Fiat 124 Sport Coupe

Alternative? in ways, it was a better car than the BMW and Datsun 510. Both the Datsun and BMW 1602/2002 have a semi trailing arm rear suspension which is only slightly better than swing axles. This means the rear suspension must be made ultra stiff with nearly no wheel travel to control serious camber and toe change. None of which is a problem with a solid rear axle as in the Alfa & FIAT. As much as some car folks look down at a solid rear axle, it can be made to work amazingly well if properly designed and built. And, that first generation FIAT twin cam with nee 1500cc produced 96 Bhp stock, very reliable and durable and was the first twin cam engine design to break the 3 million produced mark and influenced engine design from then on.

I actually rode in the back seat of one of these back in 1976... I doubt if I could get back in, if I could ever get back out! Nice example here!

I actually owned a SEAT 124 Sport Coupe from 1971 when I lived in Spain in the late 90's. Being a Spanish car it had only so-so quality, but was 30 years old. Solid, with zero rust. Giallo Fly Yellow. A great car, which had been converted to a single 2V Weber during the oil crisis, but had the twin Webers in the trunk. I did a few road rallyes with it, and took it to the Jarama race track whenever there was a vintage event there. I sold the car when I moved back to the US, THE SINGLE LARGEST REGRET OF MY LIFE TO DATE.

My first car at 15 was a 124 Sport Coupe. It was a '70 or '71 with the smaller bumpers. By '82 it had already had a rough life and I paid $250 for it. Did a ton of work on the car, brakes, valves, bodywork, and electrical, but got hit by someone running a stop sign which totaled it. Loved driving that car. While I was working on it (in my parents garage as I was still in HS) I had the opportunity to buy a 1 owner '71 Datsun 510 for $1000. My parents wouldn't let me have 2 cars so I stuck with the Fiat.