1979 Fiat 124 Spider
Discussion
Weas said:
This was my first car, although mine was badged FSO (or I think we called them Fiat Polski, I hope that doesn't turn out to be offensive!) Mine was bright Orange and indestructible. No street cred for an 18 year old though...
That was based on the old Fiat 125; a larger car than the 124, but of broadly similar proportions and appearance.CharlesdeGaulle said:
Too early to tell about smells and running yet really as the drive is too short to be meaningful. I'll give it a better going over at the weekend.
As for engine shots, I haven't even lifted the bonnet yet!
It was more of a speculative request at some point in the future! As for engine shots, I haven't even lifted the bonnet yet!
CharlesdeGaulle said:
Emeye said:
Awesome looking car. When I was a little I remember my gran had a yellow FIAT 124 (or maybe a 128) but I was expecting a 124 to look like this one:
That's Breadvan72's version 
Looks better with red filter
Anyway, yay you for buying the Spider, and may it bring you big fun. You know enough about old cars to know what sort of shakedown this one will probably need, but I recommend that you grab copies of the Tipler book and the Buckley book on the sporty 124s .
Lovely car CdeG. 
I had a 125 Saloon and a 132 1800ES back in the 70s and loved those twin-cam engines.
I also went and looked at a 124 Spyder, but it was at a bomb-site car sales place in Streatham and was in a pretty sorry state.
A shame really as I have always thought they looked so good in an era when Leyland were still making MGBs!
Good luck getting it how you want it.
Bookmarked!
I had a 125 Saloon and a 132 1800ES back in the 70s and loved those twin-cam engines.
I also went and looked at a 124 Spyder, but it was at a bomb-site car sales place in Streatham and was in a pretty sorry state.
A shame really as I have always thought they looked so good in an era when Leyland were still making MGBs!
Good luck getting it how you want it.
Bookmarked!
As for plates, previous owners of my 124 had bodged many aspects of it, and one of them had changed its colour from burnt orange to re-sale Rosso Corsa, but one of them had at least bought it correct 1973 stylee white and yellow plates with raised characters and no maker's marks, logos etc. I reckon some of those would look good on the Spider, or period French plates if you are going to register it in France. The current plates must be KILLED WITH FIRE.
PS: I have emailed about the other bits.
PS: I have emailed about the other bits.
Breadvan72 said:
CharlesdeGaulle said:
Emeye said:
Awesome looking car. When I was a little I remember my gran had a yellow FIAT 124 (or maybe a 128) but I was expecting a 124 to look like this one:
That's Breadvan72's version Looks better with red filter
Anyway, yay you for buying the Spider, and may it bring you big fun. You know enough about old cars to know what sort of shakedown this one will probably need, but I recommend that you grab copies of the Tipler book and the Buckley book on the sporty 124s .
and it really became quite an iconic part of the show for a while. Quite warmed me to the character - and definitely a bigger star than the welshman that was playing the eponymous hero.....There's something quite special about the styling - such clean lines and detail compared to any modern tin boxes.
Dunk130TC said:
Great to see another joining the Spider club, although slightly concerned for your future sanity and finances.
What’s the spec? It looks a little Loyd Grossman with the US style plates as it looks to be a Euro car?
I don't know much about it yet. Obviously imported but I don't know from where, but sense that it's a Euro car rather than US. US style plates are naff and offensive. What’s the spec? It looks a little Loyd Grossman with the US style plates as it looks to be a Euro car?
I think it should have chrome bumpers. I really like the small rubber blocks at the front, but am less sure about the rear. I have the (new) chrome strips for the length of the car below the doors and will get them fitted at some stage.
Krikkit said:
CharlesdeGaulle said:
As for engine shots, I haven't even lifted the bonnet yet!
It was more of a speculative request at some point in the future! 
Nice car OP, here it is in 2007 following it's rebuild. It was really nice to drive back then, although the lack of power steering still came as a shock when you aren't used to it. I only took it out for a brief spin, about 5 miles, because I was driving it with third party insurance cover on my DOC, and didn't want to risk pranging it!
The story is that the car appeared one day in the corner of a West London pub car park, US spec on American plates! It was in a pretty poor state, and didn't move for months. My mate Adrian asked the landlord about it and he said it just turned up. He'd been on to the council to shift it but nothing happened. Adrian is pretty handy with spanners and restores old bikes and cars as a hobby. He had a poke around and decided that underneath the mess, it was a pretty sound car, got in touch with DVLA but they had no trace of it. It just didn't exist! So he just towed it back to his place round the corner, applied for a V5 and it was his.
His plan was to make it European spec, get shot of the stupid US bumpers that ruined the look, bring the engine up to Euro spec. But the parts were hard to source and expensive, so he was about to abandon the whole idea. back then a nice one could be had for around £6K, so it wasn't financially viable. Then, by chance, he heard about a rusted out UK car being sold for scrap for peanuts, so he bought the whole thing, and that gave him most of the Euro bits he needed. He broke the whole donor car down, sold the rest of the bits on Ebay and the US bits that had come off your car on US ebay, and recouped more than he'd paid.
The car was red from memory, but Adrian scoured the internet for various pictures in different colours and decided on the off white/cream. But he did like the look of the original US number plate, hence the UK plate in US style (which I don't like much).
So that was it. It took about a year in his spare time, and ended up being featured in some magazine. It did look amazing just after he'd finished it.
He'd moved down to Hampshire mid build so that picture is taken at his new place, just after the car had been finished.
But Adrian always enjoyed the build more than the actual ownership, so he sold it after a year or 2 to someone locally and moved on to doing up something else.
Anyway, hope this info is of interest.
Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Friday 28th August 09:16
CharlesdeGaulle said:
I really am going to have to change the awful number plates, but the rear is a smaller size. Anyone know where I can get traditional UK plates in bespoke sizes?
I’ve used these guys for old style standard plates, but they do smaller and bespoke sizes as well:Edited by CharlesdeGaulle on Thursday 27th August 14:59
https://www.fancyplates.com/buy-plates/uk-show-pla...
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