Late model Spiders

["TJ Noto" <tj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

My wife and I just returned from test driving an 87 Quadrifoglio.  The
car was pretty rough.  It looked beautiful but had a number of drive
train related problems that brought to mind an ex-girlfriends 86 Veloce
I used to maintain and drive.

Most disturbing was the "4-wheel steer" that it exhibited.  It felt like
the rear axle had an inch or more of play fore and aft.  The steering
was also very loose with an inch or so of play in the steering wheel.
This combined with a non-working speedo, non-working tach, non-working
AC, and a hesitancy to start and idle (even when warmed) frightened me
away and convinced me his 9500 asking price was not going to work for
us.

My question to later-model Spider owners is this.  Have you had problems
with suspension bushings on your cars and is there a way to fix this
wandering tendency that these cars tend to get after 50K miles or so?

We're looking to get Chela in to a late model Spider but I need one
that's in very good condition and that doesn't need tons of work.  This
is the first one that we've looked at so we're not giving up yet, but we
need to be realistic in understanding that any Spider we find will be at
least 9 years old (and probably more) and that it will have some miles
on it.

Finally, do any of the earlier model Spiders (like 1972 for example)
have AC?  It's ESSENTIAL for daily drivers in my opinion.

Regards,
TJ

TJ Noto				AFM#134 
http://www.cowpokeracing.com 	Cowpoke Racing-"Friends in Slow Places"	
95 Ducati 916 Strada		96 Ducati Monster 900 (Chela's)	
61 Ducati Falcone 80		70 Norton Commando Fastback	
73 BMW 3.0 CS 			97 BMW Z3 (Chela's)		
67 Alfa Romeo Giulia GTV	00 Ford F150 Supercab (Dog/Motorcycle
Hauler) 
87 Suzuki RG250 (For Sale!)
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