General Buying tips for Classic 124 spider

[BrianLloyd]

Hi Fiaters
Not entirely a newbie as I have an Autobianchi Giardiniera, but now fishing for information on Fiat 124 Spiders. A long-time friend is looking to buy himself a Spider, and has asked me to accompany him on a trip to Hofmans in Holland to look at their selection with him.

https://www.hofman.nl/en/occasions/?s=124+spider&brand=Fiat&sort=price&direction=asc
As there seems to be a surprising range of variants over the course of it's production run, I wondered what advice more knowledgeable members of this forum could us.

My immediate preference would be chrome bumpers, but presumably you miss out on improvements achieved in later developments?
Which is the best engine - again my gut feeling would be a 2 litre twin cam?
LHD or RHD

My mate is not in any way mechanically minded but probably willing and able to spend money to get and keep a car in fine fettle.
I would appreciate your thoughts and sage advice.
Many thanks in advance

 

[caferacer59]

Chrome bumpers put you back to somewhere around 74 if memory serves me right, I would not get hung up on that, for the non mechanically inclined, I would point towards the later Fuel Injected models which began in late 80/all of 81 its the 2.0 and a they really stay in tune great. you can delete the bumpers and a place called harrington has chrome bumpers, though I hear they are pain in the ass to install as fit is approximate.

Nothing wrong at all with older fiats either, carb models are great too, and a lot of people much prefer the lines of the older body.

 

[rconlon]

Each variant of the 124 has its pluses but all are very similar. The advice I like to offer is to get the best version that you can with the least rust. This way you get to enjoy the car as you make it to your liking. This might mean importing a car from the southern USA that is rust free and not too molested. Look around a lot and you will be drawn to the right car.
Enjoy the hunt.
Cheers
Ron

 

[Schumi2001]

I'd go for a later (CS0) car with fuel injection. Aside from the obvious of ensuring the timing belt is changed, the engine is very robust.

Big point to focus on is rust. Even cars from dry American states can be rusting. Mine was!

Away from the rust, the interiors suffer badly in the sun, with dash tops cracking, wood veneer peeling and seat foam decomposing.

Finally, heating and electrics. They use the old bullet type fuses which can give dreadful connections and the heater in mine never got truly hot.

Great cars, though, wish I had a nice one one in my lockup!