Some 100,000 Fiat 124 Sport spiders made it stateside so most of us have seen several in the wild, let alone at car shows. But the coupé version is rare in the US. Introduced in 1967, a year after the spider hit the pavement, it was produced in three series – the AC (until late 1969), the BC (until 1974) and the CC (through 1975 under Fiat’s nameplate). The AC looks much like the spider with a slenderly pillared hardtop; the BC saw a restyle of the front end to resemble the Fiat Dino coupé; the CC took a ponderous approach to the headlamp/grille area, consigning it to the Ugly Bin. All the 124 variants have caught a price updraft recently, following the appreciation of cars like the X1/9 and Alfa. This example is from the AC series (we know by the VIN). Most likely it was manufactured in 1969 but registered in 1970, explaining the one-year discrepancy in the series type. Listed here on eBay with bidding at $9200 and a buy-it-now price of $12,110, it appears to be in near-show condition. The high bidder can drive it home from Campbell, California.
Though these cars were derived from Fiat’s 124 saloon, this is no sedan. Rather than the saloon’s pushrod engine, AC 124 Sport spiders and coupés received a Lampredi-engineered, twin-cam 1438 cc in-line four. The twin-cam is a spritely powerplant, comfortingly ubiquitous when repairs are needed. Four-wheel disc brakes and a five-speed manual (offered after 1968) secure the performance credentials of the 124 Sport. I like the exterior color but I am not keen on the matching air cleaner assembly – grey was the factory shade. A single, blurry underside photo shows no rust – or anything else. Fiats are famous for rusting away before your very eyes, so an in-person visit is mandatory.
Slight wear is evident on the two front seats, but the rears look great (of course). One of my favorite features of the early cars is the wood dash, and this one appears restored. This car is equipped with a fabric sunroof – a rare feature according to my research. It’s worth showering every sunroof you meet with a hose on full blast to test for leaks, and to run it back and forth on its tracks for good measure – operations best performed in person.
While the spider was designed and constructed by Pininfarina, the coupé came off Felice Mario Boano’s drawing pad, out of Fiat’s own Centro Stile. The spider is pert and appealing, but these coupés are elegant. If there’s a complaint, some say the handling isn’t as crisp as it could be: Fiat replaced the torque-tube rear axle with a four-link arrangement that softened the ride after about mid 1968. That hasn’t prevented folks from spending upwards of $30k for nice examples of the later 1600 cc-engined BC. Early variants are considered the “purest” driving experience, though, suggesting that the seller’s buy-it-now price is reasonable if the car’s condition can pass a personal inspection.
16- years-old, 4 of us packed into one of these, Craig at the wheel; it was “his” car (probably his mom’s). Off-camber left-hander. We hit it at maybe 35. Went up on the outside wheels, a little faster and we would have rolled. Settled back down on all 4 and off we went, cackling like the young idiots we were…
So it was born red, recently painted green and was imported from the UK recently. But it’s LHD. Maybe driven from Italy? Either way, looks like a lot of time, work and money went into this car to sell for only $11k…
How do you know it was red? And the plaque says Paris.
On the docs in the Ebay pics
Ah! How did I miss that? It dates the color change as less than seven years ago. The paint certainly PHOTOGRAPHS well. I would prefer red, but there is no way I’m spending money to change it. Hotter cams and larger carb? Possibly.
For the record, I think it’s an amazing find. However, they got the “Fix It Again Tony” moniker for a reason. I had a friend in the mid 70s that was a salesman at a Fiat ( among others) dealer. All I remember about these cars, is rows of them parked “out back” awaiting parts. Everything from scrambled motors( it is an interference motor) to suspension, transmissions, it and past neighbors experience, pretty much soured me from any Fiat.
Question: Were they really that unreliable? Fiat is, or was the #1 selling car in Europe for decades. Did you know, I heard on American Pickers in Italy, Italians had to pass a mechanical aptitude test to get the drivers license. Might tell you something, no?
My 2000 Miata runs and runs. No great problem if the Fiat is a bit temperamental. It needs to be cool and fun, and I think I have that covered.
To answer your question about the “fix it again, Tony” bit, I’m now approaching 90 years of age, 66 years of which I’ve driven 17 FIATs although none this “big.” My preferences are for the itty-bitty ones like the Nuova 500, 600 and 850 with one 1100 thrown in for good measure.
I’ve piloted them well over a million miles on three continents and have never come in “on the hook.” I attribute that to brilliant designs and good, by-the-book (owner!) maintenance.
One of the things I think that has contributed to my longevity is having my “drive it like you stole it” propensity tamed by small displacement engines in small cars. How else can you drive pedal-to-the-metal all day long and never attract a “rotating red gumball machine?” One learns energy management driving a 3/4 ton machine with less than a liter displacement!
If I’d had gobs of power under the loud pedal I’d sure have killed myself by now.
Will,
You have a couple of years on me (but, not that much. I agree completely. I’ve owned a number of European cars but, my favorites are Italian makes. Whether Alfa, Fiat or Lancia; by the book owner maintenance will assure a pleasant and affordable ownership experience and many years of exhilarating driving.
Yes Howard, the Lampredi DOHC engine under 2 litres is an interference engine (not so the 2 L). The dummies who ignore factory instructions to replace the Gilmer belt every 17,500 miles deserve their dealers’ repair bills.
Growing up, my folks had a ’69 124 Sport coupe (AC) like this one (but off-white in color), then a red ’71 coupe (BC), then a metallic-green ’79 Brava wagon. I don’t recall us being without any of those cars for any extended period of time, maybe a day or two at most, prolly for just a routine timing-belt change many of those times.
But we did have a local Fiat dealer, which likely helped matters greatly in terms of maintenance know-how and parts supply. I can imagine parts being hard to source without a local dealer or import-specialist parts shop back in those pre-Internet days, and competent service being a dodgy proposition if all you’ve got to rely on are local mechanics most familiar with little other than conventional Detroit iron.
…oh wait, there was that one time the ’71 started misfiring on the Interstate a couple hours from home on the way back from our usual cross-country summer vacation. We got a tow to a nearby shop and took a loaner/rental the rest of the way home, then took it back the next weekend to pick up the car. Problem turned out to be a cracked distributor rotor; NBD, just inconvenient timing.
I’ve never seen a hardtop; it might’ve been lefty-only. Nice thing, though.
Hehehehehe!
It’s MINE!
I had one of these circa 1971 in this same green with brown interior but steel roof. It even had ac if I recall correctly although it could only run on the highway since it would stall the engine at idle. I didn’t own it for long. More accurately, I should say I didn’t drive it for long. It spent most of its time in my possession up on jack stands waiting for parts to come from Italy. Only car I ever knew that blew the in-the-oil-pan-oil-submerged oil pump. At least it was easy to diagnose. The distributor was driven off of the same shaft as the oil pump so when the pump shattered the ignition quit and further destruction of the engine was prevented. When I finally got the parts to put it back together I sold it. Never another thought of Fiat ownership ever since.
It is, it really is mine! I bought it! Yum yum!
It was red? I don’t know how one knows that.
Locky you, a very nice looking car and you got it at a good price. I live in Campbell but have not seen this one on the road and I would have noticed, it is a bit unique.
Small world. It is convoluted, but the car has been registered as NonOp for a while. I’m assured it runs like a top.
Fun cars to drive and nice handling and really good looking, but relatively gutless. When I was shopping for my first new car I looked at these and settled on a BMW 1600. Truth be told I liked the 124 more, but the lack of power and the poor rep that Fiat’s had at the time (thankfully) put me in the Bimmer. I did find the 124 a bit “tinny” feeling likely due to less heavy sound deadening material, but it sat lower and was a true sport couple. When drove it, it felt like a sports car and not a sedan. Nowadays if you swapped in a modern aluminum V6 with 300 hp it would be a hoot.
I owned two 124 Coupe back in the early 1980’s. The first one was a mustard yellow-68 AC like this one. It was a very nice original low mileage car with around 70,000 km on the odometer when I bought it. I paid around 4,000 sek ($400) for it. Still had the original paint, stock hubcaps and an as new interior. I later donated it to my younger brother who went on swapping in an 1800 engine, painted it red and soon enough wrecked it. I also briefly owned a rusty -74 CC which I only drove for a short time before parting it out using the drivetrain for a Fiat 1500 Berlina.
Memory says that they were okay cars but closer in spirit to Ford Capri and Opel Manta than the Alfa GTV and Lancia Fulvia. The design was writing checks that the chassis couldn’t cash. Quite a lot of understeer, good brakes and eager engines. One specific problem was with the very limited steering angles, I don’t think I owned any other car where I would spin out so often on snow and ice. You started driving sideways but there was just not enough steering lock angle to get it straight again.
Specifically on the 1400cc engine, it had 90hp which was impressive for the 1960’s. But it needed lots of revs, there was for sure no power to be had below 4000 rpm. The later 118hp 1800 was for sure a lot easier to drive in normal traffic but it was also having a lot less personality.
Excellent write up from Michelle Rand!! I owned an AC with the same color combination. It was an excellent car!! I sold the AC to another coupe enthusiast who owned a mustard yellow BC. I then bought a white CC, and although many think the CC is unattractive, the CC is my favorite!! I have never seen one with a sunroof, and I have never seen one with air conditioning as Mike F wrote. I really think the entire Fiat 124 series are great cars!! Reliable too, as long as you know how to do your own repair work!!
I don’t think any 124 coupes were available with factory A/C, but there were aftermarket A/C kits that owners or dealers could install, such as the one in my folx’ red ’71 coupe. A bit clumsy looking, filling most of the space ahead of the gearshift for the evaporator/fan unit and under the dash for ducting, but it did the job well enough to provide some relief from Nebraska summers.
My sister had a ’79 Spider 2000, and my bro-in-law had a ’79 X-19. They owned both for many trouble-free years. Maybe the early cars were more troublesome?
I bought new a 73′ Fiat 124 Sport Coupe 1600 cc.
trunk latch broke,toggle switches constantly failing,rubber hose to the fuel tank rotted away and finally,my neighbor backed into the front fender and it took 4 months to get another.Got it back and sold it and bought a 72′ Nova.
SOLD (to Kevin) for $10,750.
The sunroof is a Webasto. That’s the German company that makes the sunroofs that go into Porsches and Mercedes. It has been around for half a century or more. Webastos are wildly popular in Britain, where it is that I’m sure this was done, and can be found on MGBGTs, Capris, etc.
I got a 124 Coupe AC (1968) as a wedding gift from my future father-in-law in 1972. He worked at a body shop and got it when the owner didn’t want to pay for the crash damage. I don’t even remember where the car was damaged, the repair was that good. Drove it for about a year. The only issue I had was 100% brake failure one day. Got that fixed and then traded it for a 1970 VW Karmann Ghia convertible. From a dealership and it was a straight up swap, no cash involved. But that Fiat handled great as I remember.
Such a cool car, really a four-cylinder Ferrari when you think about it . . . except there is the legendary Fiat steel. It is rumoured that they worked real hard with the Soviets to develop the only metal that rusts upon exposure to sunlight, clean air, smog, paint, oil, human breath and so forth. Even though I live in seemingly rainless southern Arizona, I’m afraid our abundant sunlight would reduce this magnificent example to a pile of ferrous oxide quicker than I want.
This one passed two British MOT inspections, which are notoriously rigorous, including about rust. I think it is rust free.
Our family had a 128 and my brother Tony was a mechanic, so the Fix It Again Tony was quite accurate. It went back to the dealer several times under warranty in the first few months, then ran great and was fun to drive over the next 55,000 miles. It spent the next year and 10,000 slowly falling apart.
Despite this, I went to see a red 124 sport coupe, 1972 BC, but it seemed too rusty so I wisely passed on it.
I think this is a 1969 model. My first new car was a 1970 Fiat 124 coupe. A red one by chance. I don’t know what year it’s titled as but I’m pretty sure that style is pre 1970.
Yes, it almost certainly was built in ’69, and the title says ’70. The second series started in ’70, so Fiat had some unsold in late ’69.
Kevin, Congratulations, I am jealous!