Featured Restoration: 1975 Fiat Spider

The following comments were submitted by a customer who sent us his 1975 Fiat Spider keepsake, with tremendous sentimental value. The car arrived a bit tired, and crumbling under the weight of years of amateur tinkering. After some discussion, his goal was to make the car more reliable for stress free drives along the California coast. He also wanted to upgrade the car’s sloppy handling and attend to some sorely needed cosmetic issues.

As part of the restoration plan, our technicians upgraded his 1800cc engine to a hand built fuel injected 2.0 jewel. It was custom installed by the Roadster crew to be compatible with the lower original hood line. A complete electrical system overall was combined with a stunning interior refresh. Underneath, our proprietary rack and pinion steering system was adapted, along with suspension, braking and structural enhancements. The project was a fourteen month labor of love.

Hello Roadster Salon crew!

I have to write to say–I know it was a hard and long road with my car, and I can’t thank you enough for pulling her through. She’s an absolute joy to drive.

I’ve put about a thousand miles in within the last month. Lots of weekend driving.
What shines through since she’s back is the quality of the handling and drivetrain. The interior restoration is amazing. It’s still true it is to the original, but the fit, finish and overall quality is far superior. The interior is like I’m in a time warp smeared from 1975 to 2017 and somehow it’s all new.

Under the hood it’s showroom quality. Everything is meticulous, proper, sorted, and clean. True to the original, just like I asked. The cleanliness under the hood and organization really impresses. The engine growls, purrs and quickens my pulse. My local service shop here in CA is also impressed–lots of positive comments. They said the exhaust system is a work of art–I can see the quality and hear it too!

The Santa Cruz Mountains are quite a setting for this car. With the rack & pinion and chassis upgrades– the way the roads bob in and out of cliffs and valleys with the sea and sun here–wonderful. The handling is like a silver lining on a cloud. Then the profile of the car– how small and powerful it is, it’s almost like riding the road not driving it. And with the views here –wow!

I took her out on a symphony date in San Francisco too. Dense traffic at night in a city with crazy drivers, hills galore, distractions everywhere–and she’s as much of a dream to drive in that setting as the coast. Reliable and smooth–it really makes a difference for that sort of driving. The old carbs were temperamental, and wiring a nightmare. Now I don’t have to worry about the car, I can focus on the city. This is truly amazing work.

Thank you so much, Ray, Roberto, Rob–and everyone else that helped.
You’ve made my life better. 🙂

Cheers, CM