1972 124 Coupe

It's funny to recall that back then Fiats were real cars, not something put put away for the winter. Maybe that was a thing for the MGTC guys. I can't recall if our county did a lot of salting back then, I don't think so. Not like now where they have brined the roads twice this winter because it was upper 30s, low 40s and was supposed to rain.
 
carl said:
It's funny to recall that back then Fiats were real cars, not something put put away for the winter. Maybe that was a thing for the MGTC guys. I can't recall if our county did a lot of salting back then, I don't think so. Not like now where they have brined the roads twice this winter because it was upper 30s, low 40s and was supposed to rain.
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For me growing up in SoCal, cars like Fiats were never considered real cars. They were always something for occasional weekend use and sat in the garage when not driven. But we did not have seasonal changes like you are referring to. So it wasn't as much as summer and winter thing as it was a weekday and weekend thing.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
For me growing up in SoCal, cars like Fiats were never considered real cars. They were always something for occasional weekend use and sat in the garage when not driven. But we did not have seasonal changes like you are referring to. So it wasn't as much as summer and winter thing as it was a weekday and weekend thing.
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My first car was a baby blue 1974 spider (rip). That is what got me hooked on fiats and ultimately made the lifelong career path I took. I wasnt easy on that car at all a most teenagers of the time and probably to day are. Because of owning that car I visited a junk yard very often that specialized in only fiats and lancias. Due to the frequency of my visits I was offered a job there. And lets say the rest is history.

I did drive that car daily, once it was gone I rescued a 124 coupe from the junkyard. Put well over 100k on that car. Took the remaining parts off of that and put them in a very nice 75 spider shell I acquired. Drove that daily until I bought a 79 spider at a dealership. Traded it in on a demo Turbo spider (I was working at the dealership at that point as a tech)... So you see where this is heading

Wonder what this time capsule would have been worth today. Thats my white suburban in the photo, best race car hauler i ever had besides my f350 dualie!

Photo circa 1985. to say i parted out over 1000 fiats is probably not a stretch. I turned every bolt, could recognize every part of any fiat / lancia sent to the US. All of this is prior to my own shop ownership, My own salvage yard. etc.. I actually purchased a large portion of this business' inventory when it went out of business(owner retired) in 1995 ish

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BEEK said:
My first car was a baby blue 1974 spider (rip). That is what got me hooked on fiats and ultimately made the lifelong career path I took. I wasnt easy on that car at all a most teenagers of the time and probably to day are. Because of owning that car I visited a junk yard very often that specialized in only fiats and lancias. Due to the frequency of my visits I was offered a job there. And lets say the rest is history.

I did drive that car daily, once it was gone I rescued a 124 coupe from the junkyard. Put well over 100k on that car. Took the remaining parts off of that and put them in a very nice 75 spider shell I acquired. Drove that daily until I bought a 79 spider at a dealership. Traded it in on a demo Turbo spider (I was working at the dealership at that point as a tech)... So you see where this is heading

Wonder what this time capsule would have been worth today. Thats my white suburban in the photo, best race car hauler i ever had besides my f350 dualie!

Photo circa 1985. to say i parted out over 1000 fiats is probably not a stretch. I turned every bolt, could recognize every part of any fiat / lancia sent to the US. All of this is prior to my own shop ownership, My own salvage yard. etc.. I actually purchased a large portion of this business' inventory when it went out of business(owner retired) in 1995 ish

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Beek, what part of the country was that?
 
Im very new to the 124 sport coupes..i noticed twin carbs on yours..im looking at one now with a 2000 engine with twin carbs, not original to the car..owner states original 1600 had one carb..he says twin carb engines were in abarths or aftermarket if i understood him correctly..also as mentioned here, it seems there were pushrod or twin cam engines? is this one twin cam? Sorry for the confusion, Im trying to understand what came stock in these..what model would you find twin carb setups?..are twin carb setups considered abarth only? Thanks
 
The twin carbs came on European models for certain years. They never came on US models but a lot of us put IDFs on our US coupes and spiders. All 124 coupes and spiders were twin cams with the displacement changing upward as the years went on. The 2L motor appeared in 79 and later spiders, I don't think they were ever on the coupes but easy enough to make that modification. I put 2L motors in all my spiders and my one coupe as I liked the torque of the bigger motor.
 
Beek, I have thought it over and I say somewhere between 1 and 2. The car is so rare these days that it would be a shame to use it as a track car and a full, like new restore, may take too much time but a well restored one with your 16 valve head would be a real sweet ride and I reallu like the wheels on teh car, really goes well with it. Let use knwo what you decide.
 
carl said:
The twin carbs came on European models for certain years. They never came on US models but a lot of us put IDFs on our US coupes and spiders. All 124 coupes and spiders were twin cams with the displacement changing upward as the years went on. The 2L motor appeared in 79 and later spiders, I don't think they were ever on the coupes but easy enough to make that modification. I put 2L motors in all my spiders and my one coupe as I liked the torque of the bigger motor.
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thank you..that clears it up..so what came with the pushrod engine?
 
italianfrank said:
Im very new to the 124 sport coupes..i noticed twin carbs on yours..im looking at one now with a 2000 engine with twin carbs, not original to the car..owner states original 1600 had one carb..he says twin carb engines were in abarths or aftermarket if i understood him correctly..also as mentioned here, it seems there were pushrod or twin cam engines? is this one twin cam? Sorry for the confusion, Im trying to understand what came stock in these..what model would you find twin carb setups?..are twin carb setups considered abarth only? Thanks
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Over the years of production of the Sport Coupe it came with a 1438 with a single carb, 1608 with a single carb for the US and twin carb in the EU, 1592 single carb and ended with the 1756 single carb. All were twin cam motors. Early cars came with a four speed manual with a five speed as an option and then standard with the 1608. As production stopped in 1975 at Fiat they never fitted the 1995cc engine to the car in any market. The 131 two door took its place in 1976, became the Brava and then the Super Brava with the onset of FI and the 1995cc engine. Production of the 124 Sport Coupe continued at SEAT in Spain

There was never an Abarth Sport Coupe. There were some Jerarrri Sport Coupes out of California which had plenty of aftermarket parts appended to them, quite rare.

So the only twin IDF examples would have been on the 1608s in 1970 and 1971 and only in the rest of the world, not in the USA. I am not aware of the 1592 being available in the EU with twin carbs but it could have been. The change to 1592 was due to tax reasons for it to be under 1600cc, this engine was also the first of the 132 engines which is the engine series for the 1.8 and 2.0 engines.

You can put twin IDFs on any of twin cam engines, they weren’t just the realm of Abarth.
 
BEEK said:
My first car was a baby blue 1974 spider (rip). That is what got me hooked on fiats and ultimately made the lifelong career path I took. I wasnt easy on that car at all a most teenagers of the time and probably to day are. Because of owning that car I visited a junk yard very often that specialized in only fiats and lancias. Due to the frequency of my visits I was offered a job there. And lets say the rest is history.

I did drive that car daily, once it was gone I rescued a 124 coupe from the junkyard. Put well over 100k on that car. Took the remaining parts off of that and put them in a very nice 75 spider shell I acquired. Drove that daily until I bought a 79 spider at a dealership. Traded it in on a demo Turbo spider (I was working at the dealership at that point as a tech)... So you see where this is heading

Wonder what this time capsule would have been worth today. Thats my white suburban in the photo, best race car hauler i ever had besides my f350 dualie!

Photo circa 1985. to say i parted out over 1000 fiats is probably not a stretch. I turned every bolt, could recognize every part of any fiat / lancia sent to the US. All of this is prior to my own shop ownership, My own salvage yard. etc.. I actually purchased a large portion of this business' inventory when it went out of business(owner retired) in 1995 ish

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A few 124 Sport Coups in that yard even in this picture.
 
kmead said:
So the only twin IDF examples would have been on the 1608s in 1970 and 1971 and only in the rest of the world, not in the USA. I am not aware of the 1592 being available in the EU with twin carbs but it could have been.
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You missed one, the 124CSA, it had twin IDF's ... 2 x 44IDF's and a 1756 8V engine.

Definitely never fitted to 1592/1756 series 3 (CC) coupes though from the factory.

SteveC
 
So, the coupe is on the lift at school. The car is very solid, with only a small amount of rust in the lower part of the front fender extensions. Worst part is the repairs of the replaced rear 1/4 panel. I seriously need the drivers rear 1/4 panel rear section from the gas cap rearward. Hopefully somone has a parts car ! I also need the stainless trim for that side (Drivers) and the trunk lid trim
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italianfrank said:
Outside question on the 124 coupe..how bad does it ruin the car or value if it had a sunroof installed years ago?
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IMHO it truly depends on what you are looking for. For an original restoration, I am sure it devalues it. Could a body man repair the roof and make it look like it never had one, sure! Just depends on what you are looking for.
 
I think it also depends on the type of sunroof. If it was a large folding cloth type like a Wabasto it would probably be better than one of those pop up small glass/plexi type.
 
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