This beautiful Fiat 124 Sport Coupe AC was spotted parked in Henley Beach on Australia Day. To my eyes the 124 AC’s are the cleanest looking of the 124 Coupe’s, sporting classic 60′s Italian GT styling usually reserved for cars requiring a seriously inflated budget. Built from 1967-1969, the AC is the first of 3 slightly different 124 Coupe models (followed by the BC, then CC), and is easily the rarest. Spotting such an original AC in this condition is a rarity even at a show, let alone parked in the street.
The AC featured an early iteration of the famous Fiat alloy twin cam motor, designed by ex Ferrari engineer Aurelio Lampredi. Lampredi came to Fiat after designing the first Ferrari V12, extensively used by that company in their road and race cars throughout the 50′s, and went on to manage the legendary Fiat Abarth racing and rally team throughout its heyday. The AC came with a 1438cc version of the twin cam, however swapping to the 1800 or 2000cc twin cam engines found in later 124′s is both an easy and common modification.
The AC was an extremely modern car for 1967, coming from the factory with a five speed gearbox, 4 wheel disc brakes and a 4 link panhard rod rear suspension for post 1968 models, in addition to the sophisticated twin cam engine. It’s such a shame that they rusted so much, which in the end was due in no part to Fiat engineering, just the forced use of junk soviet steel by the communist government of the time. It’s a pity that there’s hardly any of these around anymore, because they’re just an affordable, gorgeous, almost glamourous car. The world needs more of those.
