1976 FIAT 124 1800 Sport Spider

De-bumpered and finished in menacing black, this delightful Fiat 124 Spider is fitted with the sprightly 1800cc engine and a vivid red interior. Ziebarted from new as well, making it our perfect specification.

As an ex-Illinois car it is left-hand-drive of course, and it has been gently resto-modded with an uncommonly high degree of skill and restraint; while many we see look a little awkward, this one seamlessly blends the needs of the 21st century driver with the classical elegance of the original.

Brought here in 2014 by its only former UK keeper, it is being offered with no reserve and the sort of guide price that makes your building society interest rate look even more insulting than usual, giving you the chance to buy this week’s office crush for not a lot of money.

Black is even less forgiving than Jack Reacher in a grump, which means that this one’s ultra-smart appearance comes as a welcome surprise. And it is pretty darned good, with straight panels, good panel gaps, and a sheen to the paintwork that speaks of many hours of diligent application and polishing over the years in addition to the recent professional detail the vendor commissioned. The top surfaces in particular have very little orange peel.

It was Ziebarted from new too, and the observant among you will have noticed the rubber plugs put there to seal the application holes from when the rust-proofing was applied all those years ago. A long-winded and expensive process at the time, the investment has certainly paid off because we can’t remember seeing a better preserved example.

The chromework might now be minimal but what there is is very good with bright light surrounds (many of which were new in 2017) and numberplate lamps, a very useful boot-mounted luggage rack, and a wonderfully discreet flash of brightwork around the windscreen and along the top of the doors. The result is elegant but not OTT – and that’s a line that not every owner walks as well as this one does.

The folding black vinyl roof is also in great shape, being taut and well-fitting when it’s raised yet easy to lower when you spot the briefest glimmer of sun. It also tucks away under a neat black tonneau cover when you don’t need it, lending the car an elegant, streamlined profile.

The 5.5J13 Fiat/Cromodora alloy wheels are nicely finished having been refurbished only recently. Straight and running true, they are free of scrapes, dents and dinks and are shod with matching directional 185/60R13 tyres, all of which look to be very recent and so still have plenty of tread on them.

As we will never tire of explaining, our experience shows that matching tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

It benefits from uprated LED headlamps and suspension that sits 30mm lower to the ground than the factory set-up. There are no bumpers either, and these modifications suit its resto-mod, café-racer look to perfection.

There are new sill panels as well, plus lots of new gaskets, badges, and the like.

All this work means that blemishes are few. The door mirrors are starting to rust (slide numbers 59 and 60), there are a few light tears to the hood (#215), and there are some micro-blisters here and there including on the edge of the nearside door (#131) and at the base of the windscreen (#133).

Finished in red and black with plenty of wooden trim, the interior is an absolute joy. A red gear lever and handbrake gaiter work in conjunction with matching seats, door cards, carpets and seatbelts to give the whole ensemble a cohesive look. Flamboyant in mood and in a delightful condition, it comes together wonderfully, dodging gaudy by at least a couple of light years.

The two red leatherette front seats are still plump and well-trimmed, and they hold you better than you might think. With a classic Italian driving position, the driver stretches out to hold the black and wood twin-spoke steering wheel in a wonderfully straight-armed driving position. The rear seats might be more notional than practical but there’s no denying how good they look.

The ambience is helped, of course, by the fact that the wooden dashboard - parts of which are new - is in such a good condition, as are the wonderful Veglia dials with their Italian inscriptions. There’s twin-spindle Fiat-branded radio in the dashboard as well, which is another delightful touch that goes to the heart of how well-considered this Spider is.

It’s also a very tactile car; that gorgeous steering wheel is backed up by a new wooden gearknob that sits on top of a new chromed shaft and the combination feels great in the hand.

The boot is just as beautifully finished. There’s a matching Cromodora alloy wheel in there with a good tyre plus a natty little tool kit. What looks to be a new Bosch battery too, and lifting the red-trimmed floor panels shows solid metalwork underneath. This is very, very far from the cliché of a rust-bucket Italian 70s car.

Work to do is minor. The rev counter doesn’t work, and one side of the indicators doesn't work.  The inside of the hood could do with freshening up a little. There’s also a small blemish on the base of the driver’s seat (#36) and the top of the dashboard is starting to curl a little (#126).

The invoices show plenty of new suspension, steering, and braking system components plus a vast array of trim. The vendor also had a new fuel pump and lines fitted and it’s clear that its UK owners have spent a fortune sorting out any little niggles. The result is a car that drives as well as it looks.

The engine bay is tidy without being obsessively so, which leaves the new owner free to maintain it as it is or prettify it their own personal taste.

The underside is strong and solid, although it has obviously had some welding done to it over the years. It has been neatly undersealed too, which bodes well for its long-term health and saves you the effort of doing anything other than touching it up now and then.

There’s what looks to be a newish stainless-steel exhaust under there as well, which is another job you aren’t going to have to worry about for a while.

In fact, just about the thing we can see you might like to take a look at are the brakes. The four aluminium calipers were rebuilt at vast expense only recently and while they work just fine the pedal does seem to have quite a long travel to it.

The current MOT certificate expires in March 2022. 

It has a couple of expired MOT certificates plus a sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years. It also still has its original owner’s manual, the rare American service book and two sets of keys in addition to its Illinois title.

There are also many invoices from Spider-Point for miscellaneous bits and bobs: please see slides #254-268 for full details of what has set the car’s two owners back such a considerable sum.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage (subject to you being able to travel of course – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

Having lived its life in the shadow of its Italian contemporary, the Fiat 124 Spider is starting to find a ready audience among folk for whom the Alfa is a bit too obvious.

This isn’t a surprise to us because we’ve always loved the Fiat’s delicacy and individualism; that they drive so well is the icing on an already very appealing cake – and the fact that they’re still fairly cheap only adds to their charm.

How cheap are they? Well, we think this one, which is beautifully prepared and running like a dream, will probably fetch less than £19,000 and possibly as little as £13,000, which is an absurdly small sum for a car that’s going to be as satisfying as this to drive and own.

And if the past year has taught us anything it’s that we have no idea what’s around the corner, so if you’ve got a few quid earning sod-all in the building society, why not splash out on this slice of fried Italian gold? After all, we tend to regret the things we haven’t done rather than the things we have…

Viewing is always encouraged (within Govt. guidelines of course), and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.