A long time ago, at a San Francisco Bay Area car auction, the TTS team bought a Fiat 124 Spider – quite by accident. It was probably about 1999, and the cost out the door (best he who paid the bill can remember) was about $125. It was catastrophically rusty, but it started, ran, and drove a million times better than the perforated body would have suggested. A couple of weekends ago this car came up in conversation, and word is that it was traded among a few CA car friends, but that is still on the road and in some substantially better state than it was at least when I last laid eyes on it.

In a recent post we pondered the question of whether there are still good car deals out there for us enthusiasts, and the conclusion was yes, but you have to dig deep and look hard for them. This morning, as I was running through my usual pre-workday-over-a-cup-of-coffee car search I tripped over this pretty little Fiat 124 Spider listed on Craigslist in Ellington, Connecticut for just $5,000. It’s Italian, the top goes down, the body was designed by Pininfarina, and the engine was designed by Lampredi (famed for designing numerous Ferrari engines previously) – enthusiast fodder? You betcha!

The seller reports that this car has just over 47K miles on it, which is remarkable for a 48 year-old car, and although it only has a 5-digit odometer and could be 100k or 200k more, it looks very much like the mileage is likely true judging by what appears to be original upholstery, dash, trim, etc. The hardware looks good, as do the gauges, wood, and carpet. Reportedly everything on the car works save for the clock – not unusual and absolutely repairable should the next owner want to take it on. It even retains the metal latches on the vent windows which are often missing from this vintage Fiat and Alfa. The seller does indicate that he has installed “relay kits” to help preserve the column-mounted headlight and wiper switches. For what that’s worth.

Being a Fiat from the 1970s, made from ex-World War Two steel, rust is most definitely a consideration and concern. This car is no different, but to their credit the seller takes the issue on head on, stating “yes, there is body filler in a few spots, but this car is not a rust bucket and never has been. The paint looks good until you are 10 feet away.” For the entry price, this seems entirely reasonable to me based on both the photos and the description. A new owner could spend the money to have the paint and body done now to a reasonable standard and still not be completely upside-down, or drive it for a while and see if it unravels. This car will likely never be a concours winner, but as it sits it’ll get thumbs-up on the road, at the gas pump, and be a great conversation piece at your local cars and coffee.

Mechanically, these cars are robust and peppy, even in the EPA-strangled 1970s version. This car has the added benefits of Pertronix electronic ignition and a Weber carburetor – both of which will almost definitely only enhance drivability and reliability. From the factory, a US-spec 1975 Fiat 124 spider with the 1756cc (1.8 liter) delivered just 86hp and 90 lb-ft of torque. Certainly not a lot by today’s standards, but with the carb and injection improvements it’s likely closer to 100hp/100 lb-ft at this point, and as a high-revving DOHC four cylinder with a pretty slick shifting 5-speed manual, it will sound great and feel a little quicker than it actually is. But this isn’t a race car, it’s a car meant to meander your favorite local tree-lined back roads.

You draw your own conclusions, but this car represents to me as a sweet enthusiast-owned roadster that doesn’t make any assertions above its pay grade. It’s well-kept, but not a garage queen, maintained but enjoyed. It goes back to another question we asked in the post about finding decent cars: how do you want to use it? I genuinely want to buy this, put some period-correct but maybe a little meatier alloy wheels on it (retaining the steelies with hubcaps), and just run it around the backroads. Longer-term, were I to keep it, I’d want to get the body and paint redone. Everything else looks as good as it needs to be for a driver, and it doesn’t appear to have any urgent needs.

So I ask again: are there still good deals on cool cars out there for us Car Geeks? Absolutely.