Recommendations

[mackeybeach]

What year and model do you all recommend that is dependable and relatively easy to get parts?
Is air-conditioning worth the effort? I will not be online but checking back for your comments.

[kmead]

Parts are pretty similar across the years as mechanically they are all very similar (no not the same but lots of parts are the same across nearly all years) and general availability is good.

In terms of general day to day reliability, drivability and don't have to worry much about it, a mid 1980 or newer car with fuel injection is probably best for someone who doesn't care for working on a car themselves.

I wouldn't bother with AC, it was never a factory option until the late Spiders and is nothing to get too excited about.

[BEEK]

any year car you can find that is rust free. check the shock towers and the floor boards. fiat mechanicals are relativly simple to repair and parts are abundant, and fairly inexpensive compared to modern cars. carburated and / or fuel injected either is good and have good and bad points. i would find a car that is cosmeticaly in good shape and repair any mechanical malfunctions you find. there is plenty of help here for anything you might run into.

[MNspiderman]

1996 ford f150

[BEEK]

1996 ford f150

that would be a great truck to haul the toy hauler with a restored fiat in it

[DUCeditor]

Everyone loves the model they have. In truth each has strengths that endear them to their owners.

The earlier, smaller displacement, 124s were peppy and loved to rev. This makes them fun but also, frankly, more work to drive.

The Spider 2000 has torque to spare and is typically a bit faster than the others.

In between are the "1800s" - really 1756cc - that either give up something from what came before or what came after, or marry the best of both (my own take).

Looks-wise, too, there are pluses and minuses. The early years had the smaller bumpers. Many prefer the look of these. But the 1800s grew breasts and look sexy as hell in comparison to their flat chested (OK, flat hooded) sisters. The 2000 has bigger breasts yet, but to some at least they seem less organic. (Silicon implants?)

Bottom line: Find a clean one and enjoy. They are all wonderful cars. And anything you don't like can be changed.

-don

[Gunsmith]

All of the cool people have 82's.

[Jimb]

Go with the 1985.5. The rack & pinion steering is quite an improvement.

Jim

[ga.spyder]

You should listen to Gunsmith,he is very wise

[DUCeditor]

Go with the 1985.5. The rack & pinion steering is quite an improvement.

True, but this is one of the few models that does not share several key components with the others. That rarity, as one might expect, makes them relatively costly and eventually, possibly, very difficult to find.

Whether that should matter is a personal thing. But for myself one of the things that makes the Spider so desirable is the abundance of cheap parts.

-don

[MNspiderman]

I got a 77. that way i cant get confused

[BEEK]

my current driver is a 1977

[Foster48x]

Here are the best years for Spiders.

66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85.5

I'm of course partial to the 80FI but you can't go wrong with any of the years listed above.

Rick

[Gunsmith]

As you can see by the above post the only draw back to owning an 82' is the pathetic jealousy of those that did not have the fore thought or were cool enough to have sought out and purchased an 82'. While other years are a good hold over until you can find the proper 82' candidate for your exquisite taste those that are unable to obtain such superiority will constantly all though pathetically try to minimize your genius in decision making. Only 82' owners would also be sharp enough to notice the hidden stab in the above post. The sadness of the lesser years becomes apparent over and over.

[zachmac]

The only caution buying an 82 is all 82 owners must be screened to make sure their IQ matches the year. (82 NOT 1982).
There ya go Gunsmith, nothing hidden.

All joking aside, the major decision is carburated versus fuel injection. Carbs are for the most part easier to sort out but the FI cars, when they are sorted out, offer better drivability. The other question is are you going to want to "improve" performance. The carburated route makes this a LOT easier as the stock FI ECU is NOT ammenable to tuning.

Any year has it's + and - 's