The turbo gave the Spider just 20 extra HP. As one reader pointed out, "Putting a heat producing turbo in a car that already had cooling problems for an extra 20 horse power? It sounds like a car that gives you a lot of pain and very little gain." JaCG reader, Alden wrote, "Some of these even had an automatic transmission. Fiat was losing sales big time in the USA and needed to do something. Turbos were all the rage at the time and now the car had (almost) the power to haul around A/C, power windows, big bumpers and an automatic. Too little , too late."
OK, so this is not a brilliant car. Still, it's a very rare car and 20 extra horsepower is better than nothing. (Just barely better, but better.)
Turbo or not, this car is a very nice Fiat Spider. It's a 1 owner, 42,000 mile car. The seller states that it has never had any damage, "has never seen snow and has barely seen rain". It has a manual transmission.
I'll end this post with the same paragraph I ended the earlier post with...
This is not a car for everyone. If you're just looking for a Spider to drive once in awhile and don't want to spend a lot of time and money on maintenance, buy a normally aspirated Spider. If you're looking for something unique, with a ton of "ooooh factor" (as in "Ooooh it's a Turbo Spider") and don't mind putting some extra little care and maintenance into a car, a Turbo Spider is just the right car.
Located in Rolling Prairie, IN, click here to see the Craigslist ad.