Recently, I acquired a ‘72 Fiat sport spider. I’ve always liked all kinds of cars, though I have never owned an Italian car. With the work that has been done to this, (I’m getting too old for projects) I thought I would give it a go. The last “sports car” I owned was a heavily modified Triumph Spitfire. When I say “heavily modified” I’m talking about a 327/350th with a 9” Ford rear. Was a bat outta hell, but didn’t stop or handle worth a damn. At 2” road clearance, it was pretty scary to drive. After that, a ‘50 Dodge powered by a 318/727 combo, a 283/350th T roadster, a ‘63 T bird. I ended up with a ‘40 Oldsmobile with a 350/th350 project that turned out to be more, under the car work than I could handle. Recently the opportunity came up to sell it, and I did. The car I chose to replace it with, is not a “hot rod” but oughta be a lot of fun, and would require a lot less money and time…
These Fiats were really pretty cars before they got hit with the federal bumpers. Reminded me of this vid that I came across a while back. An "outlaw" style Alfa spider, with a carbed up Busso V6. Looking at (and listening to) this thing, it's hard to understand why Alfa didn't build them this way. (I swear there was a longer video of this thing driving about somewhere.)
I have many years fighting with rust on a number of those here in Austria but a good one is a nice, good handling car with lots of improvement possible even with the standard drive train. The 2L unit can be hopped up to about 130 hp relatively easily and there was also a supercharged version which can be opened up a lot more. Front brakes are a bit small, here we used to swap them for Fiat Uno Turbo ones but in the US parts might be difficult to source - a friend of mine does a lot of this stuff but no idea about shipping (see here https://www.alfa-fiat-spidersport.at/en/) Of course, there was a also the Abarth rally version but those are stupid money now. Again the bits to make a replica are out there...
I had a 77 124 that I was always going to swap bumpers to early ones. Parts were cheap and readily available then. (2015) Fun cars for sure!
As a former 59 M.G.A. owner, those cars have a special place in my memory of the good and bad times with those cars. Been there, endured that, lessons learned. That being said, they do have a certain appeal to those, that take on the challenge of modifying them. I saw this particular well sorted out, magnificent M.G.A. at the local Greenwood car show last summer. One can only imagine what a road rocket this is, with the modifications displayed here.
Owned Tr3 then 1600 Alfa years ago. English tech of 1920 compared to Italian aluminum bits like tranny & rear, loved that Alfa. But “fix it again tony” came up years later when given 124 with bad engine. Ended up buying 2 more rust buckets to make 1 decent car, gave to foster child.
Kinda lost me with the headrests, but the trick is, getting the hood closed over the V8 with no scoop or hump, making it a true sleeper…
Until you get rear ended while stopped by a Cavalier doing 40 MPH. Then they seem pretty valuable. Your neck will thank you.
I used to have a ‘74 chrome bumper MGB that was stock restored but nice. Daily drove it for 2 warm seasons. Got rid of it when it got boring but it was an awesome car. Easy to work on and reliable one thing I’ll say is the MG community are somewhat snobbish.
Just felt like commenting. I would love to find an old sports car like an MGB and put one of the new Devin bodies on it.
Great old joke making fun of British Automobiles. Question = Why were British Automobiles invented ? Answer = So that the public roadways, would always be "Well Oiled"
A separate chassis car like the MGA would be a better choice. Bonding a fiberglass body to an MGB unibody would be a nightmare.
Can you tell us who the new Devin bodies are being made by? I’ve been hooked on them since I was a kid and saw Al Miller’s special in Hot Rod magazine.
Look up Devin Sports Cars LLC, in Abington, PA. Yes, the bodies are mounted on separate chassis, not unibody. I obviously didn’t know the MGB switched to unibody, thanks. New chassis are available.
My very first outing in 1959 with a surfboard resulted in ten stitches in the inner lips of my mouth. I was going out with a friend on a 4-5 foot day and the white wash was rolling in like crazy. We had to paddle out through numerous rollers. Finally, I decided (in my beginner's wisdom) to get off of my board and as a novice, pushed the board over the top of the whitewater. That did not go over too well as the wall of water immediately fought back and pushed the tail of the board right into my closed mouth. (resulting in stitches inside both lips.) My friend said I looked like a bloody vampire just after a meal. I was not discouraged, but my mother said surfing was too dangerous. She made a decree that I cannot go surfing unless I was with my brother. As if he could prevent further injuries...But, in 42 years of weekly surfing, I only had a strained shoulder falling down the face of a 10 foot wave in the 90's when I misjudged the take off point and tumbled down, over and over. That still hurts at times, today. You know the old saying...stuff happens... It is a lifetime activity. Also, in keeping with the surf transportation theme: The car we went to this beach was an MGA Roadster. How in the world did we get two 9 foot longboards to the beach? We made a rear rack straight up from the bumper and with those 50+ lbs. boards tied down to the front windshield frame, made for a very sturdy support. But, it was freezing in the 20 mile trip all the way back to the emergency room in Long Beach. San Onofre Hello, Old family sedans, wagons, and sports cars all made the scene. The surf racks were made for sedans and some wagons, but nobody made racks for the variety of sports cars that filled the So Cal scene. So, owners/surfers had to be creative. This girl's Porsche used the air cooling vents as access to a metal rear rack to hold the board. If the board were longer than 9-10 feet, she would have made something to attach to the rear bumper. On one of my first trips to the beach to go surfing, my friend had a red, 59 MGA roadster. We made some metal tubing racks coming off of the rear bumper. It looked like a giant staple with padding on the top. He secured it forward to the leading edge of the trunk with a thin strap. The heavy, 45 lbs+ longboards made the triangle support, tied down with the front windshield and it was very sturdy. Two boards strapped down were not going to move or blow off this roadster. 59 MGA roadster All along the Huntington Beach coastline Hiway 1 was full of all of these surf cars. It was a surf vehicle car show in North Orange County. But, when/if you were able to get into the, then, exclusive San Onofre Surf Club beach (North Camp Pendleton), whoa...talk about seeing a surf vehicle car show! (My friend was an ex-marine and had a sticker on his windshield to allow us to drive onto the base, which led to the private San Onofre beach back then. Today, anyone can drive directly into the State Beach facilities.) Besides the abundance of the family wagons, now, add in some old woodies plus unusual camping trucks and vans. As the old saying goes..."Yowza !" Jnaki At the time, the sedans, wagons and sedan delivery cars were the popular thing. But, you would not have known it as everyone waved at two young teenagers shivering in this open sports car going to and from the beach. Yes, we had jackets, but it was cold long drive back to Long Beach. Plus, the boards were almost longer than the small sports car, it was a sight to see going down the road. Chick magnet? Quite possibly… A single girl with a surfboard on a Porsche? Whistles galore… Two teenagers shivering in an open MG roadster with two giant longboards… a chuckle or two for sure… YRMV A secure rack as a triangle support, including the strong longboards tied down.
I was perusing some pics of Fiat Spiders for inspiration,when I ran across a picture of one with its front bumper removed. I think it gives it more of a “Ferrari” look (same designer), and decided to remove mine. I like the look and once it gets painted, will definitely be nice. I will probably add some “nerf” bars for safety…
I can promise you, nobody drinks warm beer in Britain. Also, I'd rather see 'Lucas' written on something electrical, than 'Magneti Marelli'.
The Jalopy Journal
