The 1972 Fiat 124 Sports Spider

The platform for the 124 Fiat Spider was the 124 Sedan. The 1972 Fiat 124 Spider such as the one featured in this article was styled by Pininfarina, a style seen on many Alfa Romeo’s as well. I think you’ll see a lot of similarities between the Fiat Spider and Alfa Romeo Spider.

The Fiat 124 also came as a coupe which was a bit longer ( 5.5 inches) than the Spider. The Fiat 124 Spider was first introduced in 1966 and they would go on to be the most successful of the Fiat sports cars.

When the first Spiders were imported into the U.S. the new safety law legislation did not exist. Starting in the 1970’s these new regulations, while covering all vehicles in the U.S., mandated changes for all cars imported into the U.S. The ball officially got rolling in 1970 with the creation of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

For the Fiat Spider this new law affected primarily safety bumpers. All small roadsters were affected by the new safety regulations, some more than others. Safety law modifications to the Fiat Spider were not nearly as extensive as those necessary to the MG.

The Fiat Spider Racer

The Fiat 124 Spider started road rallying during the 1968-69 period after the creation of the Fiat Rally Service over the previous years. In 1967 the Fiat Rally service was greatly expanded which opened up the channel to overseas competition.

In 1971 an official Fiat factory team was entered in the National Rallies. In 1971 Fiat also bought out Abarth, a racing car maker from Turin Italy, which had been associated with Fiat since 1952. When Fiat completed this buyout they had their own official racing department. The Abarth name was used extensively by Fiat during the 1980’s with their performance car offerings. There are some similarities with Abarth and Fiat and the Shelby and Ford Motor Company association although Ford Motor never bought out Shelby’s business.

Fiat Spider Dino