Specs: 1969 Fiat 124 Spider, VIN 124AS0013311, mfg. date unknown, color: French Blue (color code # 426), engine 124AC000 (1438)
Background: This car was purchased August 6, 2004. (Hard to believe that was 7 years ago.) The details are fuzzy now, but I remember finding her on the internet, possibly thru the Roamin’ Chariots. We drove from northwest Arkansas to Bartlesville OK (about an hour north of Tulsa) and this is what we found:
and, of course, that sweet little 1438:
with the factory exhaust header:
She had some unique things;
A rollbar
Homemade headlight guards
AM/FM radio
Aftermarked steering wheel
Original Hubcaps
and the original tool kit:
And some bad points, mostly typical of the species:
Surface rust
Note the homemade edge guard on the hood, interesting
A dent in a hard place to fix
Holes in the rockers
Dried out wooden dash
With cracks in the vinyl
Cracked and weathered e-brake housing
Cracked (and now very hard to find) lenses
Tears in the driver’s seat
Temporary fixes on the door panels
and other minor issues.
I don’t even remember how much I paid, too much, but the guy was emotionally invested in it, and I really wanted an early Spider (and money was a little easier to come by back then.) I think we negotiated to about $2 grand. I knew it was too much money, but I'd been looking for an early Spider in good body condition for a LONG time. I do remember it being hard to get the thing loaded on the trailer we had borrowed on the flat ground of Oklahoma, but we did get it loaded in the dark and brought it home.
The guy I bought it from was the 2nd owner. He had bought it in the early 70s from his girlfriend's father's Chrysler dealership where someone had traded it in on a new Chrysler. She gave him the aftermarket steering wheel for a Christmas gift. He drove it after that until job changes, relocations, marriage and children made the car impractical. He left it with his folks and his mom took it out occasionally to go buy groceries and let the sackers drool over her convertible. Then one day it wouldn't start. He tried on a couple of trips home to fix it, but life took over and it sat under their carport until I came to give it a new home.
Once home, she got a bath and I got a kick out of cleaning out the glovebox and trunk and finding all sorts of interesting bits. Eventually, she found her way into a tin barn I was turning into a shop and for the next several years sat on wheel dollies, gathering dust. Eventually the shop became my woodworking shop and the accumulation of tools and wood required more space so Celeste got kicked out the door. A few days or weeks later we got a rare hailstorm and Celeste took a beating along with the other six Spiders sitting around the place. I thought I was going to be sick. You see, other than the aftermarket parts, she’s about 98% original with only 87,352 original miles.
I think I’ve been waiting until I really felt that I knew enough and had the requisite skills to really put the old girl back on the road. I now realize that if I wait for that, there’s a chance my children will do the work after I’m gone! So, a few days ago I hooked her to the truck and pulled her to the garage, and here she sits (after a quick bath):
Every time I look very close, the list of “to-do”s grows. But for starters, I’m going to get the engine running again. After that, fluids/filters change, new belts & hoses, thorough inspection underneath and fixing what is apparently needed. From there???? I definitely have to deal with some surface rust and one bad dent in a rear corner that I have no idea how to fix. So, I’m building my list and will post progress here so that others can learn from my mistakes.
More to follow….
u can let me take that car off your hands . i have a tail lens 
