I'd forgotten that she had that effect on people. And I suppose the older she gets the more she will, especially to young people who have no idea what a FIAT is.
Now that she's back on the road, and once again very much back in my life, I've dug out the several car show trophies and plaques she won back in the `90s.
Oh... that brick... No, it's not an award. It is a souvenir I took from the remains of the FIAT factory that (believe it or not) once existed in Poughkeepsie N.Y., right near the site of the the 1997 FLU rally.
At the same time I dug out several old Spider books. Oh, how many hours of pleasure these books have provided! One, a compendium of reviews from Road & Track magazine, tells an interesting story: How when the model was new it was viewed as nice, but sort of old fashioned (the 'arrow head' look as seen in the TR7 was then the rage), but how seven or eight years later she was judged to look 'classic.'
Today, of course, she does that more than ever.
So If I see you drive by in yours don't be surprised if you hear me cry out "Hey mister! Nice car!"
-don
