New Member - Bellevue, NE

[Gseppe]

Hello Fiat enthusiasts! I recently purchased my 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 FI/automatic as a replacement for my horrible Ford Excursion 6.0 diesel, as a graduation (Masters degree) gift from my wife, and as a retirement from the US Air Force (2009) gift from my wife. What a great wife!

I got an awesome deal! $6500 from a guy in Kansas - 3 hours away. He couldn't figure out why I would drive so far to look at a Fiat. What?! Definitely not a car guy or Fiat guy, etc, etc. Just a person who wanted to try a convertible out. But to his credit, he chose a beautiful Fiat Spider from a dealership who was using it as a showcase car to attract customers to his used car lot. He only had it a year before he sold it to me last week! A short love affair it was. But, now it's my turn and I'm definitely looking forward to my time with it.

I've owned a Fiat Spider before, along with a few other Fiats 20-30 years ago when they were still being sold in the States. Here's my list of Fiats (and an Alfa) I've owned:

1974 Fiat 128 Sedan - Pea Green - My dad loved Fiats and bought this for my brother as a first car. My brother proceeded to wedge it between to cars at a stoplight and my dad tried to repair some body damage by doing some welding on the fender; however, the carpet inside caught fire and he got it put out. The car was now mine. I learned to drive a stick with it and drove it for a year or so.

2 1976 Fiat 128 3P's - 1st one was blue. Great shape. Drove it for a couple of years and then I found an Orange one that a guy raced autocross in. It had a high-performance cam and was fast, so I bought it. He also had an Abarth Otas in his driveway! I gave the other 3P to my dad. He replaced all of those nasty relays with industrial strength ones he had from his job as a machinist.

1971 Fiat 850 Sport - Purchased from a guy who was in the process of rebuilding it. The engine was in boxes with all of the parts ready to be put back together. There had been a fire in the engine compartment, so I repainted it, put the engine back together, started it, sprayed oil everywhere from the centrifugal oil filter somewhere, got frustrated with it, and had it towed away to the junkyard. I feel bad about it to this day, but I was a young adult and didn't have time to work on cars anymore. I was too busy surfing, working, and messing around with friends. My dad told me to get rid of it. I still had the orange 3P and had purchased the Spider below.

1974 Fiat Spider: Purchased this because I wanted a convertible to do the above activities. The motor was shot and I was motivated to get it fixed so I could drive it. Me and my dad rebuilt the motor together. He was amazing. When I couldn't get a wrench on a nut one time one the orange 3P, he took one look at the problem and the next day he came home from work with a wrench that he had cut and welded into a crazy angle. It worked perfectly - that nut was no match for my dad's amazing engineering skills. Anyway, the engine got rebuilt, ran beautifully, and I took off on many adventures for the next year. The steering was VERY loose and the front brakes wore unevenly causing the car to pull to one side each time I braked causing me to have to counter steer opposite the pull each time I braked. For a short time, the brakes were even and I didn't have to counter steer. Until it began to pull the other way. I never got it fixed - I was too busy having fun in it. I ended up giving the car away to a single dad when I joined the Air Force. Of course, I advised him to fix those brakes...

1984 Alfa Romeo GTV6: I couldn't resist! My wife didn't even drive and I owned a Ford Taurus, a Honda motorcycle, and the Alfa. What a blast! I would put my one-year-old daughter in the front seat in her car seat and drive pretty fast up the interstate. The car handled terribly in the Nebraska winter and parts were too expensive for a young Airman starting a family, so, I had to sell it. Another one I wish I'd kept.

The one that got away:
1970? Fiat Dino convertible - Royal Blue with white interior - $9500 in 1985! I didn't have the money then, so I couldn't purchase it. I saw one a few years later at an exotic car dealer for $50,000.

So, I'm looking forward to new adventures with this beauty. It doesn't need a whole lot of work, either. Just a few things that need replacing/serviced after 33 years.

I'll get some pictures posted soon.

[kev]

Welcome to the forum. This is a great place for fiat lovers. There is plenty of knowledge here. I am currently rebuilding my car but I'm not too far away from you here in Benson. Good luck with the car...warmer weather is coming soon!

[RRoller123]

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 another picture-posting thread:

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

And here is a link to a map of Spider owner’s locations. Many forum members have listed their locations.

https://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=191825

Pete