1985 1/5

[mbouse]

you like that salt water story, don't you Pope?

[pope]

I am trying to keep that urban legend alive. That is my purpose in Spider life.

[Darsella1]

Well... my car survived two major hurricanes in Florida and several back east winters so I can stick to my "salt water" story too. And it was mostly to one side

There are a few 124 sport coupes and a 128 here locally that are also quite rare. There are also a few Lancia scorpions. Parts on those were also a serious pain for the owners while they restored them (I had to hear Ray complain about it). So I while I don't see them as super "valuable", but highly desirable- heck yes. Anytime one of these comes up there is a whole lot of discussion on the local forums & email lists. It's pretty much sold in a matter of days.

Slightly OT... we have had a lot of discussions as I'm on the board with our local club. Fiat is now thrust into the spotlight and as our cars get older (and newer), what kinds of people will we be welcoming? There will be more collectors type people (like myself) with fewer decent cars to choose from. So yes, I do think they will start to go in value starting with the rare, original low mile & nicely restored cars. The more desired features for the masses, the more the car is worth. My husband & I have collected all sorts of things for years (I know... we are a baaaad combo together) so it's just the rule of things.

Anyone see the Hemmings Sports & Exotic car issue this month? There is a fantastic feature on a limited edition spider. The exact car that I almost bought! I was new back into Fiats again and scoffed at how much he wanted for it. When I saw it, it was the most perfect original condition Fiat I have ever seen as it had been garaged it's entire life. It sold to someone else in a matter of days (sight unseen) while we were debating it over and asking the "how much is it really worth" question. I was told by a long time Fiat enthusiast that price was ridiculous. It was actually a steal of a deal because I have seen people pay just as much for something not nearly as nice since then. I just didn't think that there were serious people out there looking for very nice, low mile cars. The guy who bought it did. It will be interesting to see if the rare LE models are now going to go up in value because of that article. So far, I have not seen them sell for much more.

[Foster48x]

Arent the 85's rebuilt from the cargo ship that caught fire and dumped the Spiders overboard into the ocean. They were fished out, dried and furnished with some new parts in Yugoslavia. Well...thats what I heard!

That's a true story

[VAS]

Hi, Darsie and other 85 1/2 enthusiasts-

We have the Pininfarina letter certifying your car (& 2 others you asked about) in compliance with EPA & DOT regulations. It is dated Nov. 14, 1985

Michael Blumberg of Atlanta, GA brought in the last Pininfarina Spiders. He acted as an importer and distributor. We have his ad copy for the final spiders and even a list of where he advertised the cars. We also have his letters of credit where he bought as many as 5 spiders in a lot.

The documentation begins in 1985 and ends in 1986. I did not find a Bill of Sale or import documention for the cars you inquired about. However, as you will read, this does not mean we do not posses some of the import documents for your car.

The final cars sold in Europe were sold through Universal Car (not to be confused with Universal Imports) a distributor. I mention this because the serial numbers of cars imported to the USA on documents we have are not sequensial. And, in fact, we have a number of import documents simply identifying the Spiders by sales price and without serial number!

We will have more about these great final spiders in our next catalog, aptly titled the FIAT IS BACK! Catalog

-Jerry Lee Phillips

owner, Vick AutoSports 1 800 466-FIAT (3428)

[Darsella1]

Thanks so much Jerry! I'll let them know. Now how many USA cars were there total is what I really want to know- the 186 or the 242 figure???

I do have the sales original invoice from Universal car, the statement of manufacture of origin from Pininfarina (very helpful when trying to register my car in this state) and all of the importation documents. Mine was imported privately later in 1989. It was custom ordered by the owner in Italy (they were living there). I still talk to the original owner as I am the 2nd owner. I just wanted to know if mine was also on your list!

- Dars

[kristoj]

Are their really SERRIOUS CAR collectors that include the Fiat 124 in their collections? I mean, I love the car but come on, we're talking about pretty low buy ins and if you invest 5K over a 5 year period, you're gonna have a pretty nice Fiat. Or, Pinninfarina if you have those upper years. My neighbor has an 84 Pinninfarina and she's been holding out for 7.5K since 06. It's nice, original and she's the original owner. It even resembles the red one just above these words, but, you can make your own for less. Someone at an Italian car club gave her that value in 06 and she's not budging - I tried . Anyway, are some of these really valued in the over 8K range? I see them advertized there but I'm not buying! I surely hope they get there though !

I don't believe 124 Spiders will ever become "blue chip" collectable cars. However, it is naive to suggest serious collectors would not want own one. It wasn't that many years ago that Fiat Dinos were considered worthy only as parts donors for their Ferrari cousins. Today, pristine Dino Spiders trade hands in excess on $70 or $80k. I understand the philosophy that cars were made to be driven and enjoyed -- not confined to the garage or trailer. But those who choose to carefully preserve their cars make an important contribution to our hobby as well. The cars are only original once. If everyone drove their cars into the ground, there would be none left for future generations to appreciate. I'll take a low mileage, well maintained original car any day over a restored version. The great news is that Fiat made 200,000 124 Spiders, and there are plenty to go around at every price point. So regardless of whether you are looking for a $2,500 reliable runner to drive the wheels off of it or you want a pristine Volumex at $20k or more, there is one out there for you!

[pope]

There were 190,000 Spiders made over the length of production. Ferrari usually only made about 200 of each car.
Sooo...start buying parts car and crushing poor examples of Spider. Come on people...lets get those numbers down.

[kristoj]

Ferrari made over 4,000 206 and 246 Dinos and over 11,000 308s...

[pope]

I agree John, but the Dino was never considered a true Ferrari as it lacked the badging and Ferrari dealers never wanted to sell them. The 308 also started out as a Dino. Thomas Magnum car that is worth no more than $25,000 to $30,000 now a days. Not very much. Yes, starting with the Dino, Ferrari tried to make affordable cars that would be mass produced. I guess I wasnt clear in that I was talking about the earlier 12 cyl. front engine models. I watched a 275 GTS (200 made) go for $560,000 last year. And that was one of the cheaper Ferraris sold. Edsel Ford sold his 71' Datona Spider (1250 made over 5 years) two years ago for 1.3 mil.

Now that is some serious change.

[kristoj]

Pope, as you know, Ferrari owners are quite a diverse group of folks! You have the multi-billionaire "investors" who couldn't tell a spanner from a screwdriver. And at the other extreme you have the average weekend enthusiast who might drive (and maintain) a 208 GT4, 400i or Mondial 8. The beauty is that there is room for both. Fiat owners aren't quite THAT diverse. But there are the more rare models like the LE or Volumex that are more collectible for folks who really appreciate that kind of thing vs. the guys who just love to get in and drive their Spiders everywhere. I don't have any preconceived notion that either type is better than the other. BTW, I recently attended a classic car auction where an '82 Mondial Coupe sold for $10,000 (less than Darsie's LE)!

A friend of mine (with far more financial resources than I can ever hope to have) owns a number of high-dollar collectibles, including Ferraris and Porsches. And you know what? He also has a '71 Fiat Spider that he says he will never sell. He's got a pretty sweet '76 Lancia Scorpion as well. So the notion that a serious collector would not be into 124 Spiders is simply off base. We are fortunate that our cars appeal to a broad range of people and that there is a model or specific vehicle out there to fulfill just about anyone's objective in enjoying their version of the automotive hobby. So I say drive'em, polish'em, show'em...whatever floats your boat. Just enjoy heck out of them!