LA 2015: The Fiat 124 Spider feels very different to its MX-5 twin

Fiat is making no secret of the fact that its new 124 Spider is very closely related to the Mazda MX-5 – one look inside will leave you in no doubt.

But it’s remarkable just how different the two cars look and feel, from an exterior perspective at least. The Mazda focusses almost fanatically on telling you about its very low weight and compact dimensions through its design. There’s loads of plan shape and tuck to hide its corners which troubles some people because it doesn’t stick rigidly to the ‘rules’ of traditional European car design.

Those people may well prefer the Fiat as it’s far more conventional in its design, partly because it’s clearly linked to a classical Italian sports car’s heritage. There’s a nice narrative to the link between present and past too – exterior chief designer Felix Kilbertus, and the 124’s design manager, previously worked for Pininfarina, the company responsible for the original Spyder. “At Pininfarina I used to see a 124 Spider in the lobby each morning so I already had a good understanding of that car!” he told us.

But despite the understanding, or perhaps because of it, the new car isn’t as overtly retro as, say the 500. Yes there are references to the old car – particularly in its lamp graphics and the hood surface – but if you’d never seen one before it still stands up as a character in its own right.

Interestingly there wasn’t any overt attempt to distance the car from the MX-5 it shares so much with, although not necessarily out of choice – as Kilbertus explains: “We only got to see the MX-5 when it was publicly launched so we were really relieved that they are so different.” So different in fact that the more traditional design of the Fiat makes it appear from a bigger segment altogether even though there’s not a huge difference in overall dimensions. This is due to its longer overhangs and very strong horizontal emphasis.

Some designers we spoke to pointed out a slight lack of cohesion to the 124 Spider’s overall design, perhaps as a consequence of the platform sharing, but certainly in the US – where around 80 percent of the original cars were sold – it’s an important halo car that will shift the brand away from being seen to only produce ‘cute’ and perhaps ‘funny’ cars such as the 500.