New member

[hrballenger]

Hi all. Just joined the site after finding a link to it while looking for 124 Spider info. I don't presently own one, but have owned and raced both an "AS" and "BS" 124 Spider. Have also owned three 850's. Bought the AS new when I came back stateside from 'Nam, drove it for not quite a year and then traded it in on the BS. Ran the AS in SCCA Solo 1 and 2 ( F/P class )in the Southwest region and then the BS in Solo 1 and 2 ( in a series of mods from stock class up thru B/Modified ) and a brief stint in SCCA Production ( E/P class ). Converted it back to street use in 1973 and drove it as a daily driver until I sold it in '74 and bought my 1st 911. Lots of fond memories of the Fiat's. Still have a few photo's and most of my trophy's and dash-plaques from the Fiats. Think I may even have a service manual laying around ( I also worked part time as a mechanic at the Fiat dealer in Tucson during that time frame, in partial exchange of my services for the use of the shop and parts at cost for the race car )

[Exit98]

I'd say it's time for you to find yourself a new Spider.

[baltobernie]

Hello H.R. and Welcome!

I'd love to see some race photos of your cars. An article in one of the auto mags recently talked about the early days of Trans Am. I didn't realize the under-2L cars such as the Datsun and Alfa routinely finished ahead of the Mustangs and Camaros. The photos in this article didn't show any Spiders or 131's. I wonder if any Fiats raced in this series? You'd think they'd be competitive with the similarly-engined and sized Alfa GTA

[mdrburchette]

Welcome to the forum! You really do need to find another AS, BS or early CS Spider and enjoy your second childhood. Baltobernie will agree with me when I say they are the very best!

[hrballenger]

Thanks for the welcome all

I'll try to post a few photos of my early 124's, have a few from Solo 1 and 2 events but I don't have any from the
production class years. As much as I enjoyed the 124's, I discovered the joys of other cars in the ensuing years.
And the 124's proved out the old adage that it's really easy to make a LITTLE money in racing cars. All that's
required is to start with a LOT of money. The 124's in the rigors of production racing proved unreliable. Lots of lower end engine failures, gearbox failures, front end problems due to the cross member weaknesses, etc etc etc. They ran well when they ran, and I did pretty well in Solo 1 and 2 but in the production racing effort there were lots of DNF's due to the mechanical issues. Lower end engine problems required increased oil pressure and flow which led to problems with oil starvation and foaming which required modifying the oil delivery and drain passages to the cam towers to reduce the oil pooling in the cam housings and then two oil filters and then an oil cooler. Tranny bearings pretty much had to be replaced after every race. It went on and on. Great cars for the street, but if I remember correctly I think I had about $10K ( in 1972 ) into a car I bought brand new for $2300 and it still wouldn't live on the track. And that's not counting the normal expenses to run ( tires/plugs/oil/fuel/shocks/brakes/etc). When it ran, it was competitive ( best finish was 1st in class, 2nd overall; I was F/Prod and the overall winner was a B/MOD Lotus Super Seven ). In the ensuing years I've owned (in chronological order) a ’68 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS, ’72 Porsche 911T, ’76 Corvette, ’77 L82 Corvette, ’77 Monza 305 notchback, ’78 Ferrari 308 GTS, ’80 Porsche 911SC, ’86 Porsche 930, ’80 Olds Cutlass Supreme, ’79 Lincoln Town Car, 2006 Merc Grand Marquis. The long term keepers out of the bunch for me were the ’71 Fiat ( 6 years ) and the ’80 Porsche ( 22 years ). The Porsche’s and the ’50 VW were the only ones out of the bunch that I actually sold for more than I paid for them. The '80 911SC was my all time favorite to drive, but I still fondly remember the youthful fun with the 124's.

[baltobernie]

In the ensuing years I've owned (in chronological order) a ’68 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS, ’72 Porsche 911T, ’76 Corvette, ’77 L82 Corvette, ’77 Monza 305 notchback, ’78 Ferrari 308 GTS, ’80 Porsche 911SC, ’86 Porsche 930, ’80 Olds Cutlass Supreme, ’79 Lincoln Town Car, 2006 Merc Grand Marquis

Wow! You owned a Grand Marquis! I'm soooo jealous (Actually, that car is probably still going strong. When they poured glass into them during Cash for Clunkers, the 302 probably ran better!) Your Porsche was the whale tail one, eh? I understand their throttle was more like an ON-OFF switch. Surprised to hear about the Fiat bottom end. It sure looks pretty stout down there. I guess "racing improves the breed" is more than a slogan.

[azruss]

I'd love to see some race photos of your cars. An article in one of the auto mags recently talked about the early days of Trans Am. I didn't realize the under-2L cars such as the Datsun and Alfa routinely finished ahead of the Mustangs and Camaros. The photos in this article didn't show any Spiders or 131's. I wonder if any Fiats raced in this series? You'd think they'd be competitive with the similarly-engined and sized Alfa GTA

remember going to a trans-am race in portland in the early 70s. BRE was gobbling up alfas. did see a volvo and a 124 coupe in the pack.
Old fuzzy memory, but i think the #1 BRE datsun 510 with John Morton at the wheel won it lapping the entire field including the 2nd place BRE 510 with Herschel McGriff at the wheel.

[hrballenger]

Ok, I'll try to upload some 39 year old pics...