1978 Fiat Other

124 Convertible

Manual

Clear

Gasoline

pjilikeit1 Store Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 You are viewing the auction for my 1978 Fiat 124 Spider convertible. This is truly the most beautiful and most fun car I’ve ever owned. I get compliments and admiring stares every time I drive it. I bought the car only two months ago in order to take weekend trips between Boston and New Hampshire (roughly 150 miles each way). It has performed wonderfully. I am putting it up for sale because I’ve learned that I’ll be relocating next spring, so I figured there’s no reason to put it through a Boston winter if I’ll have to sell it shortly thereafter anyway (plus, there’s still time remaining this year for its next owner to enjoy it with the top down!). The car’s most recent previous owner had it for over four years and really treated it like his baby. During that time, he replaced the top, water pump, battery, alternator, exhaust, starter, much of the interior trim, and the stereo. There’s now a CD player installed, which has a detachable face and is IPod-compatible. He also had the car professionally repainted to its current British racing green color. The carburetor has just been cleaned and rebuilt. The clutch was replaced less than 10K miles ago. After buying the car, I had the wiring redone to get the reverse lights working again. The sharp-looking black interior of the car is beautiful and in excellent condition; the floor mats are new. The tires are still in very good condition with plenty of tread left. The engine and transmission are both strong. Service records are available for the past six years. Again, the previous owner used this car as a daily driver, and in the short time I’ve owned it, I’ve driven it several times a week and nearly every weekend. Okay, now for the areas that may need some attention: The paint is in very good shape, but there are a couple of small exceptions: there is a small chip on the passenger-side door (shown in the photo gallery) and a small amount of bubbling of the paint near the rear wheel well on the driver’s side. The car will come with a can of paint that can be used for touch-ups. As with many cars of this age, there are a few spots of rust on the underside of the frame. These are all minor and can be dealt with easily by having a mechanic cut out the spot and weld in a new piece of metal. There is some more extensive rusting in the front shock towers, which may need to be replaced (you can buy replacements for $270/each here: http://www.international-auto.com/index.cfm?fa=p&pid=2688&addcar=1). If the car hasn’t been driven for a couple of days, it sometimes takes several turns of the key to get the starter to kick up. This is apparently a quirk of the ’75-’78 Fiat’s and is not a problem with this car in particular. Once it does start up, everything runs just fine. Let me reiterate that the car performs beautifully and should be able to drive you wherever you want to go. Finally, I’ve discovered that the car has a slow oil leak. I’ve done just fine by checking the oil-levels and replenishing them whenever needed (every few weeks), but its new owner may want of course want a more permanent solution. There is also a bit of a dent in the oil pan, but that doesn’t seem to affect its performance in any way. Since I realize that this isn’t the ideal time to be putting a convertible on the market, I’ve set up the auction with a very low starting bid of $1400. I’m also open to doing a Buy-It-Now, so feel free to contact me with (reasonable) offers. I’m also happy to help the new owner arrange for the car to be picked up and transported, in case you live far away from Boston. Let me know if you have any questions, or if you want to drop by for a test drive. Don’t miss this chance to own a beautiful, classic Italian sports car!