The 2017 Fiat 124 Spider. Images courtesy FCA.
The last time Fiat offered a drop-top two-seater in the United States market, personal computers were a novelty instead of a necessity, cellular telephones were briefcase-sized and the internet was reserved for the sharing of scientific data instead of cat pictures. Three decades later, Fiat has resurrected the respected 124 Spider name, this time applied to a joint venture between the Italian automaker and Japan’s Mazda Motor Corporation, unveiled for the first time at the 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show.
An early Fiat 124, as designed by Tom Tjaarda.
The final Fiat Spiders imported into the U.S. market didn’t even carry the Fiat name, but instead were rebranded as Pininfarina Azzurras or Pininfarina Spiders, imported (along with the Fiat X1/9, wearing a Berone badge) by Malcolm Bricklin’s International Automobile Importers, Inc. (IAI). Faced with declining sales (as low as 14,113 total units in 1982), Fiat withdrew from the U.S. market in 1983, leaving the door open for IAI to sell its Italian-sourced wares through 1985.
The last Pininfarina Spiders sold in the U.S. measured just under 163 inches in length, 64.5-inches in width and 50 inches in height. The car’s wheelbase measured 89.8 inches, and 14×6-inch aluminum alloy wheels were shod with 185/60-14 tires. Vented brake rotors were used in front and rear, measuring 8.9 inches in all four corners, and brakes were vacuum assisted; anti-lock brakes were not an available option at the time. Up front, the independent suspension featured unequal-length A-arms, coil springs, shock absorbers and an anti-roll bar; in the rear, the suspension used a live axle on trailing arms, with coil springs, shock absorbers and a Panhard rod.
Power for the 1985 Pininfarina Spider came from a 2.0-liter, double overhead camshaft four-cylinder engine fed by Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection, producing 102 horsepower and 110 pound-feet of torque. Buyers could choose between a five-speed manual transmission and a three-speed automatic, and equipped with the manual the Spider ran from 0-60 MPH in 11.2 seconds, on the way to a theoretical top speed (dictated by redline in fifth gear) of 106 MPH. For 1981 and 1982, Fiat produced a limited number of Spider Turbo models, which produced 120 horsepower and 130 pound-feet of torque, and were capable of running from 0-60 MPH in 9.2 seconds.
By 1985, the Fiat 124 Spider (which had evolved into the 2000 Spider in 1979, before earning the Pininfarina badge in 1983) had been in the market for nearly two decades. Regular mechanical upgrades helped to keep the car fresh, and its styling remained consistent throughout its time on sale. That’s not the same as unchanged, but even those with a vague foreign car familiarity could identify the car’s shape as a Fiat, regardless if it was a 1966 model or a 1985 model.
2017 Fiat 124 Spider.
In today’s automotive climate, designing and launching a new compact, front-engine, rear-drive convertible destined to sell at a (relatively) affordable price point is essentially a mission impossible. Rather than going it alone, Fiat opted to partner with Mazda for the latest 124 Spider, which will be based upon Mazda’s fourth-generation MX-5 Miata. Though the two cars share a platform and much of an interior, the Fiat gets entirely new sheetmetal and borrows its turbocharged four-cylinder engine from the Fiat 500 Abarth.
Dimensionally, the new Fiat 124 Spider measures 159.6 inches long, 68.5 inches wide and 48.5 inches high, and it rides on the same 90.9-inch wheelbase as the latest Mazda Miata. Aluminum alloy wheels are still standard, but the size varies by trim level, with Classica models receiving 16-inch wheels wearing 195/50-16 tires and Lusso models receiving 17-inch wheels with 205/45-17 tires. Brake rotors have grown to 11-inches in both front and rear, and the vacuum-assisted brakes provide both anti-lock and stability control functionality. The 124 Spider’s front suspension consists of double wishbones with coil springs, struts and an anti-roll bar, while the independent rear suspension is multi-link, with coil springs, struts and an anti-roll bar.
Power comes from a turbocharged, single overhead camshaft 1.4-liter engine, fed by sequential multi-port electronic fuel injection and rated at 160 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque (which makes the Fiat more powerful than its normally aspirated Japanese cousin). Transmission choices include a six-speed manual and a six-speed, paddle shifted automatic, and since the Fiat has just debuted, performance statistics are not yet available.
We reached out to Tom Tjaarda, designer of the original Fiat 124 Spider, for his perspective on the new car. Tom calls the new Fiat 124, “…in line with in-house design mentality that dominates the automotive scene today. That is the dominance of various design motifs applied to a given automobile volume.”
Design elements present in the original car have been carried forth, and Tom points out the distinctive side crease and upswept rear fenders that form a rear “twin tail” motif, but these have been minimized in the new version, turned, in Tom’s words, into a “style motif.” Likewise, the original front air intake opening was applied, but not integrated into the front end’s design.
Tom blames this on the “cross-pollination” of stylists at large automakers, along with the immediacy of information on the internet. Complicating matters, meeting safety and manufacturing requirements limits outside-the-box design thinking, something that has eliminated many of the smaller design houses. Still, he wondered why Pininfarina wasn’t at least asked for a design proposal for the new Fiat 124.
Tom went on to praise the new platform from Mazda, along with the car’s interior (which he described as “much better” than the original 124). Ultimately, he believes the new Fiat will be “a fun car to drive, but design-wise, it suffers from today’s corporate design mentality.”
Ultimately, the real question is this: Will the 124 Spider’s lines attract compact convertible buyers into Fiat showrooms? Will the 1.4-liter turbocharged four give the car a distinctly different feel from the normally aspirated Mazda? Will the pricing be on par with the Mazda MX-5, or will Fiat price the car in a different tier, with an emphasis on luxury over handling? The answers will come next year, when the new 124 Spider hits Fiat dealerships as a 2017 model.
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