Original FIAT 124 / 2000

Hi ,

Had a 74 1800 orange ( oriental yellow) w/ tan top back in 1987. It was my first personal car back in med school given to me by my Dad. I only used it for dates . The girls loved it as long as they dont rode in it. Our country is in the tropics. And its hot & humid and did not have A/C. It was reliable , was fun to drive ,& leaked a little oil in the garage. When I had a first ride on a 308 GT4 & GTB the smell , seat adjustments , controls and gauges reminded me of my 124 Spider. I miss the car and I regretted trading it in for a 450SL .

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Bought in 1996 or so, restored it over 5 years, and then had to sell it in 2003 so to have garage space for my then-new-to-me 308.
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Had a '71 1800 back in the '70s, with the bolt-on hardtop for winter.
The oil seals for the distributor were back-ordered forever.
Had to keep cleaning the oil residue off the points.
Every time I pulled up to a light, the oil dripping on the exhaust would have people telling me my engine was on fire.

When I replaced it with an Alfa Spider, in '79, the Alfa felt *huge* by comparison.

 

My '74 in fly yellow.

This photo is from a couple summers ago when I drove it from CO to MN and back - a well behaved road car, but I avoided the interstates.

'74 was the last year for the little chrome bumpers, but got the 1.8 and the battery in the rear.

1.8 litre, dual carb conversion, big cams, high compression pistons, konis & springs, bwa wheels, lots of fun!
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Any if those have ac?

 

They were ragtops.

Even the higher price Alfa only had aircon as an optional extra.

Convertibles were nearly extinct in the US, in the '70s, due to insurance biases of the time.
The few imports rarely had AC.

 

AC and automatic transmissions (3 speeds!) were available options, though very rare, from about 1980 onward. The air was dealer installed, not factor installed.

 

One thing I remember about mine was that the headlight wiring ran all over the place -- dash mounted switch, column mounted switch, etc.
By the time the wiring got to the headlamps, themselves, there was only about 9v across the bulbs.

I spent months trying to devise a SCR/Thyristor circuit for rally lights (with a young '70s engineer's bias for solid state) before I gave up and concluded that relays were a reasonable choice for cars.

 

Timeless in its beauty.

 

1/3 the cylinders/experience of driving at 275GTS at, what, 1/125th of the cost? I'd love to see an early 124 Spider alongside a 275GTS to register the similarities. I drove a friends car in the early 70's a lot, and while it may have handled a bit better than my Duetto it didn't look or sound as good.

 

Yes.

Lower the sunvisors

Pull the two buckles on the inside of the windshield.

Push the top over your head until it rests in the rear deck.

All the AC you need!

 

Believe it or not I had an MGB with this (dealer installed AC). Completely ruined a car that was already ruined.

In Phoenix it was a fairly common practice for dealers to install AC in all sorts of cars.

If you look at all the 2 seat 2 place foreign sports cars of that era in this price range the 124 spider and the Alfa spider were clearly at the top (the Alfa being the most expensive). Nothing MG or Triumph made came even close to looks, performance, and even to reliability (which sounds shocking).

Their biggest enemy is rust, poor maintenance, over use, battle damage, and a weak front cross member along with upper and lower arm bushings.

But the 124 was one of the best selling exported Fiats in their history. And even today its easy to see why.

 

Also is was designed by Tom Tjarda an American living in Italy who is better known for the panteta.

To my eyes way more beautiful than any other period roadster.

How do they drive compared to the alfa

 

Alfa spiders are better and less crude. But the 124 has its own charm.

 

I worked and saved my pennies and bought my first car in 1979, a 1974 Fiat Spider. It was dark green with a tan interior. I loved that car and I thought I was so cool driving it. It was way ahead of its time: dual overhead cam engine, four-wheel disc brakes, five-speed transmission, great styling, you could raise and lower the top from the driver's seat, and it even had intermittent wipers! I stupidly let a "friend" drive the car to go visit/impress a girl and he drove too fast through a corner and hit a tree head on. Unfortunately, he survived, with only a large laceration to his scalp. Several years ago, I found an exact duplicate of my old car on ebay and bought it sight unseen from California and had it shipped. It's still a great car and it brought back memories of high school and my old girlfriend sitting in the passenger seat...
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I replaced my '71 Fiat 124 with a '79 Alfa Spider in '79.

There was a stretch of two-lane road on the way to work, where people would just sit in line, too close together to pass them one at a time.

In the Fiat, I'd wait until there was a long stretch, then pull out and keep my foot planted to the floor until I passed three cars and then pull back in and ease back to speed.

The first time I tried that in the Alfa, the pass "seemed" quicker, and when I pulled back in and glanced at the speedo, I'd left double digits behind.

The Alfa seemed huge in comparison to the Fiat, but it was more precise and had better brakes.
(For it's day. In comparison to today's EVO with it's multi-pot Brembos, the Alfa has a scary long stopping distance.)

The Alfa also seems to have a more solid suspension.
The front upper shock mounts on the Fiat were just sheet metal.
I sheared one of them off on a rally in the pine barrens, when a previous stage runner kicked sand up onto the braking zone.

I had lots of fun with that little Fiat. (I still remember "flying" it like a tie-fighter on the way home from seeing "Star Wars" in the theater. )

But I still own that Alfa I bought new in '79.
(I'm thinking of upgrading the brakes, after I rebuild the fuel pumps.)

 

My brother bought a used 78 1800 in the 1980's as his first car. Red, with 4 different tires on it....only one of the four tires was a pirelli

The paint & interior was a little faded, but small rust and no rips in the top or interior- but...the motor ran like a top!! It would occasionally pop out of one of the gears (I think 2nd?) He only had it about 1-2 years... We only had room for 1 car in the family garage & I sold it for him literally the night before my '78 911 showed up and took the open garage space (a few months before I had my license- mowed lawns and saved money from age 12 to 17 to buy that 911! I had put about 20 coats of liquid glass on the car by the time I got my license )

 

Hi guys ,

Whats your opinion regarding roadstersalon ( see at roadstersalon.com ) FIAT 124 Spider Rebuilds price ranging from 19K to 79K + the chassis you'll provide. Check out their website. Wish I could post a link but I dont know how.

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I bought a 1981 124 Spider used in the 85 timeframe. Always thought they looked better than the Alfa Spiders. Drove that car year round and never failed to start even on the coldest NY winter days. The softop was a one hand operation both up and down, no reason for a power assist with that top. I think 80/81 was the 1st yr for fuel injection, made a big difference for reliability IMO.

Roadster Salon shows some very pretty Fiat Spiders, quite desirable but the prices to me seem insane. They are very nice though.

 

I have had my 82 Fiat Spider 2000 - red over tan - for about twenty five years.
I drive the wheels off of it although it only comes out when it's dry.
It's been completely reliable and it's a blast to drive. It's also really cheep to maintain.
I highly recommend them.
I'd find one if you are inclined as I think the prices are starting to go up.

 

Hi ,

I agree regarding the prices Roadster salon is asking is insane.

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Owned a '79 for six years fairly recently. Nice car -- still my wife's favorite of the one's I've owned while I've known her. The 2L cars have a lot of torque, but need more cam and carb (plus a de-smog) to get power to where they should be. Did all that to mine, along with Cromodora CD30 Abarth wheels, an original factory-issue Pininfarina hardtop, and IAP (no longer in business) springs and rear sway bar. Did a couple vintage rallies in the car and enjoyed it very much. My old car is currently living in Jamaica with the owner of a resort there.

 

My first car was an '80 Fiat Spider 2000 (FI) in dark green. Loved it. Brakes were horrible, of course, with the floating-caliper design, but were tolerable after replacing the always-leaky rear brake compensator and adjusting the rod linkage correctly. Exhaust mounting guaranteed replacing parts a few times a year (mostly the rear muffler, but eventually the mid-section and manifold as well). Nothing better than banging away for a few hours to separate the rear muffler, while rust bits are showering your face.

Hopefully I was the only one who learned that the non-fused main cable from the trunk-mounted battery to the starter routes right by the clutch pedal pivot. I mean, who would expect that using the clutch slowly wears away at the insulation on this cable until it finally shorts and burns? Amazingly, the wire burned through before the whole car ignited, so this was just another easily-repaired incident.

Really easy to work in the engine. Enjoyed the 20-step cooling system bleed procedure necessitated by the bleed valve not being the highest part of the system (thanks to the all-important throttle plate heater at the top of the engine). But, if you open anything and don't bleed correctly, you're guaranteed an air bubble and overheating.

Learn to pack flat, and the trunk space becomes viable. One set of golf clubs in the trunk and another behind the seats, and you and a buddy are set for a day at the course.

Loved the notchy direct feel of the 5-speed. Even more so than on the new 1993 Alfa Spider (yellow/black) that eventually replaced the Fiat. Otherwise, the Alfa gives you infinitely better brakes, more power, working (for a while at least) A/C, and a leaky hydraulic clutch.

All-in-all, the Fiat was a perfect first car for me. The Alfa was a perfect replacement. Wish I still had them both, but each had to go to make room for the next 2-seat Italian convertible upgrade.

 

OK, now I've seen exactly two Spiders in yellow. The first was a car my mechanic was preparing as a gift for his daughter - the paint was Ferrari Giallo Modena, not the car's original color. Do you have any idea if yellow was original on your car?