Fiat 124 Buying User Manual

Buying Guide -

Fiat 124 Spiders

So you think you want to buy one of
those sharp looking Fiat Spiders? You’re not
sure because of everything you’ve heard about
Fiat’s. Well here’s the straight skinny. Almost
everything to look for when contemplating
buying one of these beauties.

Intro:

Based on the 124 Coupes, the Spiders were built
from 1967 through 1985 (production gures
vary but a good estimate would be 200,000 were
produced). The later years (1983-1985) were built
by Pininfarina and not Fiat. The early years had
1438 cc twin cam engines. As time progressed
the engine grew to 1608, 1756, then nally 1995
cc. Due to smog regulations the most powerful
factory tuned engine was the 1971/72 1608 cc
engine at 104 bhp. Next was the 1982/85 1995
cc engine with 102 bhp. The 1982/83 Turbo had
120 bhp but these are kind of rare. The turbos
did not come equipped from the factory but
were done under license with Legend Industries

and sold only in the US. Only slight body style
changes were done over the production era.
For quick reference the door handles on pre­1979 were hand grab with thumb activated
push button. 1979 and post Spiders came with
aerodynamic pull out latches. Also earlier version
had close to the body chrome bumpers versus
the tubular later ones.
Engine-wise newer models had fuel injection
starting mid 1980 so some 1980 have carbs and
later ones F.I. There are many sources for parts,
new and used. Several mail order suppliers deal
only in Italian cars. Getting parts is not a problem.
Most items are reasonably priced but some
items such as steering idlers, air ow meters
can be expensive. As with any car not currently
in production and without millions produced,
going into a parts store may not yield off the
shelf parts. On the other hand, common type
parts are still available such as wheel bearings,
headlights, etc... are available off the shelf.