Fiat applies to trademark '124' and '124 Spider'

[ga.spyder]

Interesting. It seems they may want to name the new Fiatzda a 124 Spider?
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/12/23/fiat ... 24-spider/

[AndyS]

should pay Pinnin Farina a few bucks to give it some Italian style. If that photo is a rendition of what they expect, its pretty much a Mazda style car 100%. Might as well just get a Miata and put some Fiat stickers on it.

[CajunMike]

This is getting worse and worse. A fiat badged Mazda is just sickening. The horror.

[RRoller123]

They should keep it as Italian as possible. It was the lure of the "poor man's Ferrari" that partly led to its success the first time around, and I think the same would likely be true today. The small affordable Italian open-air 2-seater is a wonderful concept, but not if it is basically a fake.

[spidernut]

What it would take to get me to buy one:

1. Style - style - style that does not look like a re-badged Miata but like a modernized Spider
2. Enough room in the cabin to recline the front seats
3. Handling that would be superior to a Miata at least by a little
4. They're talking about using the Multi-air motor. The Miata is 167hp. How about 225+ hp?
5. Reliability - it must have reliability on par with the Miata or the auto media will trash it as another Fix it Again Tony product
6. Price - The Miata is pricey enough and it will be a head-to-head competition between the two. I would not pay more for an unproven product and a few different badges.

This will be a tough one for Fiat I think. They have a chance to do something spectacular. Mediocre won't win anyone over.

[ga.spyder]

The huge global success that the Miata is,could have been Fiat's,had they chosen to develop the Spider.That didn't happen,and the rest is history.We all like to bash the Miata,but it is responsible for re-inventing a whole segment of the market that had been completely abandoned.It is on every top 10 list for sports cars.Now Fiat has a chance to get a foothold in a market they chose to abandon.The Miata platform is reliable and excellent handling.If you haven't driven one,do yourself a favor.Please Fiat...don't blow this opputunity with funky styling or with just rebadging the MX5!!

[ClarkTheShark]

I don't understand why you guys are so upset about a Miata for the chassis?

I think its great.

[ga.spyder]

I couldn't agree with you more,Clark.I think a lot of the people that like to criticize the Miata ,have never driven one.

[AndyS]

I don't understand why you guys are so upset about a Miata for the chassis?

I think its great.

no one is bashing the chassis, which is a best in class design. its the Miatas styling I have never been that crazy over. So if the 124 Fiat version does not have a more exotic looking Italian design insdie and out, why even bother making a Fiat badged Miata clone with a likely less reliable engine? By all means, use the chassis, but don't use basically the same exact body with only a few different minor styling clues.

[spidernut]

I find the Miata cabin obnoxiously small and uncomfortable. I have better shoulder and leg room in the Spider and can recline the seat to my liking. I'm stuck in a Miata with the seat all the way back and in an uncomfortably upright position. I also dislike the Barbie car look. It has improved over the years, but the trunk is still a bad joke at best and it still looks like a Barbie car to me.

I did like the handling of the Miata and love the reliability. It has its good points, but it is not my cup of tea. I think the biggest problem is going to be differentiating between a Miata and a Fiat. Why would anyone buy a rebadged Miata with a Fiat motor? What's the point. That's like buying a Ford Escort because you don't want a Mercury Tracer....same car, different trim. Then there's the unproven reliability issue. That will make it a tough sell unless it screams "I'm a Gorgeous Italian Roadster".

[DieselSpider]

To me it should have been a Fiat from the ground up and not a stylized Mazda. The new 500's have a lifetime Fiat Bumper to Bumper warranty available not just a limited factory drive train warranty which makes them very attractive. A co-worker parked his new Miata Hardtop Convertible next to my old Spider and the first word out of his mouth was that he wished they still made the Fiats like mine. He thought the styling of my 1978 even after almost 40 years was ahead of the Miata.

If there was a local shop that sold restored 124's like the Roadster Salon out in Illinois he would have bought a Basso 124 instead for $24,995:
http://roadstersalon.wpengine.com/models/spider-basso/

Or an AVANZATO for $39,995:
http://roadstersalon.com/models/spider-avanzato/

[AndyS]

just saw this today

"While Mazda and Fiat have seemingly parted ways on the Miata/Spider project, that doesn’t mean Fiat is putting its little roadster on ice. Rumor has it we’ll see the Spider close to the end of next year, likely with an Abarth badge."

this one looks more promising. shown here in an Alfa badged car

https://autos.yahoo.com/news/8-cars-loo ... 52570.html

[RRoller123]

That one looks nice, the other had a front end that looked like a guppy in a koi pond.

.

[bradartigue]

The huge global success that the Miata is,could have been Fiat's,had they chosen to develop the Spider.That didn't happen,and the rest is history.We all like to bash the Miata,but it is responsible for re-inventing a whole segment of the market that had been completely abandoned.It is on every top 10 list for sports cars.Now Fiat has a chance to get a foothold in a market they chose to abandon.The Miata platform is reliable and excellent handling.If you haven't driven one,do yourself a favor.Please Fiat...don't blow this opputunity with funky styling or with just rebadging the MX5!!

Completely agree an the same applies to Alfa - the reluctance to even modernize the cars beyond the gauges was absurd.

FIAT's next "124 Spider" will be as Italian as any Mexican or Japanese car can be.