Category: Blog

For nearly twenty years Roadster Salon has purchased parts from Fiat Fun in Connecticut. As our East Coast warranty station, Danny O’Donnell has become an integral part of Roadster Salon’s network of suppliers and support staff. During the pandemic, Danny has flown to Chicago on multiple occasions at his expense to provide additional help on our shop floor. A veteran Fiat mechanic with over 30 years of experience, Danny has been a valuable resource during these challenging times. His personal favorites are 124 sport spider models from the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. “I love the look of the original spider. Versions imported after 1974 have ugly, heavy bumpers and just seem out of sorts. Roadster Salon’s Lusso updates really bring the car back to its roots with much better reliability” Danny said.
This week marked the 10th Anniversary of Danny’s first “guest appearance” at Roadster Salon, filling in ably for our COVID depleted shop team. “Fiat Fun and Roadster Salon are like family. I love coming to Chicago and hanging out with the guys. They make me feel welcome and it gives me more appreciation for the complexity of their modifications and attention to detail”, O’Donnell said. “Looking forward to the next 10 years!

It’s been a roller coaster, but we are happy to report the delivery of our first Tributo since the returning from our COVID-19 hiatus. With some necessary changes in details, and supply related modifications– this lovely project finally came to fruition this week. Finished in Maserati Sebring blue and built on a 1985 Pininfarina platform, we overcame many obstacles to get her back on the road, and prepared for delivery to her new home in the Chicago suburbs.
Our customer plans to eventually send his resto-mod sweetheart to his second residence near Los Angeles. Consequently, our proprietary air conditioning system and automatic transmission were non-negotiable “must-haves” that couldn’t be left off their option list. Accessing these parts along with shortages of other critical items made this build one of the most challenging Roadster Salon has ever produced.
We are happy to report that in spite of some bumps along the way, the end result is stunning. We particularly like the revised center console treatment with a new leather binnacle flanked by burled walnut sections on either side. Operations Director of Operations commented, “We thought this car would be finished at some point this Summer, but some components like the custom gauges could not be accessed through any of our domestic sources or even Europe. Ironically the manufacturer is in Dekalb Illinois, but the only distributer that had them available was in Australia. I thought we had the problem solved, however shipping strikes at DHL and FedEx set us back another month.”

Chrome components like bumpers and door trim have been unobtainable since last winter, as shipments from the far east have slowed to a near standstill. Many of our trading partners were caught unprepared for pandemic related supply chain interruptions. “Simple parts orders that we’ve been accustomed to arriving within a few days have turned into months of delays and disappointments. It’s been very hard to manage customer expectations in this environment. Hopefully we are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel” Baird said.
Watch this space for announcements on our plans for 2022—just around the corner.

Roadster Salon is proud to announce a new teammate in our effort to constantly improve the quality and workmanship of our Spiders. “In years past, we spent nearly a week preparing every tub by hand. The products available on the open market were simply not as well suited as the material provided by Linex,” according to Production Assistant Connor Harrington. “We tested their special undercoating and tub treatment on several vehicles this Summer, and found it to be much more durable and harder to penetrate than anything we could buy from our suppliers. It’s tough stuff!”
The tub treatment is rock hard and insulates the Spider from vibration and dampens sound. “It’s very similar to bed liner used in commercial pick-up trucks,” Harrington said. “Linex undercoating dries more quickly, protects the car from rust, and gives our spiders a more finished appearance. Our cars always looked gorgeous on top—but now they are just as nice underneath.”
Before sending each chassis to Linex, Roadster Salon’s custom preparation involves many hours of hand sanding, scraping and scuffing exposed surfaces. Upon arrival, each tub is specially masked, then put on a rotating rack which makes access much less difficult. The two-stage process is applied by Linex professionals with painstaking care. Their attention to detail to prevent overspray is impressive.
Linex offers a lifetime warranty when their product is applied by a franchised Linex dealer. “Its warrantied not to crack, bubble, or flake for as long as you own your Spider.” Roadster Salon is so pleased with the Linex product that we are making it a standard feature on all our Lusso models and above, starting this Winter.

Roadster Salon’s commitment to developing the EV side of our business has continued unabated during the pandemic. A pleasant surprise has been our growing relationship with Fiat-Chrysler leasing in California. As some may know, the all-electric version of the Fiat 500e was only sold through select Fiat dealers in California and Oregon from 2012-2019. The majority were delivered through their exclusive leasing program. Roadster Salon has an account to purchase these certified examples directly through Fiat leasing and ships them to their office in Chicago where they are serviced and prepared for customers nationwide. All are accident-free and have extremely low miles.

The 500e originally sold for almost $35K before tax credits. It offers outstanding performance, it has excellent range for its class and bullet-proof reliability. Current prices for 2017-2018 lease returns are rising but still offer great value at less than 50% of their retail price when new. Roadster Salon typically maintains the largest 500e inventory of any independent Fiat dealer. Aside from stocked inventory, we can also order specific colors directly from our leasing representative. A new 500e has started shipping in Europe recently. Plans for US distribution are currently unclear.

The Spider America project development continues with a substantial number of orders in-house. Pandemic-related delays, changes in battery specifications, and improved engineering has moved our delivery timeline to mid-2022. Watch this space for updates on our entry-level and high-performance spider EV conversions.

While no one could have predicted the impact of COVID-19 on the automotive industry and society in general, we can’t help but wish we were all in a better position to deal with the aftermath. Production ground to a near standstill in 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, yet demand for Roadster Salon spiders climbed to an all-time high. This has created a backlog of projects never seen before in our history. Frankly, we are overwhelmed.

The backlog has occurred for a variety of reasons. Firstly, there are only a handful of domestic suppliers for Fiat parts, and arguably Roadster Salon is their biggest single customer. The pandemic forced suppliers to re-evaluate their inventories for 2021 and take a more conservative approach to stocking their shelves. Demand has emptied their supply of popular items and caused unanticipated delays. Critical items like bumpers, seat belts, air conditioning, ventilation systems, and other mechanical components have created huge obstacles to completing projects.

Secondarily, labor shortages have dramatically impacted the timeline for bodywork and paint, as well as other sub-contracted items. The end result is a huge headache and a completely unpredictable timeline for most of the projects on our calendar. Although these conditions are temporary, we’re functioning in a new business environment where everything is a moving target. It’s become fool’s gold to rely on any information we receive about shipments or contracted labor. Obviously, that affects the accuracy of updates we provide to our customers.
It’s incredibly frustrating and we appreciate your patience.

After nearly a year of intermittent closures, reduced staffing, and remote customer service, Roadster Salon is slowly returning to the “new normal”. For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, we are close to having our full staff back together. Masked and vaccinated, we are looking forward to getting back to the many projects that have been in limbo for months.

It is clear that we have been fortunate with a huge outpouring of support from our loyal customers. Unfortunately, other companies in our industry have not been nearly so lucky. Most of our suppliers and sub-contractors are dramatically down on inventory and staff. While Roadster Salon may be dialed in and ready to roll, we seem to be in the minority. The coming months will most certainly be presenting challenges regarding the availability of parts and support services. This will be an interesting Spring and Summer season, and one that is likely to be quite fluid moving forward. Stay tuned

COVID-19 has created challenges for all small businesses around the country, and Roadster Salon has not been immune to multiple outbreaks of the virus and mandated closures. Since the virus first appeared in February 2020, it quickly became apparent that our previous facility in Barrington Illinois was not properly set up to keep our technicians safe. It was simply too small to properly social distance, and in spite of our best efforts and an abundance of caution, we concluded the arrangement was unworkable.

Last Fall we began our search for a new home that could better accommodate our growing business and protect our staff. We concluded that it would be best to separate our shop from our offices, showroom, and storage. This search ended in November 2020, when we began our move. We now have three buildings rather than one, which will hopefully provide us the flexibility needed for future growth and efficiency.

Our administrative offices and showroom are open to the public by appointment and located at 4170 Winnetka Ave in Rolling Meadows Illinois. Service drop-off and shuttle service to our repair/restoration building are offered between our office and Palatine facility.

While Roadster Salon is renown for our restored and modified Fiat Spider product line, we still have a warm place in our hearts for the late 1960’s Alfa Romeo Duetto. Collectors are most interested in the 1967-68 version pictured, which feature dual Webber carburetors and sensational 1600cc engine. It is the definitive version of the car, and most highly regarded. Currently Roadster Salon has two additional vintage Duetto projects from 1967 in our inventory—both featured in Pininfarina red. One is actually available for a future customer project.

The featured car has only 70K original miles, and was partially refurbished at our shop. It arrived in excellent condition, requiring only minor chassis work and interior cosmetics. The lucky local owner plans to take the car to a concours level in the coming year while working from home during the pandemic.

Due to the size of our building and inability to safely social distance, we are planning to separate the production facility, corporate office/showroom and storage. This will allow us to keep our staff safer during the pandemic. Three new locations are anticipated. Watch this space for more information.

At this point, I am sure most of you have been touched personally by the COVID-19 outbreak. Unless you live in one of the few states with minimal exposure, you are probably sheltering in place like we are here in Chicago. We hope you are all taking advantage of this time home alone with your families, looking forward to when we can return to life as we remember.

While I wish the restoration business was considered to be essential, unfortunately Roadster Salon has been shuttered just like most small businesses. Obviously, the timing of this closure could not be worse, considering how heavily Roadster Salon depends upon our Spring and Summer market. Consequently, our delivery commitments have all been pushed back indefinitely. Regardless of when the all clear to return is finally given, it will be many months before our high-risk staffers feel comfortable enough to resume their full time schedules, and supply chains are replenished. It is simply too soon to make any determinations about future delivery dates, other than to say we will do our best. The quality of Roadster Salon projects will never be compromised, so we ask for your patience and support during these unprecedented events.

Our management team has been working from home, and planning for the future. Our interest in the electrification of several spider models is undeterred. We have been looking into ways to further develop this technology, by improving performance and expanding range. Roadster Salon is also hoping to offer our customers a third, more affordable all-electric spider in the years to come. We had planned to begin deliveries of our Spider America EV and EV Junior late this Summer or early Fall. However, with our development partners sharing the same predicament we face here in Chicago, that time line has been pushed back. We will also need to see the economy re-opened before we begin scaling production.

On a positive note, driving a classic car in nice weather is still one of the activities that you can enjoy with minimal risk. While the pandemic is likely to cause used car values to suffer, the classic car market has traditionally been a safe haven for investors. In volatile market downturns, like in 2001 and 2008, many classic cars prices remained stable. If your purchase is long term you should reasonably expect Roadster Salon Spiders to continue to be fun, reliable, worry free investments. We currently have a handful of previously completed projects and trade-ins available for your immediate purchase this Spring. I can be reached at our normal number (847.769.7880), as shop calls are being forwarded to my cell. Love to chat!

Ray Marchica

Finally! Our 124 Spider 2000 (1983 Pininfarina) has arrived. The word FINALLY is not meant to convey negative connotations, but is an expression of elation for a much-awaited car.

The final delivery of our 124 was delayed by a very harsh and long winter in the Chicago area in 2019, and the impossibility for Roadster Salon to get miles and iron out bugs on a nearly finished car. We have taken the last year to develop our impressions, and share them with your other customers.

We soon began to appreciate that Roadster Salon does not just rebuild cars but they make dreams happen and nothing leaves their facility unless it is perfect. The attention to the smallest detail is second to none. In fact, one may say that Ray Marchica and his team develop a sort of personal attachment to every project, as if this was their own piece of art.

From a customer viewpoint the process to build our car was very straightforward.
We spent some time computer modeling to get a rendering of what the finished car would look like. Then we agreed on the basic specs, colors and interior details and sit back for the final delivery. Later we made a quick visit to Roadster Salon facility towards the end of the build, which we believe was fundamental to meet the team and to iron out cosmetic details. These details that made the difference on the perfection of the final build.

Following the car’s arrival at my son’s house in California, one cannot express but admiration for the quality of the work from the paint, to the wood of the dash panel, the leather interior and to the state-of-the-art instruments. We knew this up front when we saw that the paint job was done by spraying each panel individually after meticulous disassembly– rather than on an assembled car. Every panel was sprayed vertically, so the paint could be the same thickness and the color would be consistent. This is quality workmanship rarely seen.

My son Andrea and I look forward to continue enjoying this Spider in the Los Angeles area, and as I live in Switzerland, I am already thinking of another one to take back to Europe. (Need to get approval from my wife though!!) The driving experience has been wonderful.

One last comment: I am sure there are many places that can rebuild a FIAT 124, but if one wants a true work of art car with meticulous attention to detail, then I believe Roadster Salon is the place to go. To the next one.

Roberto and Andrea Dionisio, April 2020