Why is my car badged "SpiderEuropa"?

General chat about the car goes in here.
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spidereuropa83
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2022 4:28 pm
Your car is a: 1983 Pininfarina Spidereuropa

Why is my car badged "SpiderEuropa"?

Post by spidereuropa83 »

I have an 1983 Pininfarina Spider that I bought new from a dealer in Gainesville, FL in early 1984. Although I have done some research on this topic, I am still not clear on why my car's interior badging says "Spider Europa". It was my understanding that US spec spiders were badged "Spider Azzura" or "Spider Pininfarina". In addition to the badging my car has what appears to be a matching cardboard speedometer insert that converts KPH to MPH. The odometer also reads in KM. Other than those items, it has US spec bumpers and emissions. It seems possible that the car was originally destined for the Canadian market.

So, it would appear that I have a car that was possibly imported to Canada and then to the US. Was that a thing or is there some other reason why I would have the "Spider Europa" badging?

Any help solving this mystery on a car I have owned for 38 years would be greatly appreciated.
TwinFast
Patron 2020
Patron 2020
Posts: 102
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2016 2:06 am
Your car is a: 1978 Fiat 124 Spider

Re: Why is my car badged "SpiderEuropa"?

Post by TwinFast »

Fiat marketed the last serie of its Spider as the Spider 2000. Later FIAT wanted to stop the production but Pininfarina wanted to continue to produce the same model. After an agreement with Fiat, Pininfarina build the Spider with their own brand in their own factory. Then, they produce the Spider Azzurra for the North American market and Pininfarina Spider Europa for the European Market. Because of the important need of the American market (including Canada) Pininfarina send to the US a lot of their European production. That's why a large part of the European production ended up in the US
Fiat 124 Spider 1.8L 1978
Jaguar XKR 4.2L 2009
Harley Davidson Fat Bob 96Ci 2011
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