Carlisle Import Nationals Preview: 1973 Fiat 124TC Special

Jay Ramey

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Continuing our preview of the 2013 Carlisle Import Nationals, here’s a crowd favorite that has appeared at this event at least twice in the last five years. This Fiat 124 Special hails from 1973, and has been resprayed in one of the most charming colors for the 124, or any other 1970s Fiat sedan or station wagon for that matter. It will come as no surprise that this car was just as nice in person, right down to the interior and engine bay.

Personally, I’ve lost track of all the places that the Fiat 124 has been manufactured under license, so here is a partial list of cities that I’m pretty sure it wasn’t manufactured in: Oslo, Dakar, Topeka, Minsk, Milwaukee, Ottawa, Minneapolis, Leeds, and Antananarivo (not sure about that one). Let’s take a closer look at this saloon after the jump.

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If I was in the market for a 1970s Fiat (and I am), this is perhaps the sort of car I would go for. Everyone and their dog has a 124 Sport Spider from the late 70s with god knows how much bondo holding the whole thing together, but very few people (especially on this side of the pond) have a minty 124 sedan or station wagon.

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The details on this sedan were simply amazing, right down to the little reverse light beneath the rear bumper. Clearly a car that had been well taken care of since day one, rather than something that had been assembled from half a dozen rusty examples. Virtually all panel gaps appeared good to excellent, and clearly great care had been exercised to get the details right. Even the optional fog lights beneath the front bumper look well placed.

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This is not an easy car to get right for a lot of reasons, economic reasons included, so it was a real treat to see this well restored example at Carlisle. The Fiat contingent at this event has stayed pretty steady over the last few years, with a good selection of rarely-seen models such as this one. So if you’ve got a Fiat, consider taking it to Carlisle this spring for the Import Nationals, as well preserved bread and butter cars are what this show is all about.

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Check out the full gallery from Carlisle Import Nationals 2012 below:

[Images: Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Jay Ramey]

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33 responses to “Carlisle Import Nationals Preview: 1973 Fiat 124TC Special”

  1. wisc47 Avatar
    wisc47

    "Everyone and their dog has a 124 Sport Spider from the late 70s with god knows how much bondo holding the whole thing together"
    I resent that, my Sport Spider is from the 80's and has (virtually) no bondo, thank you very much.

    Reply
    1. Jay_Ramey Avatar
      Jay_Ramey

      True, because everyone and their dog in WI at one point had a Renault Alliance GTA cabrio with god knows how much bondo holding the whole thing together : D
      You just had to be that guy in your neighborhood with a Fiat Spider instead of an Alliance GTA.

      Reply
      1. wisc47 Avatar
        wisc47

        No regrets.
        <img src="http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/r633/wisc47/Facebook/Cover%20Photos/479047_10151560291863608_997517250_o.jpg&quot; width="600">
        Unfortunately I don't have any pictures with my lab riding shotgun.

        Reply
  2. dukeisduke Avatar
    dukeisduke

    Wow, the same year and color as the 124 sedan I totaled while test driving for a friend back in 1979. The brake warning light was on (the owner's wife swore it was a flaky parking brake switch), but it was obvious it had only rear brakes, especially when I tried to stop, and instead t-boned a Chevy with it.

    Reply
  3. dukeisduke Avatar
    dukeisduke

    What's the story on this car? It looks like it was bought in Atlanta, but it has what looks like Italian or Eastern Bloc plates behind the Maryland ones, plus a rear foglight, which is pretty rare in this country.

    Reply
    1. nanoop Avatar
      nanoop

      I think these white/orange on black are italian, up to a few (two?) decades ago. Two orange letters give the province, but there's like 5-10 that start with a V.
      EDIT: VR on the front… me stupid.. Verona.
      Eastern Bloc should be a different brand (Zhiguli, Lada), and about 30% heavier (also the number plates)….
      They (Soviets) named an entire city after the italian politician who started the license deal – Togliattigrad or something, imagine Iacoccatown or Deloreanburg.

      Reply
      1. Jay_Ramey Avatar
        Jay_Ramey

        Just Togliatti, that's where the VAZ plant sits. Good memory though, very few remember that guy's name or the fact that the town was named after him.
        The VAZ 2101 is essentially the 124 with a few tweaks here and there, though it has an entirely different fascia from this model. The upmarket 124TC Special was not really produced under license elsewhere, though the differences are mainly cosmetic (chrome strips here and there, sunk turn signals).

        Reply
        1. nanoop Avatar
          nanoop

          Heh, thanks for the compliment…
          I don't know what machinery made the 124TC Special so special (surely some italian extravaganza in that class), but my granddad's Lada 210x (the stationwagon – x=5 ?) had a very special shade of beige…

          Reply
          1. Jay_Ramey Avatar
            Jay_Ramey

            It would have either been the 2102 (basic 124 fascia) or the 2104 (two rectangular headlights)

          2. Kris_01 Avatar
            Kris_01

            I've always wanted to get a Lada station wagon and shoehorn the guts of a 124 Sport Spider into it. Paint the whole thing "arrest-me-comrade" red and hoon it Russian style (dashcam equipped of course).

          3. Jay_Ramey Avatar
            Jay_Ramey

            No need for it to be a Lada, here's a 95% identical 124 wagon in red at Lime Rock: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34474056@N07/6323812…

      2. Synchromesh Avatar
        Synchromesh

        Get your story straight:
        1. Lada version was never 30% heavier. It used some simplified and heavy duty components made for Russian climate but the car weight around 1 ton – about 2200lbs or less than NA Miata!
        2. this car was the basis for the VAZ 2103 – that one has 4 headlights too although they look slightly different. 2106 that followed it also has 4 headlights
        3. Togliatti was the leader of the communist party of Italy. He died in 1964 – several years before original Fiat 124 went into production (much less Lada version) so he couldn't have been an organizer on that deal

        Reply
        1. Jay_Ramey Avatar
          Jay_Ramey

          That's a very good point about the 2103, they didn't wanna license a 125 cause it was too different and thus couldn't share a lot of parts, but they nevertheless wanted a luxe model in the spirit of the 124 Special. So the 2103 came with a ton of chrome and other toys.

          Reply
    2. Jay_Ramey Avatar
      Jay_Ramey

      It's been a couple years since I've talked with the owner face to face, the car is based in Rockville, but I don't remember how he got it and where he got it from, but if I recall correctly he's had it for about 5 years or so. Not sure if its a recent import.

      Reply
      1. dukeisduke Avatar
        dukeisduke

        Jay, what's with the "Temple" dealer emblem on the back? I can't zoom the picture big enough to see the city name, but it looks like Atlanta to me.

        Reply
        1. Jay_Ramey Avatar
          Jay_Ramey

          It reads: Temple, Alex, VA. I think it refers to Temple Buick Fiat of Alexandria, VA, which is a defunct Fiat dealer.

          Reply
          1. Dukeisduke Avatar
            Dukeisduke

            So, that makes me wonder about the authenticity of the Italian plates, if the car is a US model from Virginia. Maybe the Italian plates are an eBay find?

          2. Jay_Ramey Avatar
            Jay_Ramey

            I never trust the plates for anything on show cars, everybody rocks whatever they want anyway, sometimes to denote their own heritage rather than the car's, sometimes to denote nothing at all. Yeah, with the eBays and everything, cars can wear a diff plate to every show.
            I don't trust dealer badges either, cause I know people will seek those out and slap them on trunklids.

          3. mdharrell Avatar
            mdharrell

            I assure you I strive for complete transparency in such matters.
            <img src="http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu125/mharrell_photographs/croppedFplate.jpg&quot; width="300">
            <img src="http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu125/mharrell_photographs/croppedWAplate.jpg&quot; width="300">

          4. Jay_Ramey Avatar
            Jay_Ramey

            Oh my god, now THAT I have never seen before! That's awesome!

          5. mdharrell Avatar
            mdharrell

            Thanks! I tried removing the French plates (legitimate, by the way) but they're covering an even older French registration that's painted directly onto the car; it looked worse without them. This seemed like the best solution.
            By the way, the best example of a "fake" dealer emblem I've seen is on the back of a '57 Ford retractable that has been rather convincingly converted into a '58 Edsel retractable:
            <img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2547/5724571958_73f2a0904c.jpg&quot; width="450">
            The rear sports a subtle emblem from an Edsel dealer in Texas. It's a nice bit of verisimilitude.

  4. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar
    Peter Tanshanomi

    My grade-school math teacher had a 124 4-door, so my attraction to this car is hardwired into my neural pathways.

    Reply
  5. dukeisduke Avatar
    dukeisduke

    And yes, I'm probably insane, but I like Fiats from the '70s.

    Reply
    1. Alff Avatar
      Alff

      Liking them from a safe distance is not insane.

      Reply
  6. MattC Avatar
    MattC

    I cannot wait to go to Carlisle. This is my favorite car show of the year and one of the best avenues for a myriad of car obsessed fans in the East Coast (Yes , I am jealous of my West Coast brethern). I took my older brother last year who is a gear head (but more famaliar with American muscle). I showed him the brilliance of a Citroen DS (his once skeptical mind opened up to really appreciate the engineering genius), the collection of truly well built Porsche 356/Speedster replicas (some with Subura power BTW) and the Saab and Volvo collection (there was a real cherry Amazon there last year).
    This year I will be going by myself and that is the way i like it. I will photograph everything in sight and plan what my eventual project car will be.

    Reply
  7. TurboBrick Avatar
    TurboBrick

    I don't think I've ever seen a 124 in the flesh, and if I have, I would have mentally written it off as a custom Lada.
    I'm sure whomever penned this design really appreciated the way FIAT incorporated the reverse light into the bodywork, so smooth.

    Reply
    1. Jay_Ramey Avatar
      Jay_Ramey

      I think that may an optional extra or an aftermarket thing, very few cars had those, but the 124TC Special is the 600SEL of the Fiat 124 range really. Except without the V12 or the double-pane windows.

      Reply
  8. BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ Avatar
    BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ

    Want!!
    <img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7099/7184104605_d6d533200c_c.jpg&quot; width="600">

    Reply
  9. BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ Avatar
    BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ

    Also on my list
    <img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8541/8702567573_749c7d9b13_c.jpg&quot; width=" 600'="">

    Reply
  10. racer139 Avatar
    racer139

    My grandmother had that exact car. same almost everything. The rust didnt do this color any favors and the car was parted by 84(ish) after a rebuild around 78 my grandfather didnt want to do it again so she got a 78 capri(mercury) which she drove untill 89 when the trans died.

    Reply
  11. Dark Helmet Avatar
    Dark Helmet

    That head-turning paint color, unique to the 124TC Special, was known as "Exorcist Verdure". Optional at extra cost.

    Reply
  12. Mark Avatar
    Mark

    Car belongs to one of my best friends, I sold it to him about 8 years ago. Paint is actually original, he just used compound and elbow grease to bring it back. The car sat in a garage since 1978 until the time I bought it at a charity auction in DC around 2004. Head gasket blew, the guy pulled the head (labeled and marked everything, very meticulous), then it sat under a cover in a corner until it got donated to auction. Temple is the dealership in Alexandria VA. The Italian plates are because of the owner's Italian heritage and the fact that they just look cool.

    Reply
    1. Jay_Ramey Avatar
      Jay_Ramey

      Wow, that's an amazing piece of info, cause I was thinking to myself a few days ago as I was writing this "there's no way this paint is original, cause it looks practically concours quality" And who would respray a 124 in the US to concours quality standards, right?
      Well, it looks magnificent, and it's all the more special (pun intended) because of its preserved condition.
      Thank you for sharing this, as this 124 draws quite a lot of spectators every year it appears at Carlisle.

      Reply