Best production year

[ga.spyder]

Gunsmith is a very intelligent man.That should go without saying...as he owns a 82 Spider.

[whiterabbit]

I have to say the 81 year. 'Cause that's what I have.
From what I've read on the internet all the other years sucked.
In 81' all the rubber bushings never wear out,bearings last forever,electrical gremlins were banished,totaly rust proof,and would do 0 to 60 in 3.2 and top speed was 205mph. Well, that's what I've read on the internet.

[dom]

72 is the best. They made improvements on an already well designed car with clean lines. They added a bigger motor and designed proper marker lights instead of the bicycle ones that they used in haste. Then instead of putting effort into more improvments in 73 they were forced to begin a process castration and physical humiliation. Eventually, and like us, it ended up old fat wrinkled with big saggy tits

[ga.spyder]

And faster...with more horsepower

[mdrburchette]

71-72 is by far the best. Original flat hood, chrome bumpers, lightweight, perfectly balanced, lowered suspension, revvy 1608 motor, 4-2-1 exhaust system, cabin vents, sturdily built. If you read throughout this entire forum, you will find many later model car owners searching for fixes to perfect their 82's. Every one of their fixes can be found by mimicking the 72's. And that, my friends, is the Gospel according to Fiatspider.com

[courtenay]

I have to agree, Denise. My first Fiat was a '72 and while I do enjoy my '80, I still wish I had hung on to the '72.

[narfire]

Nice to hear from you Denise,hope all is well I concur with her logic as well. I have a 80 FI and do like it(took the bumpers off) and a 72 in the shop being put back together and another outside. The 72's do look sharp, nice stance without having to muck with the springs,good power from the engine, flat hood..air horns
Chris

[grittracing]

Pretty happy with my 1980 fi stock drive train but had a face lift lol slightly

[mdrburchette]

Hey Chris and everyone! I've been doing great and miss all you guys. Life kinda pushed me in another direction but I'm ready to focus on my cars a bit more so you'll be seeing me on the forums frequently.

[azruss]

Denise, good to hear from you again. How did getting sponsorship for your daughter work out.

[mdrburchette]

We're working on it. There's a contest from Champion Spark Plugs we're making a video for in hopes of gettting some money. She raced her first limited late model race right after Thanksgiving and did very well. I'll post something in a day or two for everyone to help vote for her video.
Thanks for asking! Cars are a lot more expensive than gokarts.

[Kendoo]

I think it is rather obvious that the 76 model is the best because I own one. It is parked by my front door so I can just look at it every time I open the door, sometimes I just open the door to stare at it.

Taking it for a drive today from melbourne to daylseford on a beautiful sunny day, around a 250 klm round trip, roof down, heaven.

[csi2000s]

I don't really think it matters what production year is the best because most of the spider's updates were done to satisfy the USA laws at the time. It's obvious that the best incarnation is the first series of cars with the chrome bumpers. That's what the designer came up with on the drawing board and they suit the cars delicate flowing lines. The big bumpers look like complete rubbish but at least they look better than the ones on the MGB. Also what about those side markers that look like they should be on a Mack truck?

All mechanical updates were done out of necessity to pass the American smog laws. If you look at the European specifications of these spiders, the USA missed out on a lot of good stuff. I'm located in Australia and we weren't lucky enough to get the spider but we did get the 124 sports coupe. Our 1600cc BC coupe had the twin 40mm IDF'S from the factory and every other Fiat sold in Australia had more horsepower than any Fiat sold in the USA due to less pollution controls.

Who really cares what was the best production year for specs,looks etc"? Just buy your Fiat Spider and make it the way you want to be. All Fiat spiders were compromised in some way due to USA smog, bumper laws etc. I have a 1974 spider so it has the classic looks with the chrome bumpers but it is better screwed together and reliable than any spider that ever came out the factory. Over the years I've fitted a 2 litre engine with hotter cams, hi comp pistons, headers, twin 45mm DCOE Webers, 3.54 ratio LSD, huge vented front discs with 4 spot cailipers, aluminum radiator with large thermo fan, Koni shocks and a host of other mods.

As a result I have a car which goes like hell, stops and doesn't over heat. I can drive my car with complete confidence and don't have to worry about all those classic Fiat problems. I did forget to say I ripped out all that spaghetti Marelli wiring along with all that other junk that was put in there for the American market and had the car rewired with just what it needs. On top of all the above I had convert it to RHD so I can drive it here down under. My car is from California and if I kept it original spec, it would of been a very luke warm ride compared to the wild thing it is now. Modify and you will amazed what you can achieve!

[royaldust]

So much useful and interesting information, thanks guys!

I have to say something as an italian guy and about the funny nickname (fix it again tony) that fiat is labeled with in america...

I bought my car (75) from a guy who kept it in a garage, it had 110.000 miles when i bought it.
The car is 100% stock and all original parts, the previous owner never really drove more than to the grocery store.

My car now drives over 80 miles a day, everyday!
It has 125.000 now, the motor and the transmission have never been rebuilt.
This car does not stop! Ever!

I guess tony is gonna have to wait a little longer.

[Baz]

There will always be differing opinions on this one, but I read an article in some journal I can't remember about something, that those who took the 77 body, put the 2ltr non smogable engine, and to impove handling converted to rhd got the 'King,' Spider.

Hope you are all well !!!!
Baz