Reader Submissions: Search And Restore: My 1967 Fiat 124 Spider

Search And Restore: My 1967 Fiat 124 Spider

By Petrolicious
July 25, 2017

Photography by Calum Ballinger

Story by Michael Polito

It all started at the young tender age of 10 growing up in the inner western Sydney suburb of Stanmore. That was where I met a gentleman named Matt Carroll, who had a wonderful collection of exotic and rare Italian and British racing cars that he would take all over the country with him to events like the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide.

Among other things, Matt had several Lotuses (or Loti, whichever you like) and a beautiful 246 Dino. And it was this Dino’s low stance and gorgeous lines that caught my eye immediately, even among such stand-out company. In awe of his collection and keen to get started on having my own one day, I asked for, and Matt offered, some advice which came down to suggesting I take a look at the underrated Fiat 124 Spider.

An affordable Italian sports cart bodied by the legendary design house of Pininfarina? Though a few unexciting hatchbacks wore that badge later on, these were the same designers of many of Ferrari’s most beautiful forms, including the 246 Dino I’d been drawn to. And this was a car they’d formed during a period of their best work. And this is where my journey began.

After many years of researching and wanting to own an “old car made in Italy,” I made the decision in 2003 that it was going to be time to buy one, and so I began looking for the right Fiat. The 124 Spider was manufactured for a healthy span between 1966 to 1980, and the front-engine, rear-wheel drive, four-wheel disc brake car was designed by the late Tom Tjaarda at Pininfarina. In short, it was a car that fit all of my criteria and was not going to cost in the Ferrari range. The only issue was the 124 was never released in Australia, so finding a good one would come with some challenges.

That said, I stumbled across this car accidentally while visiting an Alfa Romeo workshop in Sydney. The owner of the place was trying as much as he could to convince me to buy an Alfa instead of a Fiat, but he conceded that my mind was pretty much made up, and eventually, unexpectedly, he indicated that he might have something I’d be interested in: a black Fiat 124 Spider. To my surprise, sitting under a cover in this Alfa Romeo garage, I found my early chrome-bumper Spider. My initial thought upon removing the cover was that this car was going to need a lot of work. Of course it was not running at the time, and there was a substantial amount of rust doing a decent job of removing weight from the stationary machine.

With my late father’s advice still ringing in my ear, “When you start something, you must always finish it,” I made the, let’s call it courageous, decision to embark on restoring this Fiat. My goal was to bring it to its original glory of course, but also for my Spider to be one day recognized as among the best 124 Spiders in the world! This would take some work.

Firstly, the car was completely dismantled before being sent off to the sandblaster’s, as I think it’s always important to start with a blank canvas to have a good understanding of what’s really there to work with. The result wasn’t good. Rust holes everywhere. The front end had clearly been involved in a serious incident too. Nearly every panel had damage or rust. The bottom seals on the rocker panels and sub-structure were rotten, and rust had found its way in to the inner structure. Things were looking quite “bad” at this stage, and yet the list of ailments continued to grow…

While spending some considerable time researching and deciding which direction I would take with the car from the state it was in, I found that it was not a 1971 model like the seller had claimed. According the VIN number and the libretto (original Italian registration papers) sourced from the gentleman who imported this car in 1984, my Spider was in fact the 645th example built and was a very early original black (Nero) car. The Fiat 124 Spider debuted in Turin in November 1966, and given the number on mine, I’d say this is one of the oldest surviving 124 Spiders around. With this newfound appreciation for what I had, I decided it would be worth it to go ahead with the restoration.

Being somewhat of a perfectionist, I wanted this car to be as nice as it could, and so began on a total restoration of the Spider, rarely seen on any other of these cars. The lengthy list of work started off with returned to left-hand drive as they were never made in a right-hand drive configuration, and at some point prior to my acquiring it, the original 1438cc engine was replaced with a 1608cc unit. That engine was tossed out and replaced with an original (period-correct) 1438cc designed by ex-Ferrari engineer Aurelio Lampredi. The engine was completely torn down and rebuilt. Every nut, bolt, and component was removed and then repaired or  replaced.

The goal for the exterior was simple: perfection. It had to be, as the car was going to be painted in its original black color, and as all car enthusiasts know, black is not what you’d call forgiving,  known for revealing the scantest imperfections. It would take over four years to complete the exterior, including the removal and replacement of the front end, rear quarter panels, doors, and substructures. To ensure the car retained its original look and integrity, only genuine Fiat new old stock panels were used. Though it took an immense amount of time to source all the parts—to say nothing of having them shipped to Australia—it was worth the waiting and searching to have this level of correctness in the end result. As you can tell, I wanted the car to have the original look and feel, and in line with this, a factory-option set of rare Cromodora CD3 wheels were located, restored, and installed together with period-correct reproduction Michelin XAS tires.

Interior color options were limited back then, as the original black cars were only released with two options; Rosso (red) or Avorio (Ivory). The majority of spiders around the world either had black or tan interiors, so for me Rosso was the obvious, rarer, and more striking interior shade to pair against the deep black bodywork surrounding it.

After going through practically the entire car, the restoration was completed in April of this year, and I am thrilled with it. My Fiat 124 Spider is exactly how I imagined it would be, and I could not be prouder of result. I’d like to offer a special thank you to all that have contributed and supported this restoration and helped make my dream come true. The journey will continue!

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fs2000
fs2000
4 years ago

Hi,
All I can say is that this may be the luckiest Fiat 124 Spider in the world!!!
Congratulation for your job and promoting the passion among the world.
Carlos

Mick124
Mick124
4 years ago
Reply to  fs2000

Thank you Carlos. Very proud of the car. So underrated. Since restoring this, I have seen so many now on their own journeys to restore. This will only increase the values and make more desirable.

Ritch Wood
Ritch Wood
4 years ago

Hi Robert, I figure my 68 Spider (see below) is going to top out at about $75K New Zealand dollars . I have been buying parts out of the USA (dashboard, consoles, carpets, leather seats, canvas top, etc.) so the US$ to NZ$ hasn’t helped matters. I rebuilt the engine about 1000 km ago, but it has been sitting for about 25 years since then, so will need new belts, etc. and the drive train will also need some love..
Here’s a funny story: in July of 1976 I drove down to California from Vancouver with a couple of university mates. We made a stop at your Ferrari dealership in Berkeley so we could do what any 20 year-old loves to do, and that is drool over some nice cars. I remember that I sat in a red (60’s) Ferrari hardtop that had a V12 and was going for $37,500. I remember thinking, “hmmm, that’s about half the price of a house… I could do this!”. Well I didn’t buy the car, but I did buy an enamel hood ornament and a chrome prancing pony, unfortunately you were sold out of the “FERRARI” lettering at the time (I still have both). I think I really missed out on a great investment car, and I am really hoping that the car (which I can’t remember the model number) wasn’t a 250 GT0. I also remember stupidly thinking “If I buy a Ferrari, it shouldn’t be a hardtop….” Oh well…

Robert Lidstroem
Robert Lidstroem
5 years ago

Hi!

Nice job on the restoration and great story! Just curious where the “affordable” part came in? Was the car and total restoration around 25-30k$? That would be affordable. On the other hand affordable means different things, depending on your wallet. I’m guessing car + restoration about 100-150 000$? Never the less the car is beautiful!

Mick124
Mick124
4 years ago

Hi Robert, thank you for the comments. I presume “affordable” was used in comparison of other pininfarina designed Italian sports cars of that era. Dino 246 are unattainable, Fiat Dino Spiders are starting to enter that realm in pricing, etc. Good guess buy the way… pretty close, but if you want to restore a car to this standard, it will cost you this and more… Thanks again for the feedback.

Ritch Wood
Ritch Wood
6 years ago

Nice Job Michael! I wouldn’t mind hearing about who you got some of your parts from. I have been slowly restoring my 68 Spider (124AS0008295). After $38K worth of body work (yikes) it is ready for some serious cash injection 😊. I bought the car in Canada in 1977 and brought it with me to New Zealand in 1994. It had been in the body shop for about seven years while I drip fed funds for the body work, now it’s ready for paint, interior, top, carpets… It was originally white, but I had it painted Guard Red, but man that Nero looks good with the red interior! I have boxes and boxes of spare parts, as I broke down a couple of late 60’s parts cars.

Michael
Michael
6 years ago
Reply to  Ritch Wood

Hi Ritch, great looking project. Happy to share info with you. I also have a number of parts as I often bought two of everything. Look me up on Facebook and message me through messenger. I have also set up a FB page 1967 Fiat 124 Spider, Motorbella.

Clayton Merchant
Clayton Merchant
7 years ago

Wow, very nice job Michael.
I don’t ever remember them looking that good when they were being sold new!

Niels van Buuren
Niels van Buuren
7 years ago

Michael,
Congrats with what I would call a top restoration and car! Having embarked on a similar journey with similar perfectionism, a remark on a tiny overlooked item meant in the most constructive way possible: Hose clamps…;-) Hose clamps of those days used by Fiat / Pinin / Abarth were the not so effective ‘pin-type’, which might be the reason you chose not to use them… However, perfection is perfection I would say… Enjoy your drive! Niels

Michael
Michael
7 years ago

Agree Neils. The cotter pin type clamps are not that reliable, having said this, I will look to secure a set for the car. Thank you for the feedback!

Michael
Michael
7 years ago

Thank you for the feedback. Owner is Michael, not Matt.

seventyone spider
seventyone spider
7 years ago
Reply to  Michael

Michael, your story is inspiring. As an early chrome bumper 124 owner, I now have less qualms about investing in it. Of course we spider owners have known all along what great cars these are. The secret’s out!

Russ Wollman
Russ Wollman
7 years ago

Matt, I think the car is solid evidence that you are a more than “somewhat of a perfectionist.”

Neil
Neil
7 years ago

Great article and photos

William Morrissey
William Morrissey
7 years ago

Gorgeous car. The black with red is a classic combination. You’ve done an outstanding job.

Stephan P
Stephan P
7 years ago

Beautiful, thanks for sharing.

PDL66
PDL66
7 years ago

This and the AC 124 Sport were some of the prettiest cars ever made. Exceptional restoration job on this fine example, well done Matt.

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