Just wanted to introduce myself and a little about my history of owning FIAT's - in particular FIAT Spiders. My name is Rod. I was born in California, grew up in Northern Ontario, lived in Kalamazoo, MI for 20 years, and for the past three years have lived in the Detroit area near Ann Arbor. As of last month I'm now back on the west side of Michigan in the Ada/Grand Rapids area and recently bought a 1980 Fiat Spider FI in Ardesia Blue Metallic.
My first FIAT was an early 80's red 128 coupe that I bought off a friend in 1990 for $1. The car needed a lot of work (the CV joints were shot). It still ran but I didn't have the time or money to fix it so it remained in the turnaround in my driveway for a couple of months. One day an old Italian man knocked on my door. He couldn't speak a lick of English but he kept pointing at the car and smiling and gesturing and trying to communicate that he liked the car. Over the next month or so he would come by every few days and gave him permission to clean off the car with a little whisk broom and sit in the car. Apparently he was born and raised in Italy and spent time during WWII designing one of the first jet airplanes. I believe it was the Campini Caproni (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campini_Caproni_CC.2). He showed me a picture of him standing next to the aircraft with Mussolini! At any rate, one day he seemed to be gesturing that he wanted to take the car for a drive. I said no, obviously, because he wasn't registered to drive it and I could be liable. He ended up returning with his granddaughter later in the afternoon who spoke English fluently. To my surprise she claimed I told him he could keep the car if he cleaned it up! I offered to sell it but he wasn't interested in buying it, only getting it for free. Needless to say, he left my house shouting four-letter Italian words at me, and I didn't give him the car. I ended up paying to get the CV joints repaired, but then it broke down again and a year later I ended up selling it.
In 1998 I got the bug to buy a convertible after seeing an MG for sale by the side of the road. It was too beat up to even consider buying it, but it got me thinking about buying a convertible - albeit something more reliable. I was thinking maybe a Miata, but my friend advised against it and told me they had no character. He told me I should look for a Spider.
A couple years later my friend was working for a classic car company in town and stopped by and took me for a ride in a vintage roadster worth about $150k. The experience was such a thrill that I began looking to buy a small convertible roadster. After looking at all of the different cars out there, I decided I liked the classic look of the FIAT Spider the best. I also liked the name.
I did a lot of research online and narrowed it down to the year and color I wanted - a 1980 FI Spider in Rosso Red with tan interior. There weren't very many to be found on eBay in good condition - most were rusted out or had too many miles - and I don't have a lot of experience working on cars.That afternoon I was driving home and passed a convertible for sale just a block from my home. I did a quick U-Turn to check it out and to my surprise - there was a 1980 FIAT Spider FI with 19,000 original miles on it in original Rosso Red with tan vinyl interior and stock steel rims. It had a Lansing dealership sticker on the car. The car needed a bit of work, but I saw the potential in it. The guy's wife was the original owner - she never drove it in the snow - and she had knee problems so she hadn't driven it more than 1000 miles in the past 10 years. She wanted 9k for it. I took it for a test drive and was hooked. I still remember thinking "So this is what DRIVING actually is like!" Problem was, I couldn't afford it. I offered her $5500 and gave her my number if she changed her mind. I got a call a few days later. She told me she wanted the car to go to someone who would appreciate it and take care of it, not race it, and she felt I was the person for that car.
Over the next couple of years I babied that car. It was my pride and joy and I got a lot of comments every time I took it out. My wife claims I liked that car more than her - but that's a lie. I liked them both the same! Over the next couple of years I sunk a lot of money into it - probably close to $4000 getting it back into perfect functioning condition. In 2005 I moved to the Detroit area on a job-related move. The roads were so bad over there that I didn't like to drive it. Every time I took it out I had to wipe off the heavy soot that would accumulate on the car. Instead of compliments, I got frowns and angry looks from guys in Ford/GM/Chrysler SUV's and trucks. Apparently they personally blamed me for the auto industry not doing too well. Since I wasn't driving a domestic vehicle, I was the enemy, and was nearly driven off the road a couple times. Needless to say, I didn't drive it much.
In the 2006 my brother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I drove 3 hours south to Dayton, Ohio in my Spider and took him for a drive in the car. He was a car junkie and loved driving in it. He ended up passing away in June of that year, a few days before the Detroit FFO. Due to the funeral being held that weekend, my wife and I could only attend the first day of the event. Although we had paid for the entire weekend of events (including meals), we we were told they would see what they could do to get us a refund. However, after we arrived we were told they wouldn't be giving us a refund. To be honest, that really upset me. Here I was in an area of Michigan where I couldn't drive the car much without feeling I was committing the unpardonable sin, the nearest FIAT repair specialist was an hour away from us, and even the FIAT group wouldn't have pity on someone who was going through the death of a relative. So after FFO I foolishly decided to sell the car. My wife didn't want me to sell it, but I went against her better judgment and did so anyway. I got $11k for it, which was a lot at the time, but I had yet to see a car in as clean condition. I still remember my 5-year old crying when I told him I had sold the "red car". "Why did you have to sell that car Daddy? Why didn't you sell this one instead?" (the family van).
It wasn't long before I realized I had made a huge mistake. I realized I would never, ever find a car in that condition again - and even if I did, I'd have to pay through the nose for it because they were going up in value. So early last year I bought a Turbocharged Miata, hoping to capture the thrill of the Spider experience - but it just wasn't the same. The Miata had reliability and speed, but just lacked character. My wife didn't like the car, and the issue was the same - I felt like I was taking my life into my hands driving on the Detroit roads/freeways. Meanwhile, my friend out in Seattle sent me some pictures of a car his wife had just bought - a very clean Gold LE Spider. I was jealous. I ended up selling the Miata as well, no regrets.
Earlier this year I had a few job interviews around the country and was confident we would be moving soon. One interview was out in Seattle where a friend of mine lives. His wife had decided to sell her Gold LE Spider. I interviewed and visited them and got a good look at her car. It did need some work, but I was positive I wanted the car. Turns out I was offered the job but had to turn it down due to a better offer in Grand Rapids. My wife consoled me by telling me I'd find another Spider once we moved. She was right! About a month ago I was looking through the various Michigan Craigslists for FIAT Spiders and found a red one in Lansing for $2600. I played phone tag with the owner for all of Saturday and we just couldn't sync up. I logged into my computer again to send him an email, and another Spider popped up. "Rare blue Fiat Spider - mint condition - Leather interior - 57k miles - $6500. I was the first caller. We agreed to meet the next day at the Lansing airport where he had it in storage. The next day I checked out the red Spider first. It was really beat up and missing a lot of parts. No fuel injection. Not running. I passed on it.
I met the guy at the airport a couple hours later to look at the blue spider. My heart was pounding as he pulled the cover off the car. I was expecting your typical light azzurra blue. I stifled a gasp as he pulled the cover off the car. What a beauty! Mint condition was right! I'd never seen this color of Spider before. Sort of a slate blue gray metallic. The color code under the hood indicated it was 892/f (Ardesia Metallic). The paint was original. Only a few minor scratches, one small ding on the hood, and no door dings. It was made the same month and year as the red spider I used to own (Feb. 1980). It had the leather interior which I liked a lot better than the vinyl, and a new top and new tires. There was no pinstriping, no luggage rack, no door protector trim. All exactly what I was looking for! I told him to consider it sold. I didn't even try to negotiate. I put a down payment on the car and asked him to remove the listing. I then spent the next couple of weeks scrambling to raise the cash to pay for the rest of it. I called every few days just to make sure he was really going to go through with the sale because apparently he had received a lot of calls on the car.
Last Sunday I met him again at the airport to pick it up. I could tell he was reluctant to sell it and his son was even sadder because apparently he had expected to inherit it. "You know, I was looking online yesterday and saw a Spider in much worse shape sell for $12,000" he said. I tried to ignore the statement as he signed the title. I drove it back to Ada without any issues. My 6 year old was very excited, and wanted to go for a drive in it. "It's blue Dad! Your favorite color". So it is. So it is. Smile
So that's my long-winded story. Hope you enjoyed it! Looking forward to many years in this car and a summer of fun with fellow FIAT friends! And a word of advice...if you find a nice Spider that you love - whatever you do - don't sell it! You'll regret it!!!
