Fiat 124 Sport Spider

This article is about the Fiat 124 Spider. For the 124 Coupé, see Fiat 124 Coupé. For the 124 sedan, see Fiat 124.

Fiat 124 Sport Spider

Manufacturer	Fiat 1966-1982 Pininfarina 1983-1985
Also called	Pininfarina Spider (1983-1985)
Production	1966-1985
Assembly	Turin, Italy San Giorgio Canavese, Italy (Pininfarina)
Body style	2-door cabriolet
Layout	FR layout
Engine	1,438 cc (1.4 L) I4 1,592 cc (1.6 L) I4 1,608 cc (1.6 L) I4 1,756 cc (1.8 L) I4 1,995 cc (2.0 L) I4 1,995 cc (2.0 L) Turbocharged I4 1,995 cc (2.0 L) Supercharged I4
Transmission	4-speed manual 5-speed manual 3-speed automatic
Wheelbase	89.75 in (2,280 mm)
Length	156.25 in (3,969 mm)
Width	63.5 in (1,613 mm)
Height	49.25 in (1,251 mm)
Related	Fiat 124
Designer(s)	Tom Tjaarda Designer, Franco Martinengo Design Director, Battista Pininfarina, Pininfarina

The 124 Sport Spider is a 2+2 convertible sports car marketed by Fiat from 1966 to 1980 – having debuted at the November 1966 Turin Auto Show. Designed and manufactured by Italian carrozzeria Pininfarina, Fiat and Pininfarina continued to market the monocoque-bodied car as the 2000 Spider from 1979 to 1982. Pininfarina itself assumed the car's marketing from 1983 to the end of its production in 1985 – as the Pininfarina Spider Azzura.

The body of the car was designed and marketed by Pininfarina. The convertible body was designed directly by Sergio Pininfarina, who used the already available designs of Chevrolet Corvette “Rondine” and Ferrari 275 GTS. Several years later, in 1981, on the 50th anniversary of Pininfarina, this fact was further emphasized by producing a Fiat Spider 2000 Pininfarina 50th (Golden) Anniversary Edition. In 1972, a sports version of the Spider was revealed. This was required for a type-approval of its rally version, which earned some remarkable success. The models sold in showrooms were marked as 124 CSA (C-Spider-Abarth). The vehicle had a capacity of 128 hp. In three years, Fiat manufactured less than 1,000 CSA models, which were intended for sale to individual clients. Apart from the Fiat Spider 2000 Pininfarina 50th (Golden) Anniversary Edition, this is one of the versions most eagerly sought by collectors.

The car was sold in Europe and the U.S. from its introduction until the 1975 model year when it was modified to comply with new U.S. regulations and no European version was produced. Sales in Europe resumed when Pininfarina took over production in 1983 under the name Pininfarina Europa Spider.

The Sports Spider and the Fiat 124 Coupé shared the numeric portions of their name with the 124 sedan along with much of their running gear – and, in the case of the Coupé, a shared platform. The Sports Spider utilized a shorter platform along with a shorter wheelbase, and in contrast to the Pinifarina styled and manufactured Spider, Fiat designed and manufactured the Coupé in-house.

Engines

The four-cylinder engine used in the Spider and Coupé was a double overhead cam, aluminum crossflow head version of the sedan's pushrod unit. It started in 1966 with a capacity of 1438 cc progressively increasing to 1608 cc in 1970 (although this reduced to 1,592 cc in 1973), 1,756 cc in 1974 and finally 1,995 cc in 1979. Designed by Dan Vano. Bosch fuel injection replaced the previously used Weber carburetors midway through 1980. In 1981 and 1982, Fiat USA, Inc. partnered with Legend Industries to create approximately 700 turbo models for US markets. There was also a supercharged model called Volumex offered toward the end of production, which was sold only in Europe, where it cost 35% more than a regular, fuel-injected Spidereuropa. This family of engines was designed by ex-Ferrari chief engineer Aurelio Lampredi and in one form or another remained in production into the 1990s giving it one of the longest production runs in history. The double overhead cam (DOHC) version was the first mass manufactured DOHC to utilize reinforced rubber timing belts, an innovation that would come into nearly universal use in the decades after its introduction. Its family powered race cars such as: FIAT 131 Mirafiori, Special T, Lancia Beta Montecarlo, Delta Integrale and many others.

• 1400 (1,438 cc) - 90 PS (66 kW; 89 hp)
• 1600 (1,592 cc) - 106 PS (78 kW; 105 hp)
• 1600 (1,608 cc) - 110 PS (81 kW; 108 hp)
• 1800 (1,756 cc) - 118 PS (87 kW; 116 hp)
• 2000 (1,995 cc) - 78 PS (57 kW; 77 hp)
• 2000i (1,995 cc) - 105 PS (77 kW; 104 hp), 102 hp (76 kW; 103 PS) for North America and Japan
• 1,995 cc - 120 bhp (89 kW; 122 PS), turbocharged for USA
• VX (1,995 cc) - 135 PS (99 kW; 133 hp), supercharged

Suspension

Suspension was conventional by unequal length wishbones and coil over damper at the front and by coil sprung live rear axle at the rear which was located by a transverse link (Panhard rod) and two pairs of forward extending radius rods to react braking and acceleration and to control axle wind-up.

Specification

The Coupe and Spider were first sold in the US market in 1968. In 1969, the Spider featured four-wheel disc-brakes, double overhead cams, hesitation wipers, steering-column mounted lighting-controls, radial ply tires and a five-speed manual transmission. An optional three-speed automatic transmission from General Motors was available from 1979 through 1985 for North America as well as Japan. Its convertible top could be raised and locked in under a minute. When the engine was upgraded to two litres, the model was renamed as the Fiat 2000 Spider.

Fiat subsequently stopped marketing the Spider and the X1/9 — to have their marketing assumed by their respective carozzeria. In Europe, the Ritmo Cabrio was also marketed by Bertone rather than Fiat themselves. In the USA, Fiat turned over marketing and support of the Spider and the X1/9 to International Automobile Importers, Inc., headed by Malcolm Bricklin.

An early special version was the 124 Spider Abarth which featured an independent rear axle, hardtop, different seats, interior etc. and only came in 3 colours.

Rallying

Fiat Abarth 124 Rallyes in Abarth factory in Turin.

In 1971 the 124 Spider was prepared for the World Rally Championship when Abarth became involved with its production and development. Abarth designer Ing. Colucci was responsible for getting the 124 Spider into Group 4 rally trim. Over this period the Abarth Spider had relative success with wins at the 1972 Hessen Rally, Acropolis Rally, 1973 Polish Rally, 19th on the 1973 RAC rally and 7th to mostly the Alpine Renaults on the 1973 Monte Carlo Rally. The Spider continued to perform with 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the 1974 8th Portuguese TAP Rally, 6th in the 1974 1000 Lakes, 4th in the 1975 Monte Carlo Rally and also with Marku Alen driving the Spider to 3rd place. By 1976 the days of 124 rallying were numbered due to the appearance of the Fiat-Abarth 131.

Production

The model line ceased in 1985 after almost 200,000 Spiders alone had been built, of which 75% were for the US market. There were nine models of the Spider, the AS, BS, BS1, CS, CSA (Abarth), CS1, CS2, CS0, and DS.

Year	Model	Starting Chassis Numbers	CC's	Engine Type	Fuel Delivery	Aspirated
1966	AS	000001	1438	124AC.040	Carbureted	Naturally
1967	AS		1438	124AC.040	Carbureted	Naturally
1968	AS	0005619	1438	124AC.040	Carbureted	Naturally
1969	AS	0010554	1438	124AC.040	Carbureted	Naturally
1970	BS	0021861	1438	124AC.040	Carbureted	Naturally
1971	BS	22589	1438	124AC.040	Carbureted	Naturally
1971	BS1	33950	1608	125BC.040	Carbureted	Naturally
1972	BS1	47032	1608	125BC.040	Carbureted	Naturally
1973	CS	59592	1608	125BC.040	Carbureted	Naturally
1973	CS1	63308	1592	132AC.040.3	Carbureted	Naturally
1974	CS1	71650	1756	132A1.040.4	Carbureted	Naturally
1975	CS	88792	1756	132A1.040.5	Carbureted	Naturally
1975	CS	88792	1756	132A1.031.5 US market	Carbureted	Naturally
1976	CS1	99909	1756	132A1.040.5	Carbureted	Naturally
1976	CS1	99909	1756	132A1.031.5 US market	Carbureted	Naturally
1977	CS	113343	1756	32A1.040.5	Carbureted	Naturally
1977	CS	113343	1756	132A1.031.5 US market	Carbureted	Naturally
1978	CS	126001	1756	132A1.040.5	Carbureted	Naturally
1978	CS	126001	1756	132A1.031.5 US market	Carbureted	Naturally
1979	CS2	142514	1995	132CS2.040	Carbureted	Naturally
1979	CS2	142514	1995	132CS2.031 US market	Carbureted	Naturally
1980	CS0	00171001	1995	132C3.031	Fuel Injected	Naturally
1980	CS0	1938507	1995	132C3.031	Carbureted	Naturally
1980	CS2	0157654	1995	132C3.040	Carbureted	Naturally
1981	CS0	171001	1995	132C3.031	Fuel Injected	Naturally
1981	CS2	164089	1995	132C3.040	Fuel Injected	Turbochaged option
1982	CS2	1938507	1995	132C3.040	Fuel Injected	Turbochaged option
1983	DS0	1967897	1995	132C3.040	Fuel Injected	Naturally
1983	DS0	5500001	1995	132C3.040	Fuel Injected	Naturally
1984	DS0	5503666	1995	132C3.040	Fuel Injected	Naturally
1985	DS0	5506060	1995	132C3.040	Fuel Injected	Supercharged option with carburetor

External links

• Car and Driver Road Test Article (August 1968)