One of my all time favorite cars that I've owned was my '73' Fiat Sport Coupe. Also a Farina design, with the Lampredi engineered 1600 cc DOHC four cylinder. In 1973, the car had a five speed transmission! At 90,000 plus miles, the rust issue became so bad, that it was unsafe to drive, but loved that little red coupe!
Neat thing about these lil cars is that there is an incredible cult following, so there are virtually limitless parts and upgrades available. I helped a friend restore a 79 Spider 2000, and we had n/p finding everything we needed to make it a really fun and reliable sports car.
Of course someone, a German I believe, in the comments below just HAD to claim that, "Beer isn't Italian, it's German". In the first place that's just not true, just because the Germans consume beer like the rest of the world consumes water doesn't mean they invented beer any more then it means that we invented water lol! Beer has been around since at least 10,000 B.C. in ancient Mesopotamia; in the region of southwest Asia; In the second place, the announcer, Mr. Davis wasn't even talking about who invented beer, he was talking about how great the combination of beer and pizza are when consumed together.
These Fiat Spiders were always great looking cars. Pininfarina was such an artist. There were a bunch of these buzzing around Long Beach in the ‘80s and the top was
By 1982, they had solved the rust problem (rust proofing, fender liners) and installed leather interiors. They were not bad cars, but the suspension was raised to meet US headlight requirements. With a lowered suspension and a thicker sway bar in the front (and adding one in the read) they could handle pretty well. The Spider was in production for about 17 years, which is quite a run for any car.
These old videos are great! I've been literally watching MW my whole lift (I'm 30). I'd love to see some old Porsche and BMW videos and hopeful the car I was driven home in the hospital in, an 83 BMW 528e.
I still own a 1980 Fiat 2000 Spider. It used to be my summertime daily driver until about 4 years ago when I bought a 2006 Mazda MX5 Miata and since then the Spider sits mostly unused beneath the carport. The body is still in excellent shape due to biannual Rust Check the the rubbers on all the underpinnings are rotten and I am tired of the constant repairs to keep this old classic on the road. It really is a pretty car and with the storage space (tiny back seats)behind the front seats quite useful. But the handling of the Miata is just so good, like riding on rails, that I really no longer feel like driving the Fiat but it is not worth selling this car to someone unless i could be assured that it would be repaired. I even offered it to my local college which teaches automotive mechanics etc., with the reputation of the Fiat (Fix It Again Tony) and the Bosch fuel injection which cured Fiats bad winter starting reputation, you'd think it would be an excellent car for students to learn on!! They are not as trouble prone as they are made out to be as long as standard maintenance is followed. Electrics and transmissions are a problem.
We have an '80 Spider. Wife's choice...not mine...but she's grown on me. Still slowly making her are own. Still cosmetic issues to deal with...but once we're driving her on a scenic cruise, just doesn't matter. Hoping to take her down to the mountains of Arkansas this April.
wow.. caught two things on this video. The spider never had rear drums. it always had discs all the way around and if you notice it's approach through the cones, it hit something. The nose is all beaten up.
Those little Spiders have always been my favorite Fiat's, just beautiful little cars... the less said about the current Fiat's, or even worse the Fiat's pretending to be Jeeps, the better.
I can't thank you enough for posting these retro videos. They're even more fun to watch than the modern videos.
I can never get enough of these love it. It's amazing how far cars have come, but I really enjoy watching these old episodes.
I had one for many years. No reliability issues. Never a single problem. Sold it when I got married. Should have kept it stashed away instead.
One of my all time favorite cars that I've owned was my '73' Fiat Sport Coupe. Also a Farina design, with the Lampredi engineered 1600 cc DOHC four cylinder. In 1973, the car had a five speed transmission! At 90,000 plus miles, the rust issue became so bad, that it was unsafe to drive, but loved that little red coupe!
Neat thing about these lil cars is that there is an incredible cult following, so there are virtually limitless parts and upgrades available. I helped a friend restore a 79 Spider 2000, and we had n/p finding everything we needed to make it a really fun and reliable sports car.
Of course someone, a German I believe, in the comments below just HAD to claim that, "Beer isn't Italian, it's German". In the first place that's just not true, just because the Germans consume beer like the rest of the world consumes water doesn't mean they invented beer any more then it means that we invented water lol! Beer has been around since at least 10,000 B.C. in ancient Mesopotamia; in the region of southwest Asia; In the second place, the announcer, Mr. Davis wasn't even talking about who invented beer, he was talking about how great the combination of beer and pizza are when consumed together.
In the US, the 1.8 litres aspirated engine produced 90hp and the 2.0 litres one 105 hp (in Europe the 1.8 litres produced 114hp).
These Fiat Spiders were always great looking cars. Pininfarina was such an artist. There were a bunch of these buzzing around Long Beach in the ‘80s and the top was
By 1982, they had solved the rust problem (rust proofing, fender liners) and installed leather interiors. They were not bad cars, but the suspension was raised to meet US headlight requirements. With a lowered suspension and a thicker sway bar in the front (and adding one in the read) they could handle pretty well. The Spider was in production for about 17 years, which is quite a run for any car.
Turbo 2000 sounds like a name that Homer Simpson would have come up with
I have an 82 Turbo and love, love, love it!!!!
These old videos are great! I've been literally watching MW my whole lift (I'm 30). I'd love to see some old Porsche and BMW videos and hopeful the car I was driven home in the hospital in, an 83 BMW 528e.
I still own a 1980 Fiat 2000 Spider. It used to be my summertime daily driver until about 4 years ago when I bought a 2006 Mazda MX5 Miata and since then the Spider sits mostly unused beneath the carport. The body is still in excellent shape due to biannual Rust Check the the rubbers on all the underpinnings are rotten and I am tired of the constant repairs to keep this old classic on the road. It really is a pretty car and with the storage space (tiny back seats)behind the front seats quite useful. But the handling of the Miata is just so good, like riding on rails, that I really no longer feel like driving the Fiat but it is not worth selling this car to someone unless i could be assured that it would be repaired. I even offered it to my local college which teaches automotive mechanics etc., with the reputation of the Fiat (Fix It Again Tony) and the Bosch fuel injection which cured Fiats bad winter starting reputation, you'd think it would be an excellent car for students to learn on!! They are not as trouble prone as they are made out to be as long as standard maintenance is followed. Electrics and transmissions are a problem.
Love these retro reviews. Keep it up!
I had a '78 non-turbo 124 Spider. To this day it remains one of the best cars I've ever owned. Shame the prices are climbing so rapidly.
This is a great design by Tom Tjaarda who also designed the classic DeTomaso Pantera.
We have an '80 Spider. Wife's choice...not mine...but she's grown on me. Still slowly making her are own. Still cosmetic issues to deal with...but once we're driving her on a scenic cruise, just doesn't matter. Hoping to take her down to the mountains of Arkansas this April.
wow.. caught two things on this video. The spider never had rear drums. it always had discs all the way around and if you notice it's approach through the cones, it hit something. The nose is all beaten up.
These old Fiat Spiders, I still see them around on the street today.
Those little Spiders have always been my favorite Fiat's, just beautiful little cars... the less said about the current Fiat's, or even worse the Fiat's pretending to be Jeeps, the better.