Fiat 124 Sport Spider
The Fiat 124 Sport Spider was presented at the Turin International Motor Show in November 1966, and it was launched on the US market two years later. Almost 50 years after its début, the 124 Spider is still an icon for collectors and car enthusiasts alike. The Spider was fitted with a five-speed manual gearbox, a 1438 cm3 twin camshaft engine and disc brakes on all four wheels and intermittent windscreen wipers.
The 124 Spider, an evolution of the Fiat medium-range saloon car from the 1960s, the 124, was a genuine sports car which was extremely successful for a considerable period of time, both on the domestic market and outside it. The car, which was produced for 19 years in a row, in fact outlived almost all other sports cars of its time. In the United States alone, over 170,000 Spiders were sold between 1968 and 1985.
Americans were mad about the proportions and noticeably Italian style of the Spider, as well as its waterproof soft top that could be lowered directly from the driver's seat very quickly and simply. The design of the 124 Spider - created by Pininfarina, Fiat's historic partner in the creation of special versions - proved so popular that the vehicle in fact underwent just a few minor stylistic updates during its twenty-year-long production stint, and it is still considered today one of the major commercial successes of the Turin-based bodyshop.
In Europe, the second series of the model was presented in 1969, and it stands out for its supersized engine of 1608 cm3 and certain styling modifications, including the two panels on the front bonnet and the larger rear light clusters; lastly, in 1972, the third series was launched on the market, and this model boasted two new drive trains, derived from the Fiat 132, with a displacement of 1592 and 1756 cm3.
In the United States, almost ten years after it was first launched, the Fiat 124 Spider had proven so successful that Fiat decided to produce the vehicle exclusively for that market from 1975 onwards. In 1979 the vehicle was renamed Spider 2000, in reference to its new 1995 cm3 engine.
Towards the end of 1981, Pininfarina redesigned the entire production process for the car, which was re-introduced onto the market in Europe. In 1982, Spider production by Fiat and Pininfarina overlapped: while Fiat produced the latest models of the Spider 2000, Pininfarina began to produce its own version, sold in the USA as the Pininfarina Spider Azzurra and in Europe as the Pininfarina Spider Europa. On the Pininfarina Spider Azzurra, leather upholstery, stereo system/cassette player and electric windows came as standard.
Production of the Spider model ceased in 1985, after almost 200,000 cars had been sold.
