fiat 124 spider

I've owned a few over the years. A quick summary of my opinion is:

Fun to drive
Typical power for an older gen. 4 banger
Oil leaker
Tend to burn oil over 75K
Typical Italian electrical problems
Good styling
Good sound with Tubi added
Prone to rust so check for bondo with a magnet
Low cost
Comfortable rider
Search for as good an example as budget allows.

 

I had a 1971 Sport Spider with the 1608cc twin cam four. Great car. I had a lot of fun with it. Dont believe all of the crap about Fiats being a bad car. I would take one over an MG any day. That said-they do rust top and bottom so check everywhere. I would replace the timing belt after you buy it too. The pistons will hit the valves if it breaks and the belt and tensioner are cheap and easy to get at.

 

Get a good one with early bumpers, do some Abarth mods, and you have a great Italian driving experience. Now that Alfa Spiders (Duetto's and early Kamm tail cars) are starting to rise these may be the cheapest way to get into topless Italian brio.

 

I had an 1980 2000 that I absolutely loved. I actually remember going to the beach once with 4 of us young adults... amazing to think 2 people surviving 50 miles in the back seat of that thing. Only problem was it kept getting broken into- I personally replaced the canvas top myself twice (they only cost $150 back then!) and both times had to do the radio and the center console the bums trashed getting the $50 radio. But they are really easy to work on.

While I was on a business trip my wife had someone make an offer and we took it on the spot- I think I actually made $ on that car.

You have heard all the usual FIAT issues- potential for rust being the biggest I think. Definitely power properly for the chassis, but imagine a spider with a 328 or 348 engine?

 

The Fiat twincam was around forever and the Spider was available w/turbo or you could easily slap on the Volumex supercharger or race engine w/ dual carbs or swap in most modern and developed version of the engine from a Lancia Delta Integrale. Plenty of get up and go.

 

Good list. You can fix the oil leaks by adding sleeves between the head and the block like Alfa did.

I would add terrible seat pans to the list. They flex, break, etc. Just get decent aftermarket seats.

 

Ran into this link today, and saw that among a lot of cool classics a late series 124 spider is coming up for sale, no reserve:

http://www.auctionsamerica.com/events/feature-lots.cfm?SaleCode=AS14&ID=r1183&Order=runorder&feature=&collection=&grouping=The%20John%20Scotti%20Collection&category=

 

I own a 1977 model and once property maintained, they are very reliable cars. My mechanic said he can keep it running forever with all of the spares he has assembled. And I believe him. They are basic engineering with carbs, minimal emission equipment, etc. Some prefer the original models that look the most like the Ferrari Californias. With only 1600 cc, the engines have no torque but are rev happy. Others perfer the more modern 2.0 litre with the fuel injection. That is the 1981 through 84 model. They are the most modern looking and have decent horsepower due to the FI.

I have an 1800 cc engine and it is a good balance between rev happy and torque. They had some chrome bumber years with that engine, and also the rubber bumpers like mine. Overall, good cars that if cared for, should hold their value over time.

Here are a couple of photo's to wet your appitite. One is a group of owners from Germany and the second one is what my car will look like when I get it repainted.

Cheers,

Jeff
Dallas, Texas
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It's been a great car these past six years I've owned it. It's a '79 with the 2L engine, Koni shocks and performance springs, Stebro exhaust, Abarth Cromodora CD30 wheels, hot street cams and a slightly larger single-carb setup. I also have a factory Pininfarina hardtop for it along with some Abarth 124 Rally Stradale flares as on the homologation special, but I haven't installed them yet.
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