What do the old farts here think of classic Fiats ?????

[Martin]

I am cosidering getting one of either of these......

The top one is the Dino Spider which has a Ferrari V6 cylinder quad cam engine, and is quite rare. Never seen one in the flesh only in piccies but I think is gorgeous. It was builft from 1966 - 1972. There were 2 versions a 2.0L which was built from '66 - '69 then it was made a 2.4L from '69 - 72 They put out 160 and 180 BHP respectively. The mk 2 version also had independant rear suspension, whereas the mk1 had a live axle. It was also made as a coupe but was not as pretty as the spider version. Only 1483 spiders were ever made.

The next one is a 124 Spider, this was made from '66 - 85, they are not so rare, nearly 130,000 spiders were made. They came with a variety of engines.

An excellent web page can be found here

I have never owned a 'classic' before so I am a tad nervous, I don't want to buy a car that looks cosmetically nice but underneath is a rust bucket, but I really want a open car to have a bit of sunny fun in

 

[Nigel]

Old fart thoughts...

Whilst the two cars you are looking at are undoubtably desirable I have been "bitten" by many mad rushes to the head for older Italian cars. I was know as "scap-man" for while beacuse of the amount of money I spent on Alfa's only to scrap them! If you are serious I would pay an expert to look the car over before parting with any money for it. On top of that talk to any owners clubs and ask an owner of a similar vehicle to get in touch.

Also after buying one, even if it has an MOT, take it for one. I have been had that way as well and I used to work as an auto technician!

As for the number available, only 60,233 124 spiders (both 1.4 &1.6 inc) were made and only 1013 124 Abarth Rallye 1.8 varients. There were only 420 Dino 2400 spiders produced between 1969 and 1973. How many left is another question! So I would widen your view a bit and also look at the Peugeot 504 cabriolet (don't have prod figures - sorry), Lancia Beta Spider (9390 made) and of course the old favorite Alfa Spider variants of which there are thousands and parts are relativly easy to get if not always cheap!
It depends on your budget as well. It isn't worth buying a wreck to have it restored, it is more cost effective to buy one already restored then finish it off to your taste. However, do expect to throw at least 10% of the purchase value at it in the first year! Happy hunting.

 

[Martin]

Thanks for that, I have actually found one of each......

.......both at the same garage, a Dino is £15,995 and the 124 is £6,995 both are supposed to be almost mint, FSH's and all that. I would rather pay over the odd's a little and not have any serious work to do than as you say buy a 'in need of TLC' car !!
I do like the older duetta's (is that correct Alfa spiders), never seen the Pug's, but I would prefer Italian.
The cars are from The garage on the green in Fulham. The Dino is a '67 but I think I would prefer a post '69 because of the bigger engine and independant rear suspension. The 124 spider is an '84. I dare not go and have a look cos I know I would come away with one or the other, I am so weak willed.
The car's would purely be summer playthings and would not come out in the rain, I have my HGT and lovely sexy little white van for the rain Not to forget my Bike too, so it would not be abused, but cherished (yuk )

 

[Nigel]

Old farts thoughts correction

Sorry, I gave the productions figures for the 124 spider mk 1 only. Fiats also produced approximately 140,000 between 1972 and 1982 of which there were initially only the 1.6 was availalbe floowed by the 1.8 a year later and the 2.0 later stil in '79. Aparently there was a turbo version (don't know of which engine but suspect 2.0) available in the USA for a while but I have never seen one for sale over here and it would definently be a left hooker.

Another option, although difficult to get hold of, is a Fiat 850 Sport Spider of shich some 124,660 were produced until it was replaced by the X1/9 in the early 70's.

Or.. what about a Mazzer bi-turbo convertible. Cheap to buy at under 10k for a decent one, stunning looks, stunning(ish) performance and stunning running costs! If you can afford £500 + service every 6,000 miles go for it!
Cheers

 

[Nigel]

Tsk tsk

it spelt Duetto you heathen!

 

[Martin]

Shame on me

They held a competition for the name if I remember correctly, the winner got a car. Most prolly is quite a sexy name in Italian but loses a little in the translation I feel

 

[Martin]

This is a good page for old cars for sale of all flavours....

mainly LHD's though.....
classic cars.com
I am not sure of the Maserati, whenever anyone ever mentions the name all I can remember is Clarkson calleing them a Cortina on steroids !! LOL
They have one for sale on the classic cars page and it does look nice from the crappy picture, I'd prefer a RHD though.
My missus wants a BMW Z3, but I want something with 'soul' if you know what I mean, nothing sterile.

 

[Martin]

This is gorgeous......

A tad out of my price range but...
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