1981 LE questions

[Darsellla]

New person here. Please forgive me if these are stupid questions. Are there any Limited Edition people here that can help me?

I just purchased a 1981 Spider LE #214, 55K miles with pretty much zero history on it besides a clean title & car fax. I looked at three of them recently and they all had some differences. I spoke to some Fiat contacts and nobody seems to know. Was there a Fiat LE Registry besides the German site at one point?

My car’s Vin# on the dash is: ZAFAAS00B9B8179411. I found a mint, 20K original miles that was priced very high. His Vin # on the dash was 124CS0XXXX…. then when you opened up the lid, on the body the Vin# says ZAFAAXXXXX…. Also, the numbered plate in my car is in the center of the dash, where his was on the glove box. His # was also raised, like in a cut out square over top. When I went to the German site, everyone’s registered LE vin# started with 124CS0XXXXX….

So which one is correct? You can tell my car has everything original, from stickers the paint & interior and all old & dirty. But the other guy claims that too and his is mint & clean. The difference between the two was $9K so guess which one I chose.

Also, did these cars come with the semi-leather seats? I have seen some with and without. I am pretty sure mine is leather on the front, and vinyl on the rest. I have had people look at it including a restore specialist and say I’m correct.

Thank you!!

[So Cal Mark]

can't comment on the badge locations, but the seats were leather front and vinyl rear. I think most of them have been redone in vinyl by now, from what I've seen

[spidernut]

The console should have been covered with stitched vinyl instead of molded vinyl. The dash should be brown with a sewn-on light-colored vinyl trim along the bottom of the dashboard.

If it has the original wheels, they should be the iron cross such as shown on this car: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FIAT-Spi ... dZViewItem

I recall in 1981 seeing the plaque on the glove box door. I've seen pictures of it in the center too as in the ebay ad. Maybe it depended on the mood of the trim guy at the factory.

I recall the side emblem on the back quarter panel being labeled as Pinninfarina Anniversary Edition and the number listed.

The ZAFAAS00B9B8179411 number sounds like the chassis number, not the VIN. Check your title from your vehicle registration. There should be a CSO number on the registration.

If you run the ZAFAAS00B9B8179411 number on CarFax, it is an invalid number because it isn't 17 digits long...it's 18 digits long.

If you check your vehicle legal title or registration, it should have the CSO VIN listed. I'd recommend running a CarFax report using that number. It might shed some light on your car's history.

Also check the manufacturing date on the car (located in the door jam).

[Darsellla]

Interesting. I ran a carfax on mine before I purchased it and only went back about 12 years (local w/ same owner). The Vin# was the same only dropped the 1 at the end on carfax, title & registration. Same number also located on the dashboard (small plate as in all cars) and inside drivers side door jam (says Vin#).

Both are LE's- no doubt about it. All 3 numbered plates, 17" wheels, two-tone interior w/ leather on seats, dash & console, color, etc. in good condition. Both have “champagne” color tags in the trunk. I believe date of manufacture is 7/80 on mine. So is that an earlier vin?

Thanks again!

[spider2081]

I have ben trying to figure this out also.
I started recording the LE's Serial # and badges a coulpe months ago.

SR # Badge #
178399 277 This is the one I own
178687 292
179577 366
179411 214 yours

Yours might seem out of order, but I was told there is no order to the badge #s. This is because all the Spider chassis were made in groups and put in storage to be completed. Some were pulled out of storage to be made LE's. There is no proff first into storage was first out. So the badges do not have to follow sequence of serial #s. Don't know if this is true but someone had posted that. Was also told there is not enough difference in value of LE to regular Spider 2000 to make it worth making a conterfit.

[Darsellla]

Here are pictures of my VIN. I was told that Roger Hoffman is no longer running the LE Registry so it would be nice for someone to get it going again? I entered mine into the Registry on the Fiatspider.de site. I also posted some pictures of mine in the new people section. I am still cleaning it and I’m no photographer.

My family had a 1967 VW Bug that was purchased by my grandparents off the show room floor Germany for the American market. It had some things on it from 1968, so there was a question as to what year it actually was when they imported it. They were told it had some of both years on it as it was a cross over year and technically a 1967.5. I’m not entirely sure. My sister had it restored back to original and it came up again. It ended up in a few magazines anyway and I don’t think anyone really cared.


Just curious!

[HOLLYWOODSPIDER]

European car manufacturers do not make changes based on model year. They make running changes. They appear a lot in Fiats. Many '78s have '79 features such as the new shape instrument panel, the alfa-style door handles, large hood bumps and weak rear ends. All were changes to be implemented the next year. Once they had planned a change, they would implement the new parts when stock of old parts ran out, regardless of model year designation.


The crazy thing is that all Spiders (in fact, all 124s) manufactured by FIAT are supposed to have a VIN starting with "124".

[Gerard Del Monte]

Welcome to the forum. There is an LE registry, run by Sam Scialopore
( sic I am not at home as I type this, can't recall how to spell his last name correctly ).

LE models I think haven't really been worth counterfeiting. Mine has the dark brown dashboard and map bins, padded stitched console, elec windows, leather seating, the funky leather trim piece on the bottom of the dash, the 14 INCH Iron Cross wheels ( since changed to Cromodora Daytonas by me), and Pininfarina number badge on the the dash ( mine is in the center piece under the warning lights ) and on the rear lower quarters. Original factory color was champagne.

Where are you in WA?