The convertible’s tag reads “79 Fiat.”
The car, a 1979 Fiat 124 model 2000 Spider, has a new top but sports a faded, greenish paint job.
When 14-year-old Kenneth Carper of Sherwood turns the key, the engine springs to life, not quite with a purr, but with a sound that signals everything is ready to hit the road.
Not bad for an Italian sports car that sat for years gathering dust in a neighbor’s field.
Nineteen months ago, Carper and his dad, Chris, had the Fiat towed home, where they began tearing it apart. The work was mostly Kenneth’s doing, but the elder Carper said he kept a close eye on the repair work, which also involved extensive Internet searches for how-to tips, parts, extra efforts to save money to pay for the parts, as well as having some parts appear as substitutes for more normal birthday and Christmas gifts a teen might expect.
Kenneth said the effort has been worth it, such as long hours spent replacing the vehicle’s rear axle.
“The first time I put it in reverse, it felt like the best time,” he said.
The Fiat 124 took the family in a new direction, however, when a class assignment in January 2013 resulted in Kenneth, an eighth-grader who attends school at eStem Public Charter School in downtown Little Rock, writing a letter to Fiat headquarters in Turin, Italy.
The assignment - for students to send a letter to someone who inspired them - prompted Kenneth to write Fiat about the Spider and suggest they bring back the 124. He said it wasn’t addressed to anyone specific.
But two weeks later, Kenneth got an email message on his smartphone. Opening it, he found a note from Alfredo Altavilla, chief operating officer of Fiat-Chrysler for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Fiat, which completed its purchase of Chrysler earlier this year, reentered the U.S. automobile market in 2011 with its 2012 Fiat 500.
“My jaw just dropped,” Kenneth recalled.
In the letter, Altavilla wrote that he was “impressed” with Kenneth’s knowledge of the 124 Spider and the teen’s knowledge about cars in general.
Altavilla suggested that Kenneth take the time to visit the plant, as well as talk to some of the engineers who managed Fiat’s rally team that use the 124 Spider in world championship racing. He also noted that Turin is home to engineering/mechanical schools and pointed out that one in Modena, Italy, managed by Ferrari, accepts students as young as 14.
Kenneth’s parents, Chris and Amy Carper, had already been planning a trip to Europe. After talking with Altavilla’s staff, they changed their itinerary to include a stop in Turin, where Kenneth and his family will meet with Altavilla, tour Fiat’s styling center and tour the plant where the company manufactures Maseratis.
“Ken has always been interested in mechanical engineering,” said Amy Carper. “This just showed me an opportunity that this would be opening a door for him.”
A spokesman for Fiat-Chrysler in Detroit, Angela Bianchi, said the exchange between Kenneth and Altavilla is a happy coincidence that worked out well.
“It was really just an example of how two car lovers can kind of connect, even if one is a 14-year-old in Arkansas and one is a COO of a major company,” Bianchi said.
Kenneth, who said he’s always been drawn to cars and motorcycles, said he was 12 when the old car sitting in a field caught his eye. He passed it every day in the summer of 2012.
Finally, he decided to go check it out up close and discovered a foreign-made convertible that was full of dirt, dust and cobwebs. After some research, he began wondering if it could be restored. Finally, in late August 2012, they struck a deal with the car’s former owner and towed the Fiat home.
Working on the car has enabled Kenneth to learn about the mechanics of automobiles - and how little things can prevent a motor from running. His dad said the learning process involved a lot of research by his son.
“As our project started, I saw his passion for cars and a chance for him to learn how to work on cars,” Chris Carper said.
Kenneth began replacing parts on the motor, such as the spark plugs, wires and distributor cap - the kind of things done as part of routine tune-ups. The gas tank had to be drained and fuel lines replaced. However, replacing one “little part” - a control module - finally got the engine running, he said. While they got it running just a few days after the tow, it took another year to make it roadworthy.
The car eventually saw daily use in November, once the brakes had been rebuilt, the rear axle replaced and the front suspension pulled back together.
Chris Carper said he helped with locating parts, either searching online sites such as eBay or locating businesses that offered the parts for sale, such as one in Texas that has a warehouse full of Fiat parts.
So far, not counting labor, Kenneth and Chris estimate they have between $1,000 and $1,200 invested in the 124 Spider.
While his dealership isn’t seeing customers who need work done on their vintage Fiats, Adam Culpepper, general manager of Landers Fiat in Benton, was impressed when told of the Carper’s restoration project.
“Everyone who does vintage does their own work,” Culpepper said.
Culpepper said that since the dealership opened two years ago, there’s been strong interest in new Fiat models - the 500, 500C Cabriolet and 500L, with his dealership among the top six in terms of sales, selling from 40 to 50 per month with buyers giving a wide variety of reason for their interest.
“It’s got personality. It’s not just another car on the road,” Culpepper said.
Business, Pages 73 on 03/30/2014