Any fondness I have for these types of car is because they remind of my late father in law; a Korean War veteran who had just enough Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade in him, Al Pacino's character in "Scent of a Woman", to make him as charming as he was, at times, difficult to deal with. He and I had a solid relationship based on mutual respect and love for his middle daughter. Try as I may, though, to convince him otherwise, he was fixated on these types of cars that he insisted were "sports cars". And even though he never had a Fiat 124 like this 1979, I know this little guy would be right in his wheelhouse.
Nowadays, with even the lowliest of cross overs offering handling, braking and acceleration prowess that would put most sports cars of yore to shame, it can be challenging to understand what anyone would find appealing about these cars. Aside from their undeniable good looks. Underpowered, buzzy, noisy, unreliable and crude, what if anything was there to love?
Well, like many an old car, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To men and women of a certain age, these cars were an integral part of their youth. For instance, the story goes that when World War II veterans returned home from Europe, they came back with a taste for the nimble little cars they drove "over there" and began shipping Alfa's, MG's, Triumph's and the like back home. General Motors seized upon that wave, supposedly, and came out with the Corvette in 1953. But they weren't fooling anyone. That Corvette was a shortened wheelbase, six cylinder Chevrolet sedan with a plastic body to die for bolted down on top of it. A nimble handling Italian, British or French sports car it was not. Then again, most European "sports cars" back then were little more than rebodied sedans as well. Thing was, the sedans they started with were infinetly better performing cars to start with.
So, what the heck is this thing anyway? Well, you wouldn't be alone mistaking it for an Alfa Romeo Spyder or an MG. Or even a Triumph Spitfire. Our 124 Sports Spider here was part of a series of automobiles Fiat produced from 1966 through 1982. There were two and four door sedans, a fixed roof coupe and the "Sports Spider". While the sedans were replaced by the 131 in 1974, the Sports Spiders stayed on through 1982. The biggest difference between one of these and other 124's is that the Spider had a shorter wheelbase. Otherwise, underneath, they were pretty much all the same based on their model year.
If these cars are known for anything aside from their handsome, House of Pinninfarina penned lines, it's that they were notoriously unreliable. Bad transmissions, poor electrical systems, ignition issues and a utter lack of rust proofing. All of those challenges, and no doubt many others, drive the prices for these cars way, way down. Which is not a bad thing if you have the patience of Job.
Personally, I do not. Although, I have to admit, the idea of an LS swap is very alluring. All but impossible to do without major fabrication and probable altering of the way the car looks but alluring nonetheless.
Then again, doing that and it wouldn't be what it is. Or was. That being another generation's, like my late father in law's, time machine.
The term "spider" or "spyder", as it pertains to automobiles, stems from the days of horse drawn carriages. Lighter carriages that were intended to do little more than carry people had large wheels and a small seating area that made the overall look of the carriage resemble a spider. When carriages were replaced by automobiles, manufacturers of small, lightweight automobiles began marketing them as "spiders"; even if they didn't resemble spiders at all.
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