I recently purchased a 1981 Fiat 2000 Spider and am head over heels. She is rusty, leaky, and very very loud (courtesy of a 30" cherry bomb being the only thing behind the downpipe), but I love it all the same. The engine runs great and starts right up. Praise be to the Fuel Injection Gods. It's got the rust, but the price was right, and it seems to be out of critical areas for the most part. It is sitting on 17"(?) forged Abarth wheels, which is kinda neat, however they will be coming off as soon as I buy tires for the old wheels. The Abarth wheels rub and I'm not crazy about them anyway. Other than the rust it leaks out of the head gasket (oil galley though), the gearbox, and the diff. The interior is definitely 36 years old, although the gauges all look new.
I work as a small aircraft mechanic and I really like the similarities to aircraft in this car. It's simple, it's lightweight, even the dash looks like an aircraft instrument panel. Above all it's just a blast to drive, truly a machine with a purpose.
