Why Fiat’s Spider has Chris in a spin
... but Fiat’s second reinvention of an open-top classic lacks the allure of the original (and the price will leave you in a spin)
MORE POWER, ATTITUDE – AND A LOT MORE NOISE
Who said genuine encores at live music events are dead? Actually, I think it may have been me. Well, they most definitely are not. At CarFest North last weekend, Rick Astley performed for an extra half-hour, unplanned, and the audience absolutely loved every second. What a top bloke. Not only that but he never charges us a penny and pays his own expenses, all for Children In Need.
So what with Rick, The Manics, Kaiser Chiefs, Black Grape, Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, to name but a few, the music was bigger and better than ever before.
As was the metal on display. There were all the old favourites, like Grant Williams’ scorching hot Mk II Jag (the most exciting car I have ever been in), the mighty McLaren F1 and of course Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, plus some spankingly good new cars to drool over. Consider this fun cast if you will: Pagani Huayra, Ferrari F12 Tdf, Honda NSX, Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, Aston Martin DB11, Audi R8 V10. Plus, my new favourite, the absolutely delicious Lexus LC 500. A better-looking car I doubt you’ll see this year.
So that was that. Now, what about this week’s offering? The Italian reinvention of its first reinvention of a tried-and-tested Japanese classic, the ground-breaking Mazda MX-5.
Fiat added its own styling and engine to the Mazda architecture, saving a fortune in development costs, to create the 124 Spider. Which, as you may remember, I found totally underwhelming. A disappointing, shameless exploitation of the name of one of the most beautiful creations of all time, simply to justify what was little more than an ill-fitting fancy-dress outfit.
Well here we go again but this time around there are two major differences. First, the Fiat badge has been replaced by the iconic black, yellow and red spider shield of Abarth, Fiat’s performance arm, and second, it’s much better. I think...
Everything’s a bit more exciting, a bit stiffer. Like it means business this time around. There’s more power too. More attitude. And a lot more noise (a little too much when trying to park up unnoticed at the supermarket).
But there are problems. The first time I laid eyes on an Abarth Spider, a lady was pulling out of a petrol station in what looked a bit like a kit car at first, mainly down to the ‘anti-glare’ matt-black bonnet and boot looking like scrapyard replacement panels.
Problem number two is that when engine revs are low, the snap, crackle and pops of the (quadruple!) exhausts wither into what sounds like muted flatulence.
Step on it, however, and the first wafts of joy begin to seep into the cockpit. The pleasure principal really kicks in at 1,500rpm and above, all the way up through the box, thanks to an unexpected abundance of available torque. Throwing the car around leafy corners, on half-decent country roads (in sport mode) is also a much better wheeze this time round. It is, however, a bit jumpy and bumpy at times due to all that added rigidity, which I should imagine would become a little tiresome as the novelty wears off.
Talking of hard to live with, when it comes to longer journeys, say a 650km round trip to CarFest and back (not me – a mate), things are a bit of a horror show. The allround noise, with the hood down and the radio turned up, escalates to such a degree it verges on unbearable.
There has been some criticism of a lack of room for tall folks but, at 6ft 2in, I had no issues at all. In fact, my favourite aspect of this car is the driving position. It’s just so comfortable. I love the offset handbrake, the short-throw gear stick, hunkering down, legs outstretched towards the pedals but not so low to the ground that one’s butt cheeks feel like they may come into contact with tarmac. In fact, I’ve rarely felt more at home behind the wheel of any vehicle. Plus there’s the odd swathe of Alcantara here and there – always a good look. So what of this second take (the Abarth) on the first take (the 124 Spider) of the original car (the Mazda MX-5, which will forever be hugely more popular than
either of its doppelgängers)? Well it’s okay but is that because the standard Spider is so insipid and unexciting? Whatever the answer to that question, there is something far more serious to take into consideration: the Fiat 124 Spider is more than €10,000 cheaper. That’s a deal-breaker for me.
But hey, if you are hellbent on acquiring a fairly decent but slightly weird-looking, open-top two-seater, primarily because it sounds a bit sexy and sports that legendary Abarth badge, then go for it. Buying a car only has to make sense to the person spending the money. It won’t matter one jot that their new wheels have more in common with cars from Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan than those from Turin.
Oh, hang on a minute. What if that’s not it? What if that’s not it at all?
What if Fiat has priced the Abarth so high that it makes the Fiat Spider look like amazing value for money. Put like that, all of a sudden it
does, eh?