Hi everyone!

[Reno]

Just returned home from Afghanistan this week. I had purchased a 1979 Spider 2000 about five days before I left. Below is a story I had posted to the reddit.com/r/fiat subreddit about how I found it, as I had never even heard of a Spider until the day I bought it.

Here she is: http://imgur.com/MvhZO3Z

I was driving downtown to meet my girlfriend for lunch and I saw it parked on the side of the road. I had no idea what it was, I thought it was an MG or something. I really liked the color. I made a mental note to take the same route home after lunch so I could snap a photo of it.

I parked behind it and grabbed my camera. I noticed it was a Fiat. I immediately became curious about it because I had been looking at older British convertibles (mainly Triumphs) and had thought it would be a blast to have one to cruise around in during the summer. Now, I had just sold my motorcycle the month prior, so I was toy-less for the first time since I was a teenager (I'm 24 now). Immediately upon selling the motorcycle, an old Harley Lowrider, I kind of had an intention of replacing it but hadn't decided on what yet. The Triumphs scared me because of the notorious maintenance involved (knew nothing about the Fiat acronyms), so I just decided to keep an eye out.

As I started snapping photos, I noticed a 'For Sale' sign in the windshield that I had apparently missed the first time I drove by it. I thought it was affordable. 116k miles, second owner. As I'm reading it, a woman walks by and I heard her say "Want to sit in it?" I looked over and saw her fishing for some keys. I accepted, the whole time thinking about what a wonderful (and potentially expensive) coincidence this was that the owner of this beautiful car that just happened to be for sale wanted me to sit, and now drive, this really cool car.

She had owned it since 1980, bought it from a man who purchased it new less than a year prior. Deciding to move in with her girlfriend and downsize her life, she had just decided to reluctantly part with the car. After putting about 15 miles on the car while we talked about it and her wonderful "character" flaws, I made her an offer and we drove to the bank.

It's an absolute blast to drive. I'm looking forward to joining the great Spider-culture, too!

Take care,

Reno

[RRoller123]

NICE!

Welcome aboard! You will find plenty of knowledgeable and friendly people here.

Here is a thread on how to post pictures directly to the forum:

http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21014

And here is a great picture-posting thread edited by SLOSpider:

http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... 12&t=23084


Pete

[aj81spider]

Great story and a nice looking car.

Welcome!