Meet Fiat's 124 Spider, Italy's MX-5-based answer to the MX-5

Where the looks may be subjective, we can’t argue with the 124’s layout. It’s the same traditional roadster format we know and love: two seats, engine at the front, driven wheels at the rear. Good Things.

And, yes, it’s turbo. Where the MX-5 bucks the current trend towards forced induction by offering two flavours of high-reving natural aspiration – a 129bhp 1.5-litre and 158bhp 2.0-litre – Fiat has embraced the turbo era by shoving the 1.4-litre MultiAir from the Alfa Giulietta under the 124’s humpy hood.

Kicking out 140bhp, power sits in between the two Mazda options. But torque, at 178lb ft, trumps both.

It’s the first time this engine has been used in a rear-drive car, forcing Fiat to mount it longitudinally, mated to the short-throw six-speed gearbox from the MX-5.

Performance figures haven’t been quoted yet. But as the Spider weighs the same as the lower-powered MX-5 but with more torque, we’d guess it’ll run from a standstill to 62mph in under eight seconds.

Suspension is the same as the MX-5: multi-link at the back and aluminium double wishbones at the front. It’s been subject to an Italian tweak, but we don’t know far Fiat’s chassis makeover goes.

What we love about the current MX-5 is its inclination to pitch and roll in corners. Here’s hoping that squish hasn’t been dialled out of the 124. As anyone who’s driven an Alfa 4C will testify, the FCA group occasionally goes full spine-shattering on its suspension. But given there’s enough space to nestle your head into the 124’s arches, maybe that won’t be a problem here.

The 124’s interior looks pretty much a carbon copy of the Mazda with a large rev counter dominating the dash, while the roof remains an analogue rag-top. To make sure you don’t arrive at your destination looking like Boris Johnson after a spin cycle, the cockpit and windscreen have been shaped to smooth airflow at speed when driving roof-down.

We’ll see the production 124 on British forecourts late next year. Prices are yet to be confirmed, but expect the one-trim option to fall close to MX-5 pricing.

More good news is to come as a juicy pumped-up Abarth version is currently working its way down the pipeline.

But now we’ve got two dinky-yet-affordable rear drive cars to choose from, are you Team Mazda or Team Fiat? Let us know below.

What happened to Alfa Romeo's version of the Mazda MX-5? TG's Paul Horrell explains

The Alfa version of the MX-5 is dead.

Originally when FCA signed a deal with Mazda in May 2012, it was proposed to be an Alfa. But a year later Alfa was assigned a load of extra investment which was put into the platform that is under the new Giulia and will be under several other cars too.

In March 2014 CEO Sergio Marchionne implied Alfa should build all its cars in Italy: "Some things belong to a place. Alfa belongs to Italy." I remember asking him that day what that meant for the the Mazda car, and he answered, "I remain committed to that architecture, with our powertrain. I'm not sure it will be with Alfa. But it will be with one of our brands."

What is amazing is they have revealed this new Fiat version just 20 months afterward. And it's clear this sheetmetal is designed for Fiat, not just a re-badged Alfa. The shape of the headlights and grille, the bonnet bulges, the crease above the door handles that flicks up into the tail, the way the rear wings fan downwards towards the bootlid – these are all highly reminiscent of the original 124 Spider. I know because I owned one for several years.

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