I’ve been really liking the “Retro” stripes ever since they were shown on some grey Spiders, as they were introduced to the press in the Summer of 2016, but could never find the stripes in our (U.S.) Accessories catalog. Then in July, I met another 124 Spider owner, Al K. (who goes by akk3159 in the 124spider.org forum), who was able to locate the stripes part # through a Canadian Mopar 2018 Parts Catalog (see top photo). He had ordered the set through an online Mopar parts distributor, and even though he ordered the red and grey retro stripes, a recent batch of Red/Grey Retro Decal Kits were produced (incorrectly?) with contrasting black border stripes instead. The unsold kits were reportedly recalled, but I was thinking when I saw the Red/Black stripe installed on his white Classica (see the next two photos of Al’s), that it coordinated even better than imagined with the Red/Grey, since:
- it doesn’t introduce a third color on the white cars and complements all of the other black (soft top, entire interior, grills, lower-half of door mirrors, etc.
- the red is actually a beautiful metal flake burgundy that coordinates perfectly (matches) with the background of the chrome Fiat logo badges on our cars.
He must have felt that way too, as he had the stripes installed, and revealed the results on the aforementioned forum on the same day I had met him.
For most of the other grey, silver and red color cars, the Red/Grey should coordinate nicely. I was very impressed with the quality of the Retro decal – they aren’t made with the monotone vinyl that you sometimes see, but rather, they actually look like the panels were masked off and metallic paint was applied.
On September 1, 2018, I was pleasantly surprised that FCA had officially announced that four versions of the Mopar stripes for the 124 Spider are finally available in the U.S. as a $295 installed option for the 2019 Model Year Classica models, and in addition, the decal kits can also be ordered from your preferred Mopar parts source (hopefully somewhat cheaper than the $195 MSRP):
- Retro Stripe Body Decal Kit in Red/Grey is Mopar Part # 82215018AB
- Retro Stripe Body Decal Kit in White/Grey is Mopar Part # 82215402AB
- Double Rally Stripe Body Decal Kit in Red is Mopar Part # 82215401AB
- Double Rally Stripe Body Decal Kit in White is Mopar Part # 82215400AB
image courtesy of FCA; click image to enlarge
The photo at the top of the article, which reveals how the Red/Grey Retro stripe looks on a white Lusso, with it’s silver windshield surround, which does appear to coordinate nicely with the grey stripe, is from the most recent Canadian Mopar 124 Spider Accessories catalog. I haven’t actually seen the Red/Grey stripe installed on a white Classica in person yet, so I haven’t decided which I like better, but I’m actually leaning towards the Red Double Rally stripes now, especially if someone verifies that the rich looking metal flake burgundy used in the Retro stripe (that matches the background of the Fiat badges it surrounds), is also used in the Red Rally kit.
⇓ Robert Tucker submitted a photo that confirms the color.
The rear Double Rally stripes in some photos, appear to be wider than the stripes on the front, so I asked Paule Howell if this was just an illusion, and he confirmed that the stripes are tapered, and are indeed wider in the rear, than at the front, even though that isn’t shown in the catalog photos.
⇓ His black car really works well with the White Double Rally stripes.
