The
British roadsters of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s are remembered with a
surprisingly intense nostalgic fondness. MGs, Triumphs, Austin-Healeys,
Bugeye Sprites--they were all cute, light, and inordinately fun with
the top down on a twisty road. Never mind the fact that with the top up
or on an Interstate, one tended to notice the fact that they were
terrifically underpowered, rode and handled like agricultural
implements, and had an off-putting tendency to develop major electrical
problems on dark nights at points on the map both inconvenient and
uninhabited.
Fiats, by contrast, aren't remembered with
the same affection. I've noticed that people tend to remember Fiats as
ugly, slow, and woefully unreliable, forgetting that even Fiats are
dusted with the same Italian magic that makes Ferraris, Lamborghinis,
Alfa Romeos, Maseratis, and Lancias so unforgettably passionate and
spirited. Even the tiny, low-horsepower Fiats tend to have agile
handling and eager, screaming engines. They might not be fast, but
their mechanical purity leaves you little choice but to smile.
Given
this disparity in popularity, is it any wonder that while the Fiat 124
was clearly the class of the droptop sports car market in the 1970s, it
has been terribly overlooked in today's memory behind inferior
contemporaries such as the MG MGB, MG Midget, Triumph Spitfire, and
even the Triumph TR6 (which I still like enough to make it a future
subject of Car Lust).
While the English competition offered
low-tech, high-torque grumbling sluggards as engines, Fiat served up an
eager twin-cam four-cylinder that pulled enthusiastically at its leash
like an energetic puppy. In a class made up of mutton pie, Fiat's
engine was pasta with a zesty chipotle sauce.
To
that zingy, rev-happy engine, Fiat attached a sleek
Pininfarina-designed body and a light, agile chassis to create a far
more focused sports car with vastly quicker reflexes than its
antediluvian English competition. On the track, the 124 Spider was
quicker by far than its competition. The English roadsters were fun in
the right conditions, but the 124 Spider was fun no matter what the
conditions.
This beautiful 124 Spider is owned by
Sports Car Rentals.com, a company that rents out classic sports cars by the day or the weekend in Virginia. That's a
great idea. I wish we had one in Seattle.
--Chris H.
Rob on February 10, 2008 at 10:47 PM
Wow. I have one of these waiting for me in a few years too. It's rust free, has a bad transmission, with a good one in the trunk. If I had a garage it'd be mine by now... I'm not telling you where it is though. ;)
Alex López on September 20, 2008 at 10:25 PM
I've had the pleasing experience of being able to talk with the owner of a Fiat Spider in very good condition, and told me that he "would never sell this car". I asked him if he had driven the Mazda Miata and he responded: "Yes, but it's not the same. Compared to this Fiat, it's a dull car".
CJinSD on April 17, 2009 at 12:16 AM
I had a '76. All the emissions control garb was conspicuously absent by the time I got my hands on it. So were the rocker panels. And large areas of the left front fender. It had racing cams that made it scream past the 8,000 mark on the tachometer and was easily faster than any other 4 cylinder roadster I encountered at the time. It was also faster than a 380SL. The previous owner had spent a fortune having it reupholstered and having a new top fitted. I paid him a little more than half of the bill. It was fun, and I only had one mechanical problem which mysteriously rectified itself while I was diagnosing it. It ran a considerable amount of static toe-out, which made it oversteer on turn in. The previous owner told me it needed ball joints. I bought the ball joints, and the tools, and then my FIAT mechanic friend and I looked at the ball joints on the car. They were fine, and I didn't give it much more thought. Until the left front lower control arm pulled itself free of the front cross member. I drove it home several miles with the wheel folded under the car, smoke pouring through the floor at my feet. I sold it for $200 bucks to the FIAT wrench, who parted it out. Still, for $360 in depreciation and the cost of two 165SR13 tires I had at least a year of the authentic roadster experience.
Jeff on February 06, 2010 at 02:11 PM
Brilliant cars and also my favorite of the classic roadsters. My dad had one when I was growing up and it was, to this day, the nicest one I've seen. He bought it new in '80 and sold it in '95 for something "more reliable" (See Toyota). Interestingly enough, the one photographed above is a late 80 or 81 Spyder 2000, which was the first year of fuel injection.
rufos_adventure on May 29, 2010 at 10:06 PM
i had a 72 sport coupe, great car, but only reason i kept it was the engine....that dohc 1600 was music!
finally left the grey lady go, was trying for 200,000 on the original engine, but the rest of the car slowly disappeared, the ones in the wrecking yards were even worst.
but the sound.....
Alan Ford on August 27, 2010 at 05:53 AM
I bought a '71 Spider with 82,000 miles back in about 1975 or so. It was red and I just had to have it. I had owned a really used TR6 for about a year. The Triumph and I were bothered by a lot of rain during that summer and I rarely had the top down. TR6 tops took a while to re-install on the frame. The zip-out rear window was pretty cool, though. Now the Fiat Spider . . . what a great top! Surprised nobody mentioned it. Unsnap a clip at each corner of the windshield and down she goes. I put it back up many times at a stoplight by just reaching back with my right hand, snap, snap and away we go. I did miss that zip-out window, though. The cockpit was big and roomy. Actually had a little rear seat where I could stash a kid or two. Also, the console was so wide it was literally a table for my soft drink at the burger drive in. The Spider was my daily driver for several years with no problems. I drove from Memphis, Tennessee to Fort Walton Beach, Florida and back, no problems. One time, it stopped on me in Nashville and the next day, it ran again all the way home. I thought it was the fuel pump and actually replaced it (mechanical pump on the bottom rear of the block). Turned out to be fouled plugs. Live with and learn about Italian cars. The only thing I never liked about the car was the Italian steering wheel angle. It just never fit my American desire to hold the wheel at the top. Also, the designer of the car placed the cockpit at the center of the car, so the hood never looked long enough and the trunk always looked a little too long. A minor thing, but it kept looking strange to me. I loved the nose, so much that I removed the front bumper. Those '71 bumpers were tiny and you could almost bend them with your bare hand. The rear bumper was actually split with a gap in the middle. Anyway, with the front bumper removed, the shark-like look of the snout was accentuated and really looked good . . . if it had only been about 6-12" longer. I reupholstered the seats with a kit from J.C. Whitney. Actually took the seats into the family room and reworked them. Wife was really happy with that. I loved the car and enjoyed it summer and winter for several years. I finally sold it with close to 140,000 miles. I saw it parked at a concert a couple of years later, still looking good. I put a note on the windshield offering to buy it. Never heard from the proud, new owner. That was one of the cars of my youth that I still think about.