VIN Mystery

[divace73]

Hi All,
I need some info from all of you re the history of my car, my VIN is 124CS0*00169158 I believe it is a 1980 Fuel injected car.

The number matches the plate in the engine bay and chassis, however the drivers door compliance plate which tells the month (which I believe is month of US compliance??) is missing. I have also just notice on the bottom right hand corner of the plate (just above the dist) there is the number 1948311 but I cannot make out what is says prior in Italian as it is worn away??
When I bought the car I was young, naive and infatuated with owning a spider I didn't notice that specif plate was missing. I did do the usual reports on finance and it wasn't reported as stolen. I have had it registered all these years without an issue.

So does anybody out there have a Fuel Injected CSO with numbers near mine?

[courtenay]

My '80 Fi has a manufacture date of 10/79 with VIN 124CSO 00165014 - which would suggest your car is at least a 1980.

[4uall]

My '80 Fi has VIN 124CSO 00170288 - which I would say could confirm your car is a 1980.

[pda041376]

The bad thing is that Fiat apparently didn't conform to a set numbering scheme. (And apparently would preassign chassis numbers without the car being completed.)

This link contains someone with the same type issue:
http://archive.mirafiori.com/show.php?fid=2&msg=12695

I am still trying to find the actual (non-wikipedia) chart that has the year/starting number range breakdown. Until then here it is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_124_Sport_Spider

And found a somewhat chart here as well:
http://www.mirafiori.com/id/table124.html

What does the registration/title say?

[4uall]

[courtenay]

My car is registered as an '80. The manufacture date of 10/79 comes from the plate on the door. Given your car is fuel injected, it has to be at least a 1980 model year.

[aj81spider]

It's also not an 81, as in 81 the government instituted a standard VIN numbering system. My 81 starts with "ZF" indicating it was manufactured in Italy.

A short description of the system:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_Id ... ion_Number

[pda041376]

It's also not an 81, as in 81 the government instituted a standard VIN numbering system. My 81 starts with "ZF" indicating it was manufactured in Italy.

A short description of the system:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_Id ... ion_Number

Mine is a January 1980 (01-80) and although the dash tag VIN is the plain 124CSO, the body stamp (top of firewall) is ZFA124CSO as well as the tag on the firewall.

[JammerX19]

My '80 Spider is 165739, build date 10/79, also fuel injected.

[spider2081]

I have an 80 FI manufactured 01/1980 vin 171306

[divace73]

many thanks for your responses, my rego paper says the year only, however it is also calling it a sedan. I am now suspecting that the person I bought it off all those years ago may have done something dodgy???
I have looked in the Phil Ward book Fiat and Lancia Twin cams that says that 1980 started at 166479 and finished at 180978, when I get a chance I'll scan it and post it. I also have the ZFA on the firewall.
Can somebody tell me what the text in Italian is just before the number on the lower right corner of the ID plate which on my car is below the fire wall number?

[bradartigue]

many thanks for your responses, my rego paper says the year only, however it is also calling it a sedan. I am now suspecting that the person I bought it off all those years ago may have done something dodgy???
I have looked in the Phil Ward book Fiat and Lancia Twin cams that says that 1980 started at 166479 and finished at 180978, when I get a chance I'll scan it and post it. I also have the ZFA on the firewall.
Can somebody tell me what the text in Italian is just before the number on the lower right corner of the ID plate which on my car is below the fire wall number?

You will not find an accurate reference to the VIN numbers (or "Serial Numbers"); it simply does not exist. FIAT's own official text on the matter is wrong, as many of us have cars with serial numbers that are not sequential with the "official" model year. My 1970, for example, is firmly in the 1971 model year according to FIAT, yet is in every way a 1970 with none of the 1971 particulars, and FIAT's own paperwork confirms it. I know people with 78's that were made after the 79 model year officially began and their 78 has the integrated door handles. Conversely, I know people with 79's that are serially in line with 78's. This holds true through mid-1980. Ward's book, Fiat and LANCIA Twin Cams, the OEM Parts books, the Haynes book, you name it, all wrong. And frankly I don't think anyone has ever resolved the issue any better than those books have.

Mid 1980 you start to see cars made for the 1981 model year, and they have the 17 digit VIN with ZF as the prefix.

How do you know if you have a 1980 FI Spider? It is the ONLY year in which the plenum heater was attached to, and not integrated with, the plenum itself. If you look at the top of the fuel injection system are two small hoses connected to a box. If that box can be removed and is made of brass, it's a 1980. If it is integrated and has a cap with four bolts then it is a 1981.

Now, that assumes your plenum was never swapped out!

1980 FI cars: say CSO but not ZF; have the non-integrated plenum heater; were sold with steel wheels and black hubcaps.

[divace73]

many thanks for your responses, my rego paper says the year only, however it is also calling it a sedan. I am now suspecting that the person I bought it off all those years ago may have done something dodgy???
I have looked in the Phil Ward book Fiat and Lancia Twin cams that says that 1980 started at 166479 and finished at 180978, when I get a chance I'll scan it and post it. I also have the ZFA on the firewall.
Can somebody tell me what the text in Italian is just before the number on the lower right corner of the ID plate which on my car is below the fire wall number?

Mid 1980 you start to see cars made for the 1981 model year, and they have the 17 digit VIN with ZF as the prefix.

How do you know if you have a 1980 FI Spider? It is the ONLY year in which the plenum heater was attached to, and not integrated with, the plenum itself. If you look at the top of the fuel injection system are two small hoses connected to a box. If that box can be removed and is made of brass, it's a 1980. If it is integrated and has a cap with four bolts then it is a 1981.

Now, that assumes your plenum was never swapped out!

1980 FI cars: say CSO but not ZF; have the non-integrated plenum heater; were sold with steel wheels and black hubcaps.

I recall my spider having the separate heater attacehed (which I have since removed) and you could be right in not knowing what has been changed prior. I do have the ZFA on the fire wall number though, but not on the tag under the wind screen nor the ID plate?? Mine had the Turbo wheel when I purchased it (which is an easy upgrade) however my spare is the steel wheel.

I wonder if anybody on this forum used to be a previous owner of my car, it appears to be a californian car judging by a sticker that is on the cowling under the wipers.

[pda041376]

I recall my spider having the separate heater attacehed (which I have since removed) and you could be right in not knowing what has been changed prior. I do have the ZFA on the fire wall number though, but not on the tag under the wind screen nor the ID plate?? Mine had the Turbo wheel when I purchased it (which is an easy upgrade) however my spare is the steel wheel.

I wonder if anybody on this forum used to be a previous owner of my car, it appears to be a californian car judging by a sticker that is on the cowling under the wipers.

Your sounds just like mine. Turbo wheels, steel spare. Vin dash plate CSO, firewall ZFACSO, the California emissions sticker, etc, etc. My door tag makes mine a 01-80, would guess you are in the same boat sir.

[bradartigue]

You couldn't buy "turbo" wheels in 1980, so they were swapped out. The only alloy option was the "Iron Cross" or CD-13. Common to have alloys on them though, those steel wheel are so ugly on a Spider 2000 it is scary, something about the black cap and they way they painted them...ugh.

ZFA stamped into the body of a 1980 would have me thinking it was a very late 1980.