This is my 1982 Spider. I have owned the car since Christmas 2001 after purchasing it from my brother who owned it for 11 years.

My brother's first car was a FIAT Strada that he drove in high school and college in the early 80's. He spent a great deal of time at the FIAT dealer waiting for service or buying parts.

He always loved the Spiders, but never owned one until 1990 when he found this one at a garage sale. When he purchased it, had 33k miles. He and I have driven it 21k miles and it now has 54k on the odometer. My brother installed Pirelli tires when he bought the car and they still have tread, but they are starting to dry rot. I am looking at Pirelli P6000 Sport Veloces. What do you think about Pirelli tires - tell me in my survey! Also, nothing has been done to the brakes in the past ten years and they are starting to squeal when braking. The car stops good and straight, but I would be more confident knowing that they have been repaired/replaced.

Since buying it, I replaced the sparkplugs and wires with new Bosch equipment. I added a K&N air filter for better breathing. I also replaced the exterior badges with new ones from International Auto Parts (see my favorite links). I updated the sound system with an Alpine CD player and connected to Infinity speakers.

If you own a FIAT or just love the cars, there is a great national club FLU (FIAT Lancia Unlimited). The web page is www.flu.org. It is a great group with an annual FIAT Freak Out and local chapters which can provide lots of camaraderie and technical support.

The interior is in good condition. Spiders have a wood dash which is really classy. The original steering wheel was really cool, but the rubber ring was cracking and old. New steering wheels were $100 and up so I didn't want to replace it. I found a company called Wheelskins that makes leather wraps in various sizes and colors for about $25. Their web page is www.wheelskins.com, but you can buy them cheaper from some of the on-line auto parts stores. It is a bit of a challenge to sew the cover on, but the results are excellent. Now I have a factory-looking leather wrapped steering wheel for a fraction of the cost of replacing the wheel.