My Rides- Fiat 124 Spider, 500 Abarth and 500 Turbo (I may have an obsession)

My current rides are:
2015 Fiat 500 Abarth - 1.4 liter Turbo, 5 speed. Has been tuned to an inch of its life and beyond, blew the motor, blew the trans, replaced both, dialed it back to the stock turbo with a “milder” tune.
2017 Fiat 124 Spider - 1.4 liter Turbo, 6 speed. Fun little mx5 based roadster. Haven’t done a lot to it but we shall see.
2015 Fiat 500 Turbo - 1.4 liter Turbo, automatic, On long term loan to my mom.


(wheels have been swapped out the the black ones from the car below)


(wheels have been swapped out to the gunmetal ones from the car above)

(Below here is my car history, resurrected and updated from an old Car History thread on this forum. Decided to include it here, instead of resurrecting the 6 year old thread)

#1 - (93-94) - 1984 Dodge Charger, 2.2 litre. Free. Fun as hell little car. Sold because I wasn’t allowed to have 2 cars at the time (family driveway).

#2 - (95-96) - 1985 Dodge Charger, 2.2 litre. $500. Yes, a second one, sold it to a friend in 96.

#3 - (96-97) - 1983 Ford LTD v6 “euro” - Free. crapola on wheels. Terrible everything. Given to me by a relative, sold on to someone more
desperate than I.

#3.5 - (97) - 1974 Plymouth Valiant 4dr, 225 \6. Paid $250, but I only drove it once. In the snow. Without brakes. And without a muffler. I ended
up giving it away.

#4 - (97) - 1990 Plymouth Acclaim V6 - $3500. Transmission died, rear wheel fell off, I abandoned it and told the finance company where to stick
it.

#4 - (97-99) - 1985 Dodge Charger, 2.2 litre. $500 Actually, the same one as #2, I bought it back. I modded it with de-cat, dirt track ECU and removed smog pump. Sold to a different friend. (Didn’t update the count since it wasn’t a “new” car)

#5 - (99-01) - 1976 Plymouth Duster, 225cid \6. Paid $350 to the original owner, put on 75000 trouble free miles until someone rammed the rear quarter panel with a RAM truck, sending it spinning.

#6 - (01) - 1967 Plymouth Belvedere 4dr, 225cid \6. Paid $1200, replaced head gasket, drove nicely until transmission copped out. Bitter about this one because I was forced to sell it for various reasons.

#7 - (01-03) - 1994 Dodge Shadow, 2.5 litre. $2000, paid for by a family member so I had little choice in picking a car. Transmission died 3 weeks after purchase, had 3 head gasket replacements before a rod started knocking and I gave it away.

#8 - (03-05) - 1992 Toyota Tercel, 1.5 litre. $500, a valve seal replacement, CV shafts, TLC to the paint, and it was a beauty. Until someone pulled out in front of me on the highway. Totalled for way less than its true market value.

#9 - (06) - 2001 Ford F150, 4.7 V8 - Whhhaat? I’m not a truck guy… Don’t remember the price, family member bought it for me and I gave it back to them.

#10 - (06-08) - 1990 Toyota Corolla, 1.6 litre. $500. Yes, another $500 car. Owner was going to let it flood to collect insurance, I took the keys and pulled it away from floodwaters, and handed him $500. Transmission went two years later at 220k miles.

#11 - (08-13) - 1997 Mazda 626, 2.0 litre. $1300 bought from a shady guy on a streetcorner in a bad part of town. Another $200 to a title company to straighten out THAT mess, and it was a very reliable vehicle for many years and somewhat fun. Finally gave it to a friend when repairs started becoming an issue.

#12 - (13-14) - 1996 Ford Crown Vic Police, 4.6 litre V8. Whaaa? It was my dad’s car before he passed away, so it was there and I started driving it. Gas guzzler, semi-anemic until you hit about 70mph then it woke up. Frontend shot, AC died one morning prompting me to turn around and head to the dealer…

#13 - (14-15) - 2015 Fiat 500 Sport, 1.4 litre, 5 Speed. My first NEW car ever. Living in Houston and working in Beaumont, so I put over 30,000 miles on this in 11 months. So now that I’m moving this month closer, I bought what I really wanted…

#14 - (15-Now) - 2015 Fiat 500 Abarth, 1.4 litre Turbo, 5 Speed. Fast enough. It has been tuned to an inch of its life and beyond, blew the motor, blew the trans, replaced both, dialed it back to the stock turbo with a “milder” tune.

#15 - (17-18) - 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser GT - 2.4 liter TURBO (srt-4 engine), automatic. Got it on a salvage auction with only 26,000 miles. Threw a tune on it, had a blast. Faster than you would think. However I was never happy with the handling, and most good options for better front struts were discontinued. Didn’t want to spend on custom coilovers. Sold it to my sister who ended up destroying it.

#16 - (18-Now) - 2015 Fiat 500 Turb, 1.4 liter Turbo, Automatic. Also fast enough, I tuned it, did some crazy stuff to it. Then undid all that and gave it to my mom. Technically still my car.

#17 - (2021-Now) - 2017 Fiat 124 Spider, 1.4 liter Turb, 6 speed. Fun little mx5 based roadster. Haven’t done a lot but we shall see.

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