New Book

[bradartigue]

Well, Brad, if Steven Hawking can make the top of the NYT best sellers list, there is alway hope.

What I'm going to start doing next week is writing a book "The 2017 FIAT 124 Spider: A Practical Guide for the Abandoned Owner." It will sell to every single person who buys the FIAT Miata. That'll be my best seller.

[baltobernie]

Will it be available on microfilm?

[bradartigue]

Will it be available on microfilm?

Only old scratched microfilm.

[dinosabella]

Congratulations Brad,

I will definitely be getting a copy. Will it be available on Amazon Canada? Just trying to avoid paying duties but then again if it is made and printed in the USA it should fall under the free trade agreement.

Somewhere in the posts you mention that FIAT was surprisingly cooperative compared to 10 yrs ago. Made me think of what the presenter said at the official unavailing of the new car yesterday. He said something along the lines of there are still 8,000 on the road today with most being in North America. I guess all of a sudden FIAT gives a flying *&^% about the 124 Spider lol.

It would be sweet if they set up a "Clisiche" department that re-stamped body panels and reproduced interior parts for FIAT, Lancia and Alfa. Not likely but it doesn't hurt to dream!

Congrats again

Dino

[courtenay]

Congratulations Brad,

I will definitely be getting a copy. Will it be available on Amazon Canada? Just trying to avoid paying duties but then again if it is made and printed in the USA it should fall under the free trade agreement.

Somewhere in the posts you mention that FIAT was surprisingly cooperative compared to 10 yrs ago. Made me think of what the presenter said at the official unavailing of the new car yesterday. He said something along the lines of there are still 8,000 on the road today with most being in North America. I guess all of a sudden FIAT gives a flying *&^% about the 124 Spider lol.

It would be sweet if they set up a "Clisiche" department that re-stamped body panels and reproduced interior parts for FIAT, Lancia and Alfa. Not likely but it doesn't hurt to dream!

Congrats again

Dino

Brad's book is available on Amazon.ca. Ordered mine on Oct 23 - price $49.37 Cdn - and it was shipped today.

[btoran]

received mine today. excellent job. very professionally done.

[bradartigue]

Congratulations Brad,

I will definitely be getting a copy. Will it be available on Amazon Canada? Just trying to avoid paying duties but then again if it is made and printed in the USA it should fall under the free trade agreement.

Somewhere in the posts you mention that FIAT was surprisingly cooperative compared to 10 yrs ago. Made me think of what the presenter said at the official unavailing of the new car yesterday. He said something along the lines of there are still 8,000 on the road today with most being in North America. I guess all of a sudden FIAT gives a flying *&^% about the 124 Spider lol.

It would be sweet if they set up a "Clisiche" department that re-stamped body panels and reproduced interior parts for FIAT, Lancia and Alfa. Not likely but it doesn't hurt to dream!

Congrats again

Dino

I doubt they care any more than seeing the potential for 8,000 sales. I doubt they'll get 800 from the real 124 owners. Same problem they had with the 500, they mistook classic car owners for new car buyers; and most aren't.

On topic though, when I inquired of FIAT years ago about putting the shop manuals online I received a letter from them, in summary saying the stuff was in the public domain to begin with, there were no official copies, etc. It was a USA based parts vendor who claimed copyright authority and "I'll sue you and blah blah blah..." It was a load of horsecrap, but the battle wasn't worth fighting. Within a couple of years every manual produced had been scanned and put online, to the extent that all of it is now in the public domain. FIAT doesn't mind - which makes sense, they don't make a dime off these vendors and have not in years - might as well let the classic car owners benefit as they might just spend a few bucks on a new car.

Fortunately most of these dirtbag vendors are gone; and rightly so, they did little to keep the cars going and a lot to profit off the owners. The near-sighted view they had is sad, really, because had they made the materials available (especially before the Internet was so prolific) then we would have had better access to the correct procedures e.g. buy more parts to get it right. For a while everyone suffered, then the market demands won out.

I think the FIAT Miata looks good, but it isn't a 124, and any consideration I had for buying one was lost when they slapped the name of a classic on something that never will be.

[dinosabella]

Amen,

The reason I bought my 77 Spider back in 1999 at the tender age of 19 was because all my friends were buying Civics, Rx7s, Cavaliers and CRXs. I wanted something different. I remember being driven around as a kid in southern Italy in Lancia Fulvias, Alfa 75s and I actually learned how to drive stick on my grandfathers late 70s FIAT 127 (probably the easiest car on earth to lean how to drive manual).

I wanted an Italian car with great looks. Knowing that the body was crafted in the Pininfarina factory and assembled in the FIAT factory was something special. Today the 500s are built in Poland and Mexico, the 124 Spider will be built in Japan, other FIATS will be made in Turkey and Brazil. I guess it all makes sense financially but the cars are no longer "Italian".

I had a lot of bad experiences with vendors over the years. Inflated prices, the wrong parts sent for my model year, vendors who refused to use anything other than UPS. I remember when my car was still equipped with points, I went through about 8! Vendors blamed questionable manufacturing in the 90s of points. My question was, well why are you selling them???? Luckily I found a Ferrari shop that converted my car to electronic ignition from an 82 at a surprisingly fair price. Maybe the guy had a soft spot for a kid who treasured the classics lol.

I am really happy to see that the vendors that are still around now offer fair pricing, source parts from Italy or at least Europe when they can and manufacture performance parts to keep our cars alive and relevant.

Brad its great to see that people like you are keeping the library of information alive and current. I will be placing my order on Amazon.ca today. It will be a refreshing change to use a more current resource that what I have been using, a mangled Haynes manual that was written in the 70s.

Thanks again to Brad and all the surviving vendors who have a passion for these great little sports cars.

Dino

[profcucchi]

Got my book this week, and it's a good read. Simply laid out, and understandable.

Brad has done a great job, and spiced it with humour only a Fiat 124 driver will understand.



Amazon US or Canada, same price with exchange.

Now I'm off to see which factory built my car. Even that's in the book!

[bradartigue]

Hey thanks!

[spiderdan]

I asked Santa to please get me the book
On Christmas day, under the tree I will look
If he forgot and didn't buy what I asked for
Screw Santa, Amazon will deliver to my door!

Got to have something good to read this winter.

[kilrwail]

Brad's book is available on Amazon.ca. Ordered mine on Oct 23 - price $49.37 Cdn - and it was shipped today.

Bruce - I hope they do a better job of shipping mine. I ordered it today and I'm leaving for Florida in a month! I want to read it during the cold winter months!

[courtenay]

Hopefully they have some stock now, Peter. Once shipped, it only took a couple of days to get here. I must say, even though I haven't gotten very far into the book, I am enjoying the read. Brad has a very casual writing style and has injected some humour into what could have been a very boring, highly technical journal. Well done, Brad!

[bradartigue]

Hey thanks!

If you want it delivered faster use createspace.com; when your order from Amazon they order them from createspace on your behalf anyway...

https://www.createspace.com/5713492

[profcucchi]

Hey thanks!

If you want it delivered faster use createspace.com; when your order from Amazon they order them from createspace on your behalf anyway...

https://www.createspace.com/5713492

Correct, as always.

My book was printed November 21, and delivered a few days later. That's service!