkIII as featured here, powered by a detuned 65bhp 1275cc A-series from the Mini Cooper ‘S’.

Later iterations concentrated on aesthetics, until 1974 when the Spridget’s looks and handling were brutalised to satisfy US safety regulations, and it suffered the ignominy of having the engine from its Canley rival, the Triumph Spitfire, foisted upon it.

The Midget finally died in 1979, without a son and heir.

The specification of Mike Guest’s 1969 MkIII Midget does warrant scrutiny, because it has been modified in the way a keen 1960s owner might have done.

Guest has mixed and matched modern versions of period go-faster elements that were available from the likes of Downton, BMC Special Tuning and Speedwell.

The non-standard wheel helps in the MG’s cramped cabin; familiar wire wheels

In essence, this Downton-spec 1293cc Midget is the car Abingdon refused to build, after evaluating a Cooper ‘S’-engined Midget and finding that its pace was enough to bite at the MGB’s heels.

Nothing is superfluous in or on the Midget.

The narrowest car here, it has the roomiest pedalbox despite it also being home to a headlamp dipper switch that doubles up as a clutch-foot rest.

There’s enough shoulder room to allow you to sit in it, rather than the feeling that you’re sitting on the Spider or the S800.

The Midget loves curves

Twist the key, give two throttle pumps and the Midget bursts into life with an unfamiliar sound, the guttural snorting of a Weber twin-choke carburettor drowning out the chattering rockers.

It is the least refined of our set, with the firmest ride and the least effective brakes, but that really is the end of the moaning.

The steering is sublime – its weighting, gearing and eagerness to converse are faultless – while the alert front end of this car has been further enhanced by polybushes and an ¹¹⁄₁₆in anti-roll bar.

Tackle a few bends and the Midget places you at the fulcrum of its delicately balanced world, establishing itself as today’s handling king.

It manages to be crisply quick-witted while – just like the other two – avoiding nervousness. To go better, you’d probably need something with Colin Chapman’s initials on its nose.

This example might be modified, but it sounds excellent

It’s unfair to compare a modified car with a largely original pairing, of course, but I’ve driven Spridgets in many a tune and the one consistency has been these cars’ eagerness to dazzle and amuse while scampering over the Tarmac.

In standard SU-fed 1275cc tune, propulsion is of the torquey mid-range variety, with sorties above 4000rpm being accompanied by a breathless thrashiness that pains the ears of anyone with even a moderate amount of mechanical sympathy.

Not here: this 1293cc ode to Downton transforms the A-series’ ability to rev without affecting its road manners, tractability or throttle response, and is the perfect complement to the amicable chassis.

The four-speed gearchange is as mechanically precise as a Lee-Enfield. The aural experience is a rich layer of gossiping gear whine, sidedraught gargling and blatting tailpipe.

From 4500rpm, the hard-edged duet from induction and exhaust dominates the soundtrack. Not that revving it hard is necessary, because 50mph comes up at 3000rpm in top, and 60mph at 3300rpm – bang in the middle of the 1293’s torque band.

Behind the wheel of this Midget

So which is best? It’s a personal question with a personal answer.

The Midget wasn’t just huge fun, but it transported me back to being 19 again, acting like a welcome smile in a world full of frowns.

Depending on your priorities, however – be it style, handling or powerplant – there is an obvious choice for you to pick.

What might not be so obvious is that these little marvels are capable of serving up far greater thrills than their modest specifications would suggest. Thrills that can – and frequently do – surpass those delivered by far more exotic offerings, with equally rarefied price-tags.

Images: Will Williams

Thanks to Honda S800 Sports Car Club; Midget and Sprite Club; Fiat Motor Club GB

Factfiles

Honda S800 Sport

• Sold/number built 1966-’70/11,536
• Construction steel body, steel chassis
• Engine all-alloy, dohc 791cc ‘four’, quad constant-vacuum carburettors
• Max power 70bhp @ 8000rpm
• Max torque 49lb ft @ 6000rpm
• Transmission four-speed manual, RWD
• Suspension: front independent, by wishbones, torsion bars, anti-roll bar rear live axle, coil springs, trailing arms, Panhard rod; telescopic dampers f/r
• Steering rack and pinion
• Brakes discs front, drums rear
• Length 10ft 11¼in (3334mm)
• Width 4ft 7¼in (1403mm)
• Height 4ft (1219mm)
• Wheelbase 6ft 7in (2007mm)
• Weight 1700lb (771kg)
• 0-60mph 13.6 secs
• Top speed 97mph
• Mpg 28
• Price new £935 (1968, inc PT)
• Price now £15-30,000
    

Fiat 850 Sport Spider SIII

• Sold/number built 1965-’73/124,000
• Construction all-steel monocoque
• Engine iron-block, alloy-head, ohv 903cc ‘four’, single twin-choke carb
• Max power 52bhp @ 5200rpm
• Max torque 48lb ft @ 4000rpm
• Transmission four-speed manual, RWD
• Suspension independent, at front by wishbones, transverse leaf spring rear semi-trailing arms, coil springs; telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar f/r
• Steering worm and sector
• Brakes discs front, drums rear
• Length 12ft 5in (3782mm)
• Width 4ft 11in (1501mm)
• Height 4ft (1219mm)
• Wheelbase 6ft 7¾in (2027mm)
• Weight 1624lb (745kg)
• 0-60mph 16.2 secs
• Top speed 93mph
• Mpg 35
• Price new Not listed in UK
• Price now £10-20,000
    

MG Midget MkIII

• Sold/number built 1966-’69/13,722
• Construction steel monocoque
• Engine all-iron, ohv 1275cc ‘four’, twin SU carburettors (single Weber here)
• Max power 65bhp @ 6000rpm
• Max torque 72lb ft @ 3000rpm
• Transmission four-speed manual, RWD
• Suspension: front independent, by wishbones, coil springs rear live axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs; lever-arm dampers f/r
• Steering rack and pinion
• Brakes discs front, drums rear
• Length 11ft 3in (3461mm)
• Width 4ft 5in (1345mm)
• Height 4ft 1in (1264mm)
• Wheelbase 6ft 8in (2032mm)
• Weight 1512lb (686kg)
• 0-60mph 14.1 secs
• Top speed 94mph
• Mpg 30
• Price new £683 18s 2d
• Price now £5-13,000

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