On 2009-12-17, dgk wrote:

Many years ago I had a Fiat 124 Spyder. I called it the Fiat 124
Lemon. I did buy it used so perhaps it was just maintained terribly,
but almost every other week something went wrong. The alternator died,
the string operating the clutch broke, the transmission developed
problems, and just endless crap.

I guess it just depends on when it got put together.

Yes, the Italians make Ferraris and $80K shotguns, etc. They also
make Fiats. You want the real survivability lowdown on Fiat. I'm
from sunny CA where cars NEVER RUST!. If it's worth a damn, it will
last forever. In the early 70s, after I got out of the service, CA
roads were lousy with Fiats 850s and 124s. It was a craze and ppl
bought them by the ship load. They were as common as VW bugs. Thirty
years later, they are rarer than an honest politician. In fact, in
the last 5 yrs I spent commuting 70 miles a day on SFBA freeways, I
was stunned to see a single running 850 Spyder, it having been so long
since seeing one, I'd actually forgotten they'd ever existed. Pre-70
Borgwards are more common. If Fiat reliability is any indication of
European quality engineering, Chrysler is screwed!

nb