I've owned my Spider for nearly a year now. It was a barn find, so to speak.
I paid $1,000 for her. The body is straight with only 2 minor dings (Passenger door overswing & under front grill dent). No rust, the rubberized undercoat has kept it safe. To date, I've put nearly $4,000 more in improvements. All of the effort is going into creating a safe and reliable weekend runner. New filters air/oil, spark plugs, plug wires, dist cap/rotor, P185/65R14 86H, Pirelli P6 Four season tires, 4 drilled/slotted rotors, carbon brake pads, and braided brake lines installed so far. I've replaced both broken outer door handles, 1 inner door handle and a broken radio antenna.
I am in the process of getting the transmission rebuilt and adding a new Sachs clutch and pressure plate kit and rebuilding all the drive shaft renewable parts, and adding new transmission and motor mounts. A new ignition switch, Stiffer-shorter springs and a new catalytic converter are on order. I'm doing most of the mechanical work myself (Not the transmission rebuild. Santo's Italian Car Service in Northridge, Ca can do that!) and have had quite a steep learning curve.
I'm probably up$ide down with the car now. But that's ok. It's a really fun car to own, work on and drive.
Robert
Before and after photos below: