READER AD: 1974 Fiat 124 Spider
Having owned a Fiat 124 Spider for the past 8 or 9 years, I can attest just how much fun these little Italians can be. They are a surprisingly good car if properly maintained and kept dry. You’d honestly be hard pressed to find another Italian sports car with a twin cam engine, 5-speed and 4 wheel disc brakes for this kind of money! Reader Henry R has decided to let go of his Spider and it looks to be in nice shape. It’s already a driver with a recent coat of paint, but it does need a few things to be an exceptional driver. You can find it in Cedar Key, Florida with a $7k asking price and you can contact Henry via the link below.
What Makes It Special? It’s a fun car to drive!
Body Condition: It has recently been painted in the original color. There is very little rust, mostly under the hood and in the door wells. The chrome needs attention, the seats need recovering, and it could use a new top. There’s also a parking lot ding on the driver’s side fender.
Mechanical Condition: It runs great. I used it for my runabout for local trips. Mechanical wise it needs a few things such as the windshield wipers work but not great, the fuel gauge does not work, signal lights work but are erratic, the exhaust system will need work, and it could use some new sun visors.
Seller’s Listing: Here on Hemmings
While there’s definitely some work to be done, I applaud Henry for being honest about the car’s issues. From personal experience, the major things to look out for with these cars is rust, weak engine compression, worn gear synchros and failing dash electronics. Parts supply has gotten quite good in the past few years, so you can get just about every piece of sheet metal to fix rust, but keep an eye out for strut tower rust as it’s exceptionally tricky and expensive to fix. I would want to inspect Henry’s car closely before making an offer, but if the underside is solid and the suspension doesn’t need any major work, it could be a great car to finish fixing up for warm weather driving!
- Asking Price: $7,000 OBO
- Location: Cedar Key, Florida
- Mileage: 80,731
- Title Status: Clean
- VIN: 0086322
Do you have a classic sports car that needs a new home? Consider listing it here on Barn Finds!
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Comments
7k seems like strong money for a 124 that appears a little scruffy. Don’t get me wrong these are fun to drive and they have been going up in value and this is an early chrome bumper car which is a plus. But the interior looks shot, the under hood could use a lot of detail work and even the wheels look scruffy.
My context is skewed as I use to buy these for 500 bucks and fix them up in close to this shape.
Good luck with the sale.
Oh the luggage racks suck on these they let water in the trunk.
I agree. For 7k you can pick up a decent more reliable Alfa and never need to replace a rubber timing belt!
I agree that $7,000 seems steep for this car. So I checked Hemmings and nice examples are asking up to 3 times that. I can appreciate that the car has been repainted in its original color, but the overall condition looks like, “I drove it yesterday and took pictures today.” Practically no effort has been made to make the car look presentable. The tires are a disgrace and the pictures were taken in a vacant lot. If the seller really wants to get top dollar he needs to put in at least a minimum of effort. I have never tried to sell a dirty car. That being said I would question the underlying condition of the car. With all the issues that the seller admits to there are probably many more yet to be discovered.
I loved driving these back in the day. My wife had a couple of these at different times so I was able to compare with my ’74 Alfa Spider. The Fiat was much torqier but not as fast and it seemed like I was working on it every other weekend for one reason or another. Usually brakes or bulky brake adjusters or something electrical. Guess that’s where the F.I.A.T. acronym comes from. The Alfa was NEVER a problem and I still have it!
7k is all the money for this one but good luck anyways. It’s still a classic Pinin Farina design. Nobody styles ’em like the Italians!
I had a ’68’ that I really liked, they are great cars, but this one, I agree with Kevin is a bit steep for a car that has too many items needing attention.
A bit steep on the price but one can always make an offer. My daily driver, ’80 Spyder, has just passed 336,000 miles & runs perfectly. Pops out of 4th but everything else is fine. The key, I think, is to drive the car hard. Fiats hate to sit.