Aussie boy looking at fiat

peter balda · Post by **peter balda** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:51 am

hi guys

first time posting

Im From Australia and just weighing up decisions wether to try and find a spider ioverseas and import or here in Australia

Where abouts should i start looking (ie. trader etc). Any info would be great.

I am looking for a car with no rust preferably restored body. Engine i dont mind. In Australia a restored example goes for about 15000 to 20000. Which in US dollars is anywhere up to bout $25k.

Also what year did the crome bumper model stop. (the full crome bumper like on the BS or 1969. Am i correct in saying that when they changed bumpers is when they added the raised bonnet

mdrburchette · Post by **mdrburchette** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 10:23 am

1974 was the last year of the chrome bumper and 72 was the last year of the flat "bonnet". You should be able to find a really nice car in the States for half the price of what it costs in Australia.
If I remember correctly, someone on this forum was posting an early Spider for sale. Check the "For Sale" section. Good luck!

spidernut · Post by **spidernut** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:43 am

Gheez. Thank's Denise...I was going to offer my car up for $25K U.S.

My recommendation is to watch the forums (here, FiatCenter.com, Mirafiori), E-bay, Autotrader, Cars.com, etc. Since you're shipping to Australia, you might look mainly at cars from California. If they've remained in California, they are highly unlikely to have any rust at all. No matter what source you use, hire a professional who knows Fiats to look the car over. People love hiding major problems with a new coat of paint or carpeting. A certain seller on E-bay is notorious for selling supposedly low-mileage cars that look great in photos but are less than desirable in person. Buyer beware!

In the U.S., you can expect to pay anywhere from $500 to a high of $12,000 for a Spider. Most that are restored and are in nice shape will sell for about $4,500. A decent daily driver will sell for about $2,000-$2,500.

For comparison, if I were to sell my car, I'd want somewhere in the neighborhood of $6,500. As you look around, here's what you'd expect to get for that price:

1979 Spider, carb., automatic, power brakes, power windows, 38,000 original miles, no rust, original interior (excluding new carpet with original rubber floor mats sewn into them), replacement console, recent convertible top, newer tires, original am/fm radio, new door seals, new professional two-stage paint job, replaced timing belt, new center and rear muffler, etc., etc., etc.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/spidernut/5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/spidernut/3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/spidernut/2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/spidernut/1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/s ... /fiat9.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/s ... /fiat2.jpg

Car featured in logo at FiatCenter.com
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/s ... enter2.jpg

At the lower end, you can find a restorable car for about $1,000-$1,500. It would have about 120,000 miles, need a complete restoration of the interior, have a cracked dashboard, cracked taillights, need some bodywork or rust repair, need paint, probably would have second or third gear out in the transmission and the rear differential might need to be replaced. Most cars that I've seen in this price range really needed a complete engine rebuild, but were adequate and did run. You'd probably have to sink about $3,000-$5,000 to make the car a good, reliable driver if you did all the work yourself (excluding the cost of a good paint job).

Hope that helps you in your search!

John

mdrburchette · Post by **mdrburchette** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:06 am

Sorry John! I was thinking of calculating the cost of shipping mine over for a cool $25K.

mbouse · Post by **mbouse** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:24 am

Either one of mine are available for the DEEP discounted price of $20k !! The discount takes into account that i have the fat bumpers.

I see a very nice sounding vehicle for sale over at http://www.flu.org for under $4000 right now, if you can stand a newer version.

nickfury · Post by **nickfury** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 1:07 pm

found this in my hood looks like a nice car if it is inshured it should be in decent shape, we have prety strict regulations (air care)
good luck http://vancouver.craigslist.org/car/277181185.html
Dave

peter balda · Post by **peter balda** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:38 am

thanks for the replies.

Sorry the dollar value for US was supposed to be taken off not added. It was late at night here so forgive me. So to correct my error that is about 15k US.

I will keep a look out as i am in no rush to buy one. I will wait until the perfect one comes along.

QUICK QUESTION: did the 72-74 ever come in black with red interior.

Also the site "Andy's Spiders" does anyone know on average how much these go for. Nice pieces of work and i would prefer a car already restored body wise.

In Australia it is hard to find people to restore a car as it takes to long and when they do restore it is far easier to buy one already done. Cost wise.

My problem is shipping fees and import costs.

thanks guys

peter balda · Post by **peter balda** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:42 am

spidernut nice car. Love the interior. Is that original. Never seen red here in Australia always black or tan.

mdrburchette · Post by **mdrburchette** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:46 am

peter balda wrote: QUICK QUESTION: did the 72-74 ever come in black with red interior.

I don't know about a complete red interior. I've seen red carpet though.

Andy's Spiders does some very nice restorations but they're closer to the $30K range.

peter balda · Post by **peter balda** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:51 am

30k really we talking US dollars obviously

When i said 20k australia that is for a fully restored fiat.

But that said they are nice pieces of work

spidernut · Post by **spidernut** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 6:31 am

Peter,

The red interior is original excluding the replaced console and the carpet. The original console was red, but pretty cracked up from age. The door panels, seats, etc., are the originals to the car. That's the advantage of having such a low mileage car!

You shouldn't have much trouble finding a car with a decent body. There are enough out there that it shouldn't be a major issue. For those who wait, great deals come along all the time.

If you were willing to buy a Spider for $15K US, you'd have no trouble at all finding a really, really, really nice car. You'd probably find that everyone on the forum would sell their cars for $15K if offered that much.

Check the prices at http://www.manheimgold.com and you'll see the range of prices in the US. It is pretty accurate all in all.

Happy hunting!

peter balda · Post by **peter balda** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:53 pm

for anyone who may be interested in whats around in australia have a look at the links.

http://www.carsales.com.au/used-cars/de ... s&trecs=46

http://www.carsales.com.au/used-cars/pr ... |1&trecs=8

http://www.bennettsclassicauctions.com. ... ils&id=368

Do not forget that these are aussie dollars so take bout 20-25% of the price to convert. The bottom 2 i like.

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:31 am

Peter
I've heard the import fees are high, what does it cost to bring a Fiat into Aus?

peter balda · Post by **peter balda** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:32 am

exactly i am not sure. i am still researching.

I have heards of some cars coming from the states costing 6k in just getting the car here, but i am sure that the value of the car would play a huge role.

We deal with some import companies through my work so i am going to see what it would cost.

perthling · Post by **perthling** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:25 am

Hi Peter, nice to see another Aussie here.

Sorry I only just came across your thread, here's my 2 cents for the issues discussed.

There are a swag of relatively recently imported Spiders in Aus now, so I would suggest you would be better off trying to source one in-country. The import deal varies from state to state so it depends where you are. Over where I am (in W.A.) Spiders which need relatively little work (but still LHD) are about Aus$6-9k, and there is a RHD one for $10,500 which would only need minor paint treatment on the bonnet (hood for the Yanks

) to be very presentable. Again, it depends on your model preference; I hunted around for some time before I found my 'ideal' - a '74 1800cc with the earlier blade bumpers. It would depend on what you plan to do with the car - obviously if you imported one yourself then it would potentially need conversion to RHD at some stage, whereas many cars here have already been converted.

Regarding colour schemes, the earlier Spiders only came with black seats and door trims (to the best of my knowledge). At some stage (I think it might have been around '78) they were then available with two-tone door panels and different interior colours. My '74 also had the red carpets though. I'm sure some experts on this forum will no doubt correct me here.

For Aus$15-18k you would pick up a very nice car (transport would probably be $1500 or so depending on how far the car has to travel in-country). But if you have your heart set on a '68, or a Volumex, you might struggle to find one in Aus (or anywhere else for that matter!)

Cheers