S/N's & Production figures (longish)

[Dwight Varnes <xmxbreed@domain.elided>]

Well, things certainly are no clearer now than before any of these books 
were published. Here is information on various versions of the Fiat 
spider:
1968-July 1970
Phil Ward book:       37875 (based on sequential serial numbering)
Graham Robson book:   60233
Martin Buckley book:  42853

Hmmmmmm.

Pininfarina spiders, 1983-ish to 1984
Martin Buckley:  7450
Phil Ward:       6000
Robson's book was published before 1984, so can not be included.
Buckley's book does not include the Volumex in the total above; Ward's 
book does not mention the Volumex at all in the chart.

To add to the confusion, Ward's book notes that in 1985 the USA received 
a total of 186 cars, terminating in S/N 05511940.  However, the final 
spider supposedly built and now in the Pininfarina museum is (according 
to Pininfarina) S/N 05511780. Buckley agrees with this USA bound figure, 
as well as the 1200 figure for total production in 1985 (pretty 
remarkable, considering the car was extremely different from all the 
preceeding years). 

Some more nit-picking flaws in the Buckley book:   
The twin cam engine did not come into being with a plastic belt cover. It 
was aluminum for many years, first bare, then painted yellow (plastic 
debuting with the 2 litre, I believe).
It did not come with the electric fan at first; there was a fan clutch 
attached to the water pump (changed in 1970).
I think the changes to the center console and heater controls were 
glossed over, even though they are shown in photos. This is very 
important, as the cars did not start life with the stupid and impossible 
to remember setup most of us are used to. The white AS spider shown 
should NOT have rocker moldings, but this is not mentioned.
We are led to believe that all 1756 cars had catalytic converters. This 
is not true: only California cars were. And at this point the reference 
to a "remote shifter resulting in a shorter lever" appears. I have no 
idea what this means.
The book incorrectly states that headrests appeared on the 2.0 cars. 
Headrests were required since 1969. I have been unable to determine if 
the 1968 USA models had them (I believe not). It does point out the 
change in the seats correctly.
Question: the limited edition spider is said to have come with a special 
key fob to match the number plaques. Anyone know if this is true?
Backwards typo: Pininfarina cars were s/n DS, and Fiats were CS. The book 
has this backwards.

I don't mean to nit-pick, but I believe these things are important. Since 
a book is meant as a useful reference tool, a lot of wrong info makes it 
a defective tool. I'm rather disappointed, especially since the balance 
of the rather small book is comparatively good. Not the best of the 
bunch, but a good resource (or it would have been) for the novice owner.

Your comments are invited privately, or here.

Dwight Varnes, self proclaimed spider guru
1970 124 spider (almost completely accurate)
1967 Fiat Dino Coupe (not accurate when it was built)