So many Fiat 124 Sport Spiders get junked, and the process has been going on for my entire junkyard-prowling career. In the three years of this series, we've seen this '71, this '73, this '75, this '78, and this '80, and we might as well add the 124′s little brother, this '71 850 Sport Spider. I don't even photograph every 124 Sport Spider I see, because they're almost as common in wrecking yards as '85 Camrys. Today's '76, however, holds the Junkyard Find record for Scariest California Beach Neighborhood Rust.
Cars that live within a block or two of the Pacific Ocean in Northern California (I found this car in one of my favorite East Bay yards during a recent drive around California in a new Mirage) often rust in a weird top-down pattern. For example, the truly frightening '84 Toyota Van we saw last October. California cars with bad weatherstripping often rust inside the trunk, as water leaks in and sits for months during the long, rainy winters. This Fiat managed to rot from both types of California rust.
How does this even happen?
This car comes from the era of separate emissions requirements for new cars sold in California.
I have quite a collection of these SLOW DOWN lights, which were used to warn of an overheating catalytic converter (presumably the CATALYST indicator light warned of some other cat problem). Ferrari 328s had them, too.
Definitely not worth restoring, but maybe someone will grab the Twin Cam engine for a nicer Fiat.
Given how cheap these cars are, we see surprisingly few 124 Sport Spiders in the 24 Hours of LeMons. I can think of a couple of Twin Cam-powered examples, and then there's the Volkswagen TDI-powered Smokey Unit Fiat. This car is pretty quick, but its real advantage in endurance racing is its tremendous range on a tank of diesel.
The last owner of this Fiat was against Proposition 86.
from The Truth About Cars http://ift.tt/Jh8LjA
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via Personal Recipe 680102
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