There’s a new open-top sports car on the block….sort of…

On Wednesday, 18 November at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Fiat debuted its new 124 Spider, marking the return of the model to the US market after a 33 year absence (following Fiat’s abandonment of the North American market, Pininfarina sold the car as the Spider Azzura, through 1985).

A joint project with Mazda, the car’s built in Hiroshima and is basically an MX-5 with Fiat-designed body and engine.  The mill is turbocharged 160 bhp 1.4L, the same engine found in the Fiat 500 Abarth (by comparison, the original 1967-1973 series of the 124 Spider had a 1.4L carbureted engine which developed 89 bhp). It has some styling cues from the original car, particularly up front, but is still readily recognizable as a variation of the new MX-5 with exactly the same interior.  In fact, Road & Track referred to it as a “…fancified turbocharged Mazda Miata.”

The car should reach the local dealerships next summer.  Fiat hasn’t announced the pricing yet but R&T expects it’ll come in higher than the MX-5, which runs from $24,955 up to $31,270 for the top-of-the-line model with slushbox.  We’ll see how this works out for Fiat-Chrysler but imagine that after a few years of offering only 500 and 500 variants, the Fiat dealers in the region are pretty excited.

BTW, there are three or four original 124 Spiders running around greater St Louis, you may see them on occasion.  No local club, though; there is a fairly loose-knit regional group for Fiat/Lancia owners called the Roamin’ Chariots covering Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma..

Full disclosure: The editor autocrossed 124 Spiders during the early 1970s and bought one when he transferred to Southern California with the Navy in the spring of 1981.  It holds permanent status as the worst car he’s ever owned…