Update: This vehicle has been sold.
We took this 1982 FIAT Spyder Turbo on consignment along with the 1969 124 Coupe.
When we got this car it hadn’t been run in years. As with most turbo spyders, the turbo had long since been removed from the car, though the turbo manifold and other parts of the kitcame with the car.
These cars used a turbo made by Isuzu and originally fitted to a tractor. Boost was kept fairly low as there was no waste gate. The turbo motor cars had around 120hp but apparently it wasn’t terribly usable power and the turbos tended to have problems. Presumably the idea behind the turbo was to offset the power losses resulting from the fuel injection and emissions equipment on the American market cars.
The cars were shipped to New York to a company called Legend Industries (who also did a turbo modification for the Renault-engined Delorean), who did the conversions. The turbo model didn’t sell very well and the conversions were only done on 1981 and 1982 models, and less than 800 were done in total.
This particular car had the turbo vinyl stickers and the Legend Industries plate under the bonnet. The owner had also obtained the correct boost gauge and other equipment and had intended to restore the car.
As you can see the car has some minor rust in the door area on the passenger side and along the seam between the rear fender and trunk area on the driver’s side. It also had faded and pitted paint on the bonnet.
When we got this car it hadn’t been run in years and the keys were missing. We managed to get a new set of keys made. We replaced the fluids and changed the timing belt (just to be safe), and with a bit of priming and a little persuasion to wake up the fuel pump, she came back to life. After bleeding the brakes and giving it a bit of attention, we got it plated and sold it on. The new owner lives in the area and loves the car.