This nameplate was used on the late North American version of Fiat’s long-running open two-seater, which evolved from the 124 Spider line. For the 1979 model year, Fiat renamed the car Spider 2000 to reflect its larger 1.995-liter engine, moving the model away from the earlier 1.6- and 1.8-liter versions. That change marked the final phase of the original Fiat-badged Spider in the U.S. market, where the car had already become an established Italian roadster with a simple layout, folding soft top, and a reputation for style and accessible sports-car character. Over the last years of Fiat production, the car continued to be refined rather than redesigned, with later examples gaining fuel injection and other updates aimed at keeping the model competitive and compliant in North America. Fiat built the final Spider 2000s in 1982, after which production was carried on by Pininfarina under different nameplates for export markets. The Spider 2000 is remembered as the closing chapter of Fiat’s original 124 Spider story, and it remains especially notable among enthusiasts as the most evolved Fiat-badged version of the classic Pininfarina-designed roadster.
MODEL HISTORY