124 Sport Spider

Why the car exists

Fiat in the mid-1960s was Europe's volume leader with a new family sedan, the 124, and no modern open car to sell beside it in America. Pininfarina shortened the sedan's platform, took about 5.5 inches out of the wheelbase, and built the body in its own works, with the styling drawn in-house by the Dutch-American designer Tom Tjaarda. The car arrived at the Turin show in November 1966, months behind Alfa Romeo's Pininfarina Spider, which is one reason it has always been the less-discussed of the two. The engine was the point: Aurelio Lampredi's twin-cam head on the sedan's block, with rubber timing belts rather than chains. Road & Track tested it in July 1968, the first US model year, and found it practical and quick to put the top up, and asked Fiat to bring the larger 1,608 cc engine to America.

The early cars

The first cars used a torque tube; it was prone to cracking and gave way to a conventional driveshaft with trailing arms at the end of the 1960s, though sources date the change anywhere from 1968 to 1969. The 1,608 cc engine and twin hood bulges followed, and here the dates disagree as well: Hagerty says 1969, Wikipedia says July 1970, and Sports Car Market says 1971. Fiat later swapped to 1,592 cc and 1,756 cc engines from its 132 sedan, and Sports Car Market notes there is no record of exactly when, since both were fitted to 1973 cars.

The federal years

From 1975 the Spider was built only for the United States, and the US car changed to meet the rules. Rubber-mounted bumpers grew larger, the ride height went up, and on later 1.8-liter federal cars an air pump driven off the exhaust camshaft cut output to 87 hp. For 1979 the stroke went from 79.2 mm to 90 mm, the displacement to 1,995 cc, and the car became the Fiat Spider 2000, listed by Road & Track at $7,515 POE. A three-speed GM automatic became optional the same year. The carbureted 2.0 made 86 hp federal and 80 hp in California.

Injection and the Turbo

Bosch L-Jetronic injection with a three-way catalyst arrived during the 1980 model year, standard in California and a $195 option elsewhere, and output rose to 102 hp and 110 lb-ft. Road & Track's 1980 car broke 10 seconds to 60 mph and returned 26.0 mpg. For 1981 injection was the only US engine. In spring 1981 Fiat of North America added the Turbo Spider, a 6 psi conversion by Legend Industries; about 700 were built, and output is quoted anywhere from 115 to 125 hp.

Pininfarina takes over

Fiat left the US market, and the sources do not agree whether its last Spider was the 1982 or the 1983 model year. Pininfarina took the car over, badged it as its own and sold it in the US through Malcolm Bricklin's International Automobile Importers as the Spider Azzurra, with a new dashboard and console, a parcel shelf where the rear seat had been, and larger front brakes. Even the factory is disputed: Wikipedia names San Giorgio Canavese, Driven to Write names Grugliasco. Production ended in 1985 with about 1,500 cars in the last year. The 2017 Fiat 124 Spider, built by Mazda on the MX-5, borrowed the name and nothing else.

The structural rust that NHTSA records in recall 81V091000 is the defining problem: for 1970-1974 US 124 models, corrosion around the front upper control arm, front crossmember, steering box and idler arm and rear trailing arm mounts, accelerated by road salt, which can let steering and suspension parts separate from the body. A second recall, 79V060000, covered a plastic sleeve on the rear brake line that trapped water and corroded the line on 1976-1979 cars. The timing belt is a scheduled replacement, not a wear-and-see item; the 1.8-liter federal engine's air pump runs off the exhaust cam and its bearing can seize and jump the belt. Fuel-injected cars use an air-flow meter flap that switches on the fuel pump only when air is moving, so a no-start can be a meter or relay problem rather than a pump. Carbureted emissions cars of 1979 and early 1980 have a restrictive exhaust manifold and a tangle of vacuum lines. Hagerty adds the general list: oil seepage, a low-slung oil pan, cooling system and head gasket checks, poor grounds and dim original headlights, hard-to-find taillights for the early 1.4 cars, and a vinyl top at about $500 as of April 2024. Trim and switchgear were never high quality, per Sports Car Market, and differ by year.

Rust is the first and last question. In 1981 Fiat filed a recall covering 1970-1974 US 124 models for heavy corrosion in structurally significant areas: the front upper control arm mounts, the front crossmember, the steering box and idler arm mounts, and the rear trailing arm mounts under the rear seat. Those are the places to look on any Spider, along with the suspension towers, inner fenders, floor pans and rockers that Sports Car Market lists, and the trunk lid, sills and chassis legs in Hagerty's guide. Hagerty's test for a weakened shell is the door gaps: if they have closed up toward the top of the doors, the structure has moved. A car ordered with dealer undercoating, like the one-owner 1972 car RM sold, is the exception. On the engine, ask when the timing belt was last done; Sports Car Market advises every 30,000 miles, and on 1.8-liter federal cars with the exhaust-cam-driven air pump a seized pump bearing can make the belt jump. The low oil pan gets knocked about, so look underneath. A five-speed that jumps out of gear under acceleration or rumbles is worth noting, and Sports Car Market blames many synchro complaints on the wrong gear oil. Identify the engine generation: carbureted 1979 and early 1980 cars carry the most emissions plumbing and the worst reputation, and restore-an-old-car.com notes their vacuum lines are often misrouted or plugged. On a claimed Turbo, look for the boost gauge where the clock was, the enrichment and overboost switches on the left inner fender and the 7:1 compression engine; Barn Finds' 1982 car had been de-turbocharged by its owner. Azzurra cars should carry Pininfarina badging, the revised dashboard and center console and the rear parcel shelf.

As of September 2026 classic.com's market benchmark for the Fiat 124 Sport Spider is $11,655, with an average price of $11,798; the page covers model years 1966 to 1985 and does not separate the Fiat, Spider 2000 and Azzurra cars. Its lowest recorded sale is $100 for a 1972 project car on October 16, 2024, which says more about the number of tired cars than about values. Hagerty's April 2024 buyer's guide gives about $6,000 for a running car needing work, around $13,000 for a good 2.0, about the same for a 1.6 or 1.8, and more than $30,000 for a concours 1.4. Individual US results bracket that. At RM Sotheby's Fort Lauderdale 2015 sale a one-owner 1972 car on original paint, ordered with $80 dealer undercoating, sold for $17,600. At RM's Elkhart Collection sale a largely original 1973 car showing 65,129 miles sold for $21,280 and a 1979 car for $16,800; the lot pages do not show the sale month. A 1983 Pininfarina Azzurra with 117,400 miles sold on Hagerty Marketplace for $4,600 on May 2, 2025, and a 28,000 mile 1982 Turbo with its turbo removed and the parts boxed sold for $6,350 on Barn Finds in June 2020. The European-market Abarth Rally carries a classic.com benchmark of $113,038 as of September 2026, almost entirely from European sales.