1978 FIAT Other

Spider Convertible

4 cyl

Manual

Clear

Gasoline

My wife and I bought this beautiful Fiat Spider several weeks ago from another Ebay Seller. The engine seems to run great, it shifts very smoothly, accelerates quickly, and holds the road really well on 4 tires with around 600 miles on them. The midnight blue paint with striking red pinstripes looks even better in person than in the photos, and the interior lis in incredibly well-preserved shape. It really gets your attention. We made an appointment with a Fiat Specialist here in Nashville, and it took his garage a couple of weeks to get us in, and once he got it up on the rack, he sent me photos of the undercarriage that shocked us. It seems that the previous owner kept the car extremely well maintained, tuned up, and kept it in his garage every night... but he never cleaned his chassis, and the road salt, water, etc. from the roads in NE Kentucky where he lived ate away at it for years. We bought this car after previously restoring a Triumph Spitfire, and were not prepared to take on another long, expensive restoration -- neither of us has welding experience or the tools to make this car safe to drive again... so we're selling it with full disclosure. I'm including photos from every angle and of everything that you may be interested in looking at, but let me know if you have questions about a specific area. I can't get it back on a lift, but I will tell you that I was told that it will need some serious chassis restoration. If you can restore it yourself, I'm quite frankly jealous. We're hoping it goes to someone who can treat it with the same amount of care that the previous owner tried and failed to do. **The top is in really good shape and looks great up, the engine has a new water pump, and the brakes have a slight tug to the left. We will need a $500 down-payment through PayPal within 3 days of the ending of the auction or we reserve the right to cancel the sale and re-list. The car can easily be driven away, though I was told to avoid high speeds (80+) with the chassis in this condition, for safety's sake. If you wish to arrange to drive it onto a trailer, or have it shipped to you, you will have to make those arrangements yourself.