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There's a traitor in our midst... and its me.

FM Former Member
Okay. So I haven't posted for ages. And I've not paid my subscription. But it is all your fault. Here's how:

I've loved these cars since I first saw one when I was 17. That's 20 odd years back now. My craving only got worse when I found this site. Suddenly, the possibility of owning one got a little closer. I devoured this site. On a business trip to Vancouver (you know the kind, the one I just had to make, nothing at all to do with IM being there), I went and visited IM and drove a car and got a quote from Henry.

I guess, sometimes, we live in this world where we want the reality to be like our dreams. As in, we want to think that we can build an IM to our specs, for importation to New Zealand of all places, for a grossly unrealistic price. The fact is, you can't. They are bloody expensive, at least in my book. And the price I got was more than a reality check, it was a reality body slam. And that made me take a step back and go back to the first principles that all the wise people on this site espouse. Like... try before you buy. I mean, I was thinking about buying one of these cars -- because I WANTED one -- and I've never even owned a convertible. Or a two-seater car.

Now, getting an used IM, JPS, Beck, Vintage, etc, in NZ ain't happening, because there aren't any here. Ditto for just about any other manufacturer, including platinum, which are few and far between.

So, I bought a 1978 Fiat Spyder. And I love it. It is so much fun. It fits the bill of being a bit different... there aren't many of them around either. It runs fine, it doesn't leak. I'm having a blast. Do I still want a speedster? You bet. But the Fiat cost me less than one-tenth of what it would cost to get an IM built. Let alone, built and shipped here.

I guess my point is... it is so easy to fall in love with these cars. It is so easy to want the best, to set your sights high. All of those are good ideals, fine aspirations. And if you can meet them, you should. But you should do so ONLY after you've looked around a bit. Because I've found a way to achieve 90% of what I wanted, for 10% of the price. I'm still gonna own a speedy one day. Just not now. And when I do, I will be much more realistic about what I'm getting into.

And, I guess I gotta go join the Fiat site now...

John.
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FM Former Member
Okay. So I haven't posted for ages. And I've not paid my subscription. But it is all your fault. Here's how:

I've loved these cars since I first saw one when I was 17. That's 20 odd years back now. My craving only got worse when I found this site. Suddenly, the possibility of owning one got a little closer. I devoured this site. On a business trip to Vancouver (you know the kind, the one I just had to make, nothing at all to do with IM being there), I went and visited IM and drove a car and got a quote from Henry.

I guess, sometimes, we live in this world where we want the reality to be like our dreams. As in, we want to think that we can build an IM to our specs, for importation to New Zealand of all places, for a grossly unrealistic price. The fact is, you can't. They are bloody expensive, at least in my book. And the price I got was more than a reality check, it was a reality body slam. And that made me take a step back and go back to the first principles that all the wise people on this site espouse. Like... try before you buy. I mean, I was thinking about buying one of these cars -- because I WANTED one -- and I've never even owned a convertible. Or a two-seater car.

Now, getting an used IM, JPS, Beck, Vintage, etc, in NZ ain't happening, because there aren't any here. Ditto for just about any other manufacturer, including platinum, which are few and far between.

So, I bought a 1978 Fiat Spyder. And I love it. It is so much fun. It fits the bill of being a bit different... there aren't many of them around either. It runs fine, it doesn't leak. I'm having a blast. Do I still want a speedster? You bet. But the Fiat cost me less than one-tenth of what it would cost to get an IM built. Let alone, built and shipped here.

I guess my point is... it is so easy to fall in love with these cars. It is so easy to want the best, to set your sights high. All of those are good ideals, fine aspirations. And if you can meet them, you should. But you should do so ONLY after you've looked around a bit. Because I've found a way to achieve 90% of what I wanted, for 10% of the price. I'm still gonna own a speedy one day. Just not now. And when I do, I will be much more realistic about what I'm getting into.

And, I guess I gotta go join the Fiat site now...

John.
FM Former Member
I drove a '79 Fiat X1/9 for years. Fabulous handling car. A spectacular chassis in desperate search of an engine.

So I put a 13B rotary into it. Problem solved.

That said, if I were looking for a 3-5,000 dollar roadster, I would buy a Miata. Bomb-proof, great after-market inventory and a pretty fierce club racing group. I mean seriously, who the hell needs a 4 x 98 MM bolt pattern on the wheels anyway.. GRRRR

angela
Gordon NicholsGordon NicholsMassachusetts 1993 CMC Supporting Member
Back before Kathy and I got married, her father had a 124 Spyder which he bought as a toy. He lived less than 2 miles from work in Hartford, CT, and it never even got warmed up going to work.

Once he realized that I knew a little about cars (he didn't know what a wrench was, let alone how to use one) and after I successfully fixed a few small things on the car, he invited me to take his Fiat out for a ride whenever I visited and the weather was nice.

Usually it would be so crudded up from under-reving it would take 20 minutes of hard driving on CT-2 heading to the coast for it to blow all the crud out and run decently, and then Kathy and I would head to Saybrook on the coast and back - usually a 2-3 hour round trip.

Whenever he drove it to work on the Monday following one of these runs he would call Kathy up and marvel at how well his car was running and what a genius Gordon must be....

Scoring points with a semi-hostile, future father in law?

Priceless!
Stan GalatStan Galat
My sister bought a 124 Spyder that was "cute as a button" for about $500 in the early 80s. I rebuilt said DOHC engine, with parts from Morrie's Foreign Auto, and put a carb from a Pinto on it. After that, it only burned a quart every 3000 or so, rather than every 30.

But, alas, that was the high water mark for the car. She was nearly rusted in half under the refrigerator white paint and bondo, and the sills folded badly enough when the doors were opened that they wouldn't shut again without a jack. 2nd Street Autobody did a number on the car, and $2500 later it had more new refrigerator white paint and bondo, but nothing done to the sills.

Dad bought the car from my sister before her wedding for what she had in it (a lot), and sold it to a scrapper from the south end.

For the time, it was a really cool little car.
DO dan oconnell
Gordon Iam a avid reader of the form postings almost never a contributor to the discussions because a lack of technical knowledge. Iam trying to learn. I have a 2008 Vintage Speedster that was delivered in Aug. A replacement for my 2000, bought used that was totaled in July You responed to several of my questions in this time fram that were helpful. Iam writing because you seem to be everywere. I have property on Cat Island in Beaufort, we talked about the British Pub. Then your in Mass talking about a hot summer ride in Rhode Island and now you mention driving to Saybrook in a Fiat. I live in Old Lyme I just wanted to say I always found you respones thoughful and professional Dan
F fbirch
...if I were looking for a 3-5,000 dollar roadster, I would buy a Miata....

Angela - You nailed it. If someone is looking for a low-cost small convertible with tons of aftermarket support, and great inherent reliability, they can't do better than a Miata. A friend of mine retrofitted one of the multiple supercharger kits that are available for the Miata to his car and it was a blast. Fast, fun and cheap! (insert joke here)
FM Former Member
Really tough to beat the reliability, pricetag, aftermarket parts, etc., for those.

That said, I'm guilty of having owned both a Fiat and a Jaguar. I suppose that's why when my test drives on project cars go bizarrely wrong, I'm not terribly alarmed. I figure if I don't have to push it, then it was a good test drive!

The pathetic thing is...I would buy another Jaguar... Stuff another small block chevy in and be done!

angela
FM Former Member
A friend of mine has an early Miata with a stock longblock. However it has lots of goodies, a turbo, aftermarket ECU, wheels, tires, suspension, brakes, swaybars, rollbar, subframe stuff, etc. It literally is point and shoot, but dead-stock reliable. oh, and about 250 hp to the wheels on a chassis dyno........

We went for a drive together, me in my Spyder, and although I could keep up, by the end of the two or three hour drive, my arms and shoulders were exhausted! He still felt fresh, the difference of modern suspension as compared to my archaic design. But it sure was fun playing cat and mouse. We traded lead a couple times, it was cool to see the Miata get smaller in my mirror and then catch up, especially on roads familiar to me.
Marty GrzynkowiczMarty Grzynkowicz2012 IM Suby-Roadster
Owned a 90 Miata and a 99 10th Anniversary Miata. Both were tops in the fit and finish, chassis, and reliability department. I could through a small suitcase in the back, grab the wife and head out to Lake Geneva for the weekend on a moments notice.

Never had to put any thought into what the car might need to keep it running. That said, still like the old school sound and looks of the Speedster. The SOC website also make the hobby more enjoyable to boot.

Marty G.
Stan GalatStan Galat
My son has 2 1990 Miatas- a winter beater car w/ 240K mi, and one that he put a body kit and a carbon fiber hood on for spring/summer/fall. My oldest daughter drove a 1999 Miata for a year or so after high-school.

By any tangible metric, they remain an almost perfect sports car. They are balanced, good looking, (reasonably) easy to work on, get fantastic gas mileage, and are more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

But, on an intangible level- nothing stirs me like the old school experience I get from my speedster. For me, the car just cuts "closer to the bone" in a way no modern car can. Any schmo could jump in a Miata, Z3, etc. and drive to CA- a speedster trip requires a bit of planning and wits.

I like that.
Lane AndersonLane AndersonMt. Pleasant, SC Supporting Member
Stan states it very well, but there is another factor that is important to me. There are many classic sports cars out there in the same general price range as our cars, that are equally fun to drive, but Speedsters have one trump card - the people associated with them. I've yet to find a more fun bunch of gearheads, and that was a major factor in my purchase of the Speedster. I have had far more fun with the car, because of the people I've met, than with previous toys.

Ok, Vince, here's your cue to make sure we don't get too serious here.
El FrazooEl Frazoo Supporting Member
MUSB, Danny, Lane, Pip, Alan, et al. -- they are all just sayin' it like it is. There are '57 Speedsters, and then there is all the rest. Not that there aren't some REALLY sweet rides in the rest, w/ lots of room for fun, but the Speedster experience is in a class by itself. Except of course when some yo-yo comes up and asks: "That's a Miata, or something, isn't it? My wife's brother's cousin has one of those."
El FrazooEl Frazoo Supporting Member
DP: Well maybe I think you are two folks because you travel so fast in your Spyder that you seem to be able to be in two places at one time -- maybe I got confused. Not hard to do.

What the heck is a Pip, anyway? a black rock music singer? As in Gladys Knight and the . . .

And the softer side of Vince? WOW! Thought I'd never see that -- I always thought he kept that (the soft side) hidden under his T-shirt.

OK now, what the heck was this post all about?
FM Former Member
Fix It Again Tony? It is great fun!

When I got it the temperature gauge did not work. We fixed that, with the immediate result that the fuel gauge stopped working. Also, the heater coil was busted. We fixed that, with the immediate result that the heater fan stopped working.

Ahh, those Italians!

I hear you all on the Miata. It is a functionally very good car and it is nice to look at. But it isn't a beautiful car, like my Fiat -- let alone like a speedster.

And that, to me, makes all the difference.
El FrazooEl Frazoo Supporting Member
South Park, and the Simpson's too: too whacked out for my tastes. Seen 'em both, can't get over how stupid they are. And over 600 days of presedential campaigning -- groooooooan. So glad that's over -- and also that Hillary bowed out (or was shown the door) early. I think I would have moved to Guam if she had prevailed. MUSB tells me that Guam is a very fine place. But if that it is so, why does he live in SoCal? Hmmm . . . MUSB all those Speedster bruthas so close by.
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