Fiat Spider 124 1970's

[peterjfox]

Anyone know much about these little cars?
Are they a good investment?
I'm looking to purchase a classic with a budget of £15K

[finlo]

There's a long running thread about one on here already.

ETA to be found on page two of readers car's.

Edited by finlo on Sunday 31st January 20:45

[heisthegaffer]

Beautiful little things. Would love a supercharged one.

[Mr Tidy]

I love them, although sadly I've never owned one.

I had a couple of 1970s Fiat Saloons (a 125 and a 132 1800ES) with the same Lampredi twin-cam engine and really liked them.

Plus they came with 4 wheel disc brakes and 5 speed gearboxes when BMC were trying to sell MGBs with a push-rod OHV engine, a 4 speed box (maybe with O/D) and rear drum brakes - why would you?

Here's a link to 70s Spyder ownership:- https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=18...

[Turbobanana]

Mr Tidy said:

...they came with 4 wheel disc brakes and 5 speed gearboxes when BMC were trying to sell MGBs with a push-rod OHV engine, a 4 speed box (maybe with O/D) and rear drum brakes - why would you?

Why indeed? Odd that MG sold 2.5 times as many though...

[Arthurc435]

Hi, i have a fiat spider for sale, only due to the covid situation.

[Arthurc435]

Just been fully rebiuld, everything new. Rebuild engine. Have receipt and photos of all work

[Arthurc435]

[Arthurc435]

[Arthurc435]

This car has been done to a high standard. Zink plated all nuts and bolts and anyother parts. Powder coated all wishbones and brackets

[Dunk130TC]

I’m a little biased as I’ve a 75 1.8 Spider. US cars have a lower compression and lack bit of urgency compared to the euro cars. However US cars tend to be in better structural shape, albeit with nasty oblong side lights.
Spares are easy to get with a handful of specialists in the UK, spider point in Germany or loads of options in the US.
Engine, box, brakes and suspension are reliable and easily sorted, just make sure they’re attached to a decent shell.
CDGs thread:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

and mine:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=18...

[Mr Tidy]

Turbobanana said:

Mr Tidy said:

...they came with 4 wheel disc brakes and 5 speed gearboxes when BMC were trying to sell MGBs with a push-rod OHV engine, a 4 speed box (maybe with O/D) and rear drum brakes - why would you?

Why indeed? Odd that MG sold 2.5 times as many though...

That certainly does seem strange, although I can see why the 124 Spyder didn't sell well in the UK as they were all built with LHD.

Maybe having the Alfa Spyder as a contemporary didnt help either.

[Dunk130TC]

They didn’t sell well in the UK as Fiat never offered them for sale! Any 124 spider in the. UK has been a personal import, with the majority coming in from the USA. There’s a few RHD models that were converted by DTR using bits from the 124 coupe, but all originally were LHD.

[Turbobanana]

Dunk130TC said:

They didn’t sell well in the UK as Fiat never offered them for sale! Any 124 spider in the. UK has been a personal import, with the majority coming in from the USA. There’s a few RHD models that were converted by DTR using bits from the 124 coupe, but all originally were LHD.

I was thinking globally, not just our rust infested, wrong-hand-drive country. I've owned a BGT, and it was great fun. Never driven a 124 Spider, but I expect it would be on another level from the B, likewise an Alfa Spider. I guess the B sold well globally because it was simple and cheap, similarly Spitfires, Midgets et al vs. Honda S800 etc.

[Mr Tidy]

Turbobanana said:

I was thinking globally, not just our rust infested, wrong-hand-drive country. I've owned a BGT, and it was great fun. Never driven a 124 Spider, but I expect it would be on another level from the B, likewise an Alfa Spider. I guess the B sold well globally because it was simple and cheap, similarly Spitfires, Midgets et al vs. Honda S800 etc.

Slighly off-topic but a former school-mate of mine sold his MK3 Cortina 1600GT with the high-back seats to buy a significantly more expensive MGB GT in the late 70s/early 80s - and wished he hadn't! It was no quicker, didn't handle as well and had poor brakes (mind you he did say that after he rear-ended someone at a set of traffic lights).

But I preferred my Fiat 125 to either of his cars!

[alabbasi]

peterjfox said:

Anyone know much about these little cars?
Are they a good investment?
I'm looking to purchase a classic with a budget of £15K

I wouldn't call a car an investment but if you want something fun to drive that's a lot more sophisticated than an MGB, it might be a nice car to own. One of my car buddies specializes in these cars here in Texas. If you're thinking of buying one, consider getting it from an Mmercun state like Texas or Arizona because they are Italian and likely to be rusty if they spent any time in Yurp

[BS9ider]

Why not consider a bid on this? Apart from the ride hight, which can easily be corrected with euro spec springs it looks in good order. I expect this car will have low compression ratio US spec engine so you'd probably want to factor that on a future 'to do' list also.

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/auctions/1977-fiat...

[BS9ider]

BS9ider said:

Why not consider a bid on this? Apart from the ride hight, which can easily be corrected with euro spec springs it looks in good order. I expect this car will have low compression ratio US spec engine so you'd probably want to factor that on a future 'to do' list also.

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/auctions/1977-fiat...

Sold for £12k

[Skyedriver]

BS9ider said:

BS9ider said:

Why not consider a bid on this? Apart from the ride hight, which can easily be corrected with euro spec springs it looks in good order. I expect this car will have low compression ratio US spec engine so you'd probably want to factor that on a future 'to do' list also.

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/auctions/1977-fiat...

Sold for £12k

There was a one on ebay that ended a few days ago, didn't reach reserve. Think top bid was a little less than £12K looked OK but drab colour.
On thing that gets me about these and the Alfa Spider, the cheap fake wood veneer, is it fablon, on the dash and console.