FIAT CONSIDERS 124 SPIDER COMEBACK

[ga.spyder]

I don't agree with Brad on most Pininfarina designs,but whoever designed that '500 Spider', ought to go back to school!! I am not a fan of the new 500's at all,which has put me at odds with many of my Fiat friends.

[Holshot]

As a former MX5 owner,they couldn't find a better platform on which to revive the Spider.They are dead nuts reliable and have fantastic handling characteristics.There is a reason that many publications rate them in their ''Greatest of all Time'' lists!If that car shown above on the MX5 platform was available,I would sell my bike and BMW and snap one up.

Totally agree! They are great little cars and with even a small boost in power they turn into little go carts. We put a HKS turbo kit on a buddies first gen Miata and that thing was a hoot and a half. He beat on that thing for years without any trouble. All in all I think Mazda is a very under appreciated brand especially as of late with the new design language they've gone with... I'm also glad to here that they will be returning to their roots with the new Miata and go to the light = might motto. With any luck Fiat will partner with them and produce this thing and hopefully it has a good design crew behind it.

[bradartigue]

God help us. Thankfully pininfarina doesn't design cars any more.

Also, these cars were never "affordable" by any stretch, and by the end of their run were about $40k in today's dollars. And if FIAT really wanted to make a tribute car it would need to have a service network of maybe 10 dealerships in the whole country.

Soooo, what are they designing Brad? Toasters and chainsaws?

The trolling worked

$3400 in 1971 = $20,000 in 2014. A 911 was around $6,000 = $34,000 today. This is too simple of an example, but consider that a 911 today is $90,000.00, or 264% higher the inflation calculated price, the FIAT would be $52,800.00. Which probably isn't far from the mark, considering the current Alfa "Spider" Brera (or whatever its called) is a $50,000.00 car in the most basic trim (and it is absolutely hideous). I wouldn't pay $50k for an Alfa, or a FIAT. Again, that's just me. They tried to make these seem like luxury cars back in the 80's too. They're fun second hand, because they're cheap, and we can all work on them in our garages, but this new generation - forget it. Might as well weld the hood shut because won't be serviceable, and what they will have is just some off-the-line Chrysler piece of crap engine. Mopar power in an Mexican car. Who cares.

<rant>Trolling around here is not thinking that everything with the FIAT brand on it is great and wonderful. I'm not someone who thinks that. This is a brand that abandoned its owners to a lousy dealer network long before it abandoned its owners altogether, who overpriced parts and services and sold some downright dangerous cars (like the 850). What makes the cars interesting is that they were this collision of style of performance in spite of the company who made them. The Spider and X1/9 are absolute anomalies for a company that couldn't design or build a thing right in the 60's or 70's. Thank god for the owners and enthusiasts, because FIAT didn't do a damned thing for any of us, ever.</rant>

Pininfarina - they design Coke machines. Of course they still do automotive design. Beautiful, stunning design, and a history of the same, like the 124 Spider, which was designed with bumpers.

[htchevyii]

When I was in Australia, I took a picture if the Pininfarina emblem inside of a subway car.

[bradartigue]

I don't agree with Brad on most Pininfarina designs,but whoever designed that '500 Spider', ought to go back to school!! I am not a fan of the new 500's at all,which has put me at odds with many of my Fiat friends.

I'm big fan of pininfarina cars for the most part, although some of the recent Ferraris are most certainly designed for a small penised crowd. Some of their 60s and 70s cars are just jaw-dropping gorgeous. Which is what makes the FIAT and Alfa Spiders of the 66-94 era just so damned nice to look at, the purity of the design, absolute classics.

By comparison the in-house designed 500 looks like most of the FIAT in-house designs, like the Strada or Multipla. Hell at least the Strada was made in Italy, at least it has some pedigree to it, hideous as it is.

[spidernut]

For all of the Miata's great aspects such as reliability, it is way to dang small. I sit back from the steering wheel and love to lean back. You just can't do that in a Miata like you can a Spider. I also dislike the MX-5's super duper small trunk and lack of back seat storage area. Add in the dorky Barbie-car image and it just does nothing for me. The only Miata's I've even remotely liked were seriously modified.

My biggest concern would be that the new Spider needs that Italian flair - not like the 500 and certainly not like a Miata. I love the Spider concept pictured earlier (based on an Alfa concept). I would be in line to buy one of those with the reliable Mazda running gear if it had the Fiat name.

I e-mailed Marchionne directly at his office e-mail and suggested a Spider when they were first exploring the purchase of part of Chrysler. It included the picture shown in this thread. Naturally I didn't hear anything back, ha, ha.

Still, I'd love to see it. To own a classic Spider and and a new one would be a dream come true.

[SoFlaFiat]

Brad, I'm not trying to antagonize you but you are really hung up on bumpers that have more to do with Ralph Nader than Pininfarina. You will never convince me that my 1977 was "designed" with those tube bumpers! They were put there because as a country we do not teach people how to drive. Instead, we make crashing our cars easier to survive.
I would love to know if it made Tom Tjaarda sick when they told him he had to put big ugly bumpers on his design, effectively hiding some of it.
I'm sure I just opened a can of worms...

[bradartigue]

Brad, I'm not trying to antagonize you but you are really hung up on bumpers that have more to do with Ralph Nader than Pininfarina. You will never convince me that my 1977 was "designed" with those tube bumpers! They were put there because as a country we do not teach people how to drive. Instead, we make crashing our cars easier to survive.
I would love to know if it made Tom Tjaarda sick when they told him he had to put big ugly bumpers on his design, effectively hiding some of it.
I'm sure I just opened a can of worms...

Nah, as I've said before it's your car, do whatever you want. I use the bumper statements as an easy way to comment on poor owner choices overall. It's tongue in cheek...but I really do think the car look absolutely stupid without bumpers, like an incomplete thought. As to the other comments, have you ever driven in Italy? Give that a shot before you comment on people in this country's driving skills. It's laughable over there.

BTW Tjaarda seems proud of the Spider but he left pininfarina before the car even hit the assembly line. I'm sure many of the modifications over the years disturbed the original designers (like the humps in the hood), but who knows.

[johndemar]

Name one "retro" design that has been successful or desirable? VW Bug, maybe. T-Bird, a joke in my opinion.
I'm with Brad on this one. If the spider does return, it won't be affordable. And for 40-50K I'll bet there are better options out there on the fun scale.
Oh, and I'm looking forward to putting blade bumpers on the car. They may not be year correct, but there is no way the rubber tubes grace it again.

[MrWampus]

I would buy a Fi-azda if it looked like an Italian design, had reliable running gear and was priced more like a Mazda than an Alfa. I don't think Fiat will go in that direction though. Their misses have been far more common than their hits.

[SoFlaFiat]

"firsta lesson a driving, whatsa behind no matter" has always been a favorite!
Ok, I think that was from an American movie, Gumball Rally maybe?
I have driven in Italy, and France where they are just as crazy, if not more so. In Florence, I drove on a 3 lane blvd, with 4 cars squeezing through and scooters in between all of us! What an experience! Thankfully, there is grappa!!

[ga.spyder]

I agree with Brad that the 124 and X1/9 were hits for a company with many more misses than triumphs.As I said before,I am not a fan of the new 500's,although the Abarth is fun to drive.I don't care for the styling at all.
At FFO 12 we questioned the then Prez of Fiat NA,Tim Kiniskis, about producing a real rear wheel drive sports car.We got a lot of double talk with no real answer.
Fiat as a global company has suffered serious monetary loss in recent years.The Chrysler acquisition has worked out pretty well,but the Fiat,Alfa,and Lancia(since dropped from the lineup!) have had some large losses.The Miata underpinnings were supposed to go to a new Alfa Spider.I wonder if these rumours are a product of the fact that Alfa hasn't come to the US,but Fiat has been established here?
I love to road race and am a SCCA flagman.No manufacturer supports racing and their brand like Mazda.From Spec Miata to prototypes,they are there for the support of their teams.You can build a Spec Miata from the Mazda catalog.If this Spider ever showed up ,with the MX5 underpinnings,the aftermarket would be huge!Every imaginable go fast or handling accessory would be readily available.We can only hope the initial cost of the car wouldn't make them virtually unobtainable for the general middle class public (me!!)

[speedracer]

Brad, I'm not trying to antagonize you but you are really hung up on bumpers that have more to do with Ralph Nader than Pininfarina. You will never convince me that my 1977 was "designed" with those tube bumpers! They were put there because as a country we do not teach people how to drive. Instead, we make crashing our cars easier to survive.
I would love to know if it made Tom Tjaarda sick when they told him he had to put big ugly bumpers on his design, effectively hiding some of it.
I'm sure I just opened a can of worms...

It's sort of funny that the the only people that complain about the big tube bumpers are us Spider owners. I have never, ever heard a bad comment about them from other car people. They just seem to love the car, big bumpers and all. They have become an integral part of the car.

I actually think that Fiat did a reasonably decent job on these big bumpers, all things considered. It could have come out a lot worse IMHO...

[spiderrey]

Delusional, that says it all. People that dont really know spiders dont complain because they have no idea of the history of the spider. Talk about a run on sentence.. If you like your big bumpers, thats fantastic. Ive seen some late model spiders with these truck bumpers that look really good. Its just not me preference.

[KidDingo]

I would buy a Fi-azda if it looked like an Italian design, had reliable running gear and was priced more like a Mazda than an Alfa. I don't think Fiat will go in that direction though. Their misses have been far more common than their hits.

Ford brought back the Mustang with an angry Ford V8 and it flies like snot. Chev's Camaro has been brought back, too, and has all GM components. Dodge has done the same with the Challenger using nothing but Mopar (I'll admit the Charger is a massive disappoint, but I find that about most Chrysler products, anyway).

I would rather see Fiat do the same thing using its own components, even if they're tuned by someone else. And I only say that because I like the idea of a legacy from 50 years ago, when Lampredi and Pinnifarina first put things together, to today, and build something of a heritage. I hate to think that the Spider's direct line to Ferrari would be bastardised and lost by using a Japanese platform.

Sticking to a Fiat platform would make it a real 50th anniversary and not just an opportunity at a money grab, IMHO.

But I understand the cost of developing a new platform and creating a high-end (somewhat) performance-oriented engine just for a 50th birthday party probably isn't something Fiat would be wanting to buy into, so I understand their need to look elsewhere.


...but I still don't like MX-5s!