Description
Following the success of the Fiat 124, sportier versions of the car were prepared, the 124 Sport Coupé and the 124 Sport Spider. The coupe and the spider were related to the 124 sedan version in name and through the use of much of the mechanical components and, in the case of the coupe, also the platform.
The “Sport Spider” was built on the shortened chassis of the sedan and was equipped with a 1438 cm³ 4-cylinder twin-cam engine fed by a twin-choke carburetor, with the camshaft drive, advanced for the time, via a rubber timing belt, capable of delivering 90 hp at 6500 rpm and giving the car a claimed top speed of 170 km/h (actual speed from the road test of “Quattroruote,” May 1967, 173 km/h). It had a modified rigid rear axle (with two pairs of longitudinal struts, instead of the previous “cross” layout, to improve steering precision) and power-assisted brakes as standard. A new five-speed gearbox was also made available as standard. In fact, these two new models replaced in the lineup the previous “1500 S” and “1600 S” sports models just taken out of production.
The spider was designed and also produced by Pininfarina; the style is the work of Tom Tjaarda. The coupe and the spider were first sold in the United States from 1968.
