VIN Mystery

[divace73]

just wish I had that compliance plate on the door grrrr, It's the only place that has a month..
Am I correct in assuming the door placard is a US issued plate (would it be a state or federal plate)? And if so what would be the chances in finding a government record of the VIN'S to compliance date?

[pda041376]

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.

Not arguing but trying to reaffirm for myself and others. Mine has the ZFA stamped into the firewall, but has a manufacture date of 01-80.

Also, the type J or "turbo" wheels were an alloy wheel option on the 1980 model from what I can tell. Also the brochure for the 1980 Fiat 2000 shows the Turbo wheels.




Also found this:

"The original wheel for the 80-85 spider was either a 13" iron cross style alloy wheel, or an upgraded 14" Cromodora "turbo" wheel." - http://www.roadstersalon.com

[dmg36054]

FWIW to those interested, not all 1981 Spiders followed the "standardized" 17 digit VIN. That requirement didn't take affect until September of 1980 (for the 1981 model cars). My car was built in June of 1980, has a 14 digit VIN, but it is a 1981 model. It was so confusing that in 1980 Fiat sent out a couple of bulletins explaining it all. I had to provide copies of these letters to the DMV to prove my case before I could get my title. It still took 6 months, a lot of letter writing, and numerous phone calls.

[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.

Not arguing but trying to reaffirm for myself and others. Mine has the ZFA stamped into the firewall, but has a manufacture date of 01-80.

Also, the type J or "turbo" wheels were an alloy wheel option on the 1980 model from what I can tell. Also the brochure for the 1980 Fiat 2000 shows the Turbo wheels.




Also found this:

"The original wheel for the 80-85 spider was either a 13" iron cross style alloy wheel, or an upgraded 14" Cromodora "turbo" wheel." - http://www.roadstersalon.com

I can't see your pictures.

I can't argue with you on the VIN number, I thought it started for the cars intended to be 81s. But it serves to further my point, these bodies were built and shipped to be finished elsewhere (pininfarina), so you could probably say the first one on the train was the last one off, so it would make sense that at some point the newer bodies were actually the older cars in terms of manufacturing. A mystery.

Never heard of the website, but that I'm fairly certain that statement is wrong all around. 1979-1982 stock wheel was a steel wheel with a black hubcap. Dealer option was an iron cross until the Turbo rim came out. There was a continuous decline in cars sold with steel wheels, but they were always listed as an option by FIAT. 82 LE was the only FIAT Spider sold with alloys as a standard part (14" wheels).

The publication date of the brochure I think you are describing is 8/80 (for the 81 model year), which was updated for the 82 model year with the 12/12000 warranty stickers attached to it. It has the brown spider with the turbo rims. Pininfarina to my knowledge never used to the iron cross but always the Turbo rim. Pininfarina also had a "soft" cornered rim.

[pda041376]

It is indeed the brown one in the brochure, but the full brochure also states 1980 Fiat 2000, the 14th of a classic or some such. In any case not worth arguing.

[fiat218]

here is my 80 carb . vin124 cs2 0163101
door plate 09- 79

[vandor]

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??

That is the spares number, the microfiche often refers to this number. Certain parts will fit up to a certain spares number.

[bradartigue]

It is indeed the brown one in the brochure, but the full brochure also states 1980 Fiat 2000, the 14th of a classic or some such. In any case not worth arguing.

Who knows....they probably printed it wrong and/or your could get those rims. Like you I'm going by me brain.

[divace73]

While doing a search for 1980 Fiat 124 spider I cam across this website
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/0 ... rt-spider/
I can't get the pic to come up, however the VIN is 0169792 and the date is 12*79 ???
My number is 169158????

[Fi8spider]

Divace, have you tried tracking down the importer?

I believe that a Certificate of Title needs to accompany the Import Documents when bringing a vehicle in from the U.S.
If this is the case their should be a copy of it in some Gov. department somewhere.
The CoT states the Year Model and Year 1st registered dates on it, no month though.

What history do you have on your Spider on it's life in Aust?

BTW, the information you've gathered so far in this thread is exceptional. I'd run with that and get a plate screened up.

So it's a 79 model, how close to the month have you come? Ball park?

You're more than welcome to use mine as a template.


Hey, sorry I had to race off from the Concorso on Sunday, the sudden influx of family gatherings of late are killin' my weekends.

[divace73]

the importer that we know of didn't import my car, I have a feeling suspicion that the history prior to me may be a bit dubious???
A bought it of a guy called Rocco with dreadlocks that lived in Leichhardt and he reckons he had it for 4 years, come to think of it I do have some old receipts that may show something???

Further up the thread Brad makes a good point to the compliance may be backwards as the most probably worked on the first car off the ship, which would have been the last or latest to go on???

I was hoping that somebody from this forum would recognise it being their old car???
I am fairly confident my car was designated for the 80 model and is a genuine CS0 FI model and could have well been made late 79 for 80

[Fi8spider]

There were a handful of people in Aust (East coast) at the time (Late 80's early 90's) bringing in Spiders from the U.S.
It can't be that hard to miss, have you spoken to MrBoost's dad to see if he knows anything about your cars history?

You mentioned Leichhardt, I know of an importer from Haberfield/Five Dock at the time who was a prolific Spider importer, the hair do and name sounds similar.

Too many private names to post up here so why don't you drop me a line and we'll chat. I ended up finding the original CoT and warranty booklet to my car 19 years after it was imported. Never know you might get lucky too if you start digging.