Story by Carl Heideman • Photography by Carl Heideman unless otherwise credited
When American auto manufacturers basically abandoned the convertible in 1975, the European manufacturers kept the topdown flame alive. Most of the British convertibles died off in about 1980, though, and by 1984 Fiat decided to stop selling cars in the U.S.
American automakers eventually restarted convertible production. The Japanese …
I did the suspension on my Spider as well. What a difference it made.
I always liked the boat-tailed Alfa's the best ( see the movie THE GRADUATE )circa 1967. I know they did not last very long prone to severe rusting. I wonder how many still exist? I haven't seen one for a very long time. (restored or not). The squared-tail cars were better examples but not better looking ( my opinion only... no need to get mad at me if you have one!)
I'm glad you mentioned how difficult it can be to remove the bushings from the rear trailing arms. We've done it a few different ways- one with a proper press and dyes, and cutting them out with a saw. The former is far easier than the latter- but it can be done. Haven't been connected enough to know there's a company who exchanges them.
But what a transformation it can be. Makes good springs and shocks effective.
In reply to joeymec :
There are quite a few left- but they don't come up for sale very often anymore. And being the most desirable- they are also a premium. Not quite Giulietta Spider premium, but more than a GTV.
Better/worse is relative. From a chassis standpoint, almost every single part is exchangeable across the 105/115 cars- just a handful of details can't be swapped across all cars. Nobody would fault anyone who prefers one version of the Spider over another. It's natural.
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