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The V8 fiat at this point is just a dream in my head. Having always has fiat spiders from the 850 up to the 124 and even the 2000 I am a big fan of the cars. As special as they are in my heart, they all lack one thing, horse power.
I enjoyed my 850cc rear engine car in high school, but go carts were fun back then and my taste has matured. I like a little bit more than 42 horsepower in my cars today. Granted the 4.8 gallon gas take was a pleasure to fill and at 40mpg it did not need to be filled that often. The high point for the car was when I opened it up on the highway on a 2 mile steep downhill grade and reached a whopping 65mph top end. Since the speed limit was 55 and I was just 18, it seemed like a decent feat. But come on, even I know that is slow even back in the 1970's. Still, that car was amazing and what a blast it was to drive. I would not have traded it for anything except a 1967 GTO with a 389 with a Tripower. Talk about an upgrade! I went from 42hp to about 420hp. You just cannot compare the two. I have owned almost a dozen fiats since then and have loved them all, but they get laughed at and mocked and made fun of by almost everyone. I have decided to fight back for my favorite car and make one that makes the hot rodders cry. This blog is about how I am building a 1970 Fiat 124 spider with a V8 Chevy engine that will tear up the dragstrip and run circles around cars on the street. With the horsepower and speed in the modern cars it will take quite a bit of work and expense to accomplish this. I also do not want to loose the fun of the fiat and stay true to the style and design. I will be competing with Mustangs that are just one big aftermarket parts bin. With kits to bolt on that add 1000HP I will have a difficult takes making my car the fastest on the street when I have to fabricate everything from scratch. To make matters worse. I am building the car in a one car garage at my house, so I don't have the tools and resources I would like, but that will make the project more rewarding in the end. So now it is time to get started with the build. The first obstacle it to find an old fiat body that is not completely rusted out and does not cost me an arm and a leg. So off to craigslist and ebay I go looking for a project car. |
