More on the new spider....

[Redline]

Guys, it's Auto Express. Auto Express is well known for publishing Photoshop what-ifs that have absolutely no basis in truth or even rumour. Ignore it.

[MikeHynes]

Love the red one . Why in the world couldn't Fiat have done something like that. That car would sell like hot cakes. It would make the new Miata looks like an appliance. Just think of all the press Fiat could get with a car as nice as that "red one" . Italian flair, sexy, emotional, style, etc, etc. A real differentiator and a way to redefine Italian cars. Who would ever buy the proposed car over the Miata?

[JerryAebi]

No Sir, I don't like it.
It should look more like this,but with more power! I'm also with sunnysideup, the Red and Orange one look like they got some bite. Don't know what the hp is, but the styling getting closer.

[SunnySideUp]

Just stirring the pot... Here's a conceptual version of a 2015 Abarth MX5/Miata... er, um, "New Fiat 124 Spider"



Great looking as a MX5/Miata. But as an Abarth'ed Fiat 124 Spider... ugh! (Just my opinion.)

[bradartigue]

(Vomit)

I'm obviously not the target market.

[mscafide]

Nobody said it was a new 124 Spider. A magazine thought it might be the rebirth of the 124.

It's just a convertible, a spider. It's not a 124 spider rebirth.

[johndemar]

Eh, not for me.......already have a spider that I like.

If I was looking for something like that, I'd pick up a good used Saturn Sky.

[phaetn]

The new Spider will never be a recreation of the old ones. We're forty to fifty years on. It's like complaining that a new smartphone doesn't look or act like a rotary phone from the 70s. Yes, it has the same basic function (to communicate in real-time to others without being in their presence) but we're in a different era and it's not fair to expect them to be the same. A big part of the essence of our cars is that they're old, still very mechanical rather than electronic, and somehow "authentic" because they're still on the road. Plus it was a timeless shape that was produced for two decades. That's going to be very, very hard to capture in a new car.

There will probably be a few styling cues, a whole bunch of branding, and then marketing with a tonne of nostalgia and Italian stereotypes (see the Fiat 500 [ulr=http://www.superbowl-commercials.org/35172.html]little blue pill[/url] advert. The fun will still be to drive a sporty car with the top down. As much as people malign Miatas here, they're a bloody brilliant car and we can thank Mazda for rescuing the convertible sports car market that otherwise might have largely disappeared except for American muscle. Imagine: a light and agile convertible to fling into curves that is actually reliable with quality engineering AND a full warranty!

I suspect the reason people *really* don't like like Miatas here is not because they're effete or soulless, but because they're popular. A lot of us like to get attention for being in a unique car; Miatas simply don't offer that. It's the same reason people at Italian car events sometimes disparage new 500s: There's nothing particularly rare about them, so there's no cachet in owning one. Really it's just a form of elitism, and it's not about the value or quality of the product itself.

The new Beetle was nothing like the old one (water cooled, engine in front, FWD, etc. etc.). It couldn't have been more different! But there was something about the shape and its playful spirit that captured people's imagination; it just didn't look as staid as other cars. Then came the Mini. There was absolutely no element of the BMW Mini that was mini. I mispent years of my youth booting around in an original Mini Cooper that had been souped up with a single Weber on a bored out 1275cc engine and the two are barely comparable. But it's still fun to be in a new Mini when compared to most vehicles on the road. Now we're in the days of the new Fiat 500. It's a cute car, no doubt! I recall a summer in Spain as a kid in a 500 (or was it a Seat derivative?) and the new car is nothing like the original beyond a very rough rounded shape that has been very much oversized. But it's still a charming and fun car that makes people smile -- especially with the rag top!

There will be a few styling cues here and there with the new Spider to differentiate it from the Mazda -- maybe an elongated rear deck lid, a changed front fascia and rounder headlamps, squared tail lights, maybe even an homage to the cam box bumps in the hood. In my mind it would need that elegant transition from curved front front quarter panels to the squared rear panels to get it right. Regardless, it will have good, precise engineering and will be very fun to drive for a new generation or people our age that never owned one in the '60s, '70s, or '80s. By any objective standard it will be much better than the original, especially the Abarth edition: imagine 200 hp in a small rear drive car with the top down and the benefit of modern tolerances and safety standards!

But driving a car often isn't about objectivity, reasoned decisions, and quantifiable measurements. A Spider, especially, is a lot about how it makes you feel. Let's face it, as long as the platform is designed and made in Japan purists will never be happy, no matter what body they put on it. There's nothing new that will capture that elusive "something" about driving our old Fiats. Maybe it's having to listen attentively for any new rattle or engine noise and always keeping an eye on the gauges, updating that mental checklist of what needs to be worked on next; maybe it's the direct sense of steering that has no power assist or careening around on 13 or 14 inch tires that let you feel every undulation or crack in the road; maybe it's that unique carpet smell, or the odour of engine oil leak cooking on a hot manifold, or that waft of blue smoke from the exhaust that blows back into the passenger compartment when stopped at a light; maybe it's just the thrill of driving a car with no airbags or ABS (and mighty dubious seatbelts!) knowing that you're taking a risk and having to have your head on a swivel at all times to stay safe; but mostly it's just the feeling of driving something that is fun, somewhat rare, and that takes untold hours of hard work just to keep roadworthy which earns us those envious and admiring glances. No new car will ever will capture that!

Let's like our cars, let both old and new Miata owners fawn over their cars as we do ours, and soon let the new Fiat Spider owners take pride in their own convertibles. At the end of the day, in a land of family economy cars, SUVs and minivans, we're all a lot more alike than different!

Cheers,
phaetn

[spiderdan]

Well said phaetn.
Although I will disagree with your statement

I suspect the reason people *really* don't like like Miatas here is not because they're effete or soulless, but because they're popular.

Although I recognize that the Miata has done great things for sports cars and it is a great car, to quote Chad McQueen " It's a chick car. It's a girl car, you know, I see a guy driving that down the highway and I just feel bad for him."

http://youtu.be/XHsCCTs70fY

It is understood that the new 124 Spider (Fiatza/Maziat) will be nothing like our great cars, but some minor similarities would be nice. As long as it's not another "chic car".

[phaetn]

Hmm... Maybe. It's all relative: back in the '60s a dude driving a big block Corvette Stingray would think a Fiat Spider was a chick car (see the winter sales picture, above), or even a Lotus Elan with its tiny engine and frame (the genesis for the Miata). Englishmen saw the Elan as thoroughly masculine, though. Americans just didn't get little cars, but they still kicked ass.

Rod Millen (was it called Millensport?) tuned the hell out of Miatas in the late '80 or early '90ss, if memory serves, and they were amazing track cars when people really wrung the necks out of them.

I think Chad McQueen calling a Miata a "chick car" speaks more about his insecurities about masculinity, particularly in light of his father who was (and still is) portrayed as masculine as you can get. A Miata is no Bullit car, that's for sure.

People use 500+ hp Porsche 911 Turbos as grocery getters. It's more about how it's used or marketed than any gender stereotype. Kudos for the woman with the Miata for actually taking a lesson at a track! It would be great if more people -- men and women -- would do this!

[riverdadd]

I think the reason I'm so nostalgic about the spider( and X19) is because those were the cars of my youth,I was never won over to the Japanese influx of Z cars et al.......nor the Miata in later years ..... I sure would like to see some effort on Fiat's part for development of a new Italian spider ala the new 500...... a Japanese based spider will not hit the mark.....IMHO.

[81SPIDERMATT]

they should change the name to FIATA.

ok that is funny .... FIATA ..... good one

[bradartigue]

Keep in mind that FIAT (and Alfa for that matter) didn't design anything people referred to as "Spider" - pininfarina designed them. Bertone and Zagato designed others. The nostalgia people have is for design studio cars.

That said, the period of time in which these cars were designed - the 60's and 70's - were an absolute peak for boutiques. Maybe they'll get there again, but if you look at the cars designed today (such as the hideous Ferrari I saw lumbering down Roswell Rd this afternoon) I have my doubts.

[ga.spyder]

Who the hell is Chad Mcqueen? Oh yeah,some second rate talent getting by on his family name.The Miata is the most successful and most raced car in the world.Anybody who wants to call them a 'chick car',should hop into a Spec Miata and run one of those races! The most competitive class in all of road racing.
The business climate has changed since 1968(duh).Fiat chose not to go to the expense of having Pininfarina design a clean sheet ''New Spider''. They decided instead to go into a joint venture with Mazda.We will get a Miata(the most successful 2 seat roadster in history) chassis with some Italian styling cues and hopefully an Italian powerplant.Dont like...don't buy.I have owned a Miata and a Fiat Spider at the same time.Each have their strong points.We can only hope Fiat doesn't screw it up!

[kmead]

So keep in mind that is a magazine paying an artist to take the new Miata and using Photoshop, draw a new "Fiat Spider" over it.

This is not what the new car will look like.

What is shown in that image is very unlikely to be much like the new car. It is an artists rendition and nothing more. The artist likely has never actually seen a 124, so they took some of the obvious cues they could see in photos and what they think they might be like on a car the scale of a new Miata.

It may be better it may be worse.

Keep in mind the cues on the real, new car could well relate to the newer 500 more than it will to our beloved 124s.