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<\/p>\n<\/div>At a Google media test drive of its marshmallow-shaped, autonomous car last year, an Aussie colleague put it straight to CEO Sergey Brin: \u201cAre you going to take away the fun of driving cars?\u201d<\/p>\n
The bearded, elfin tech billionaire didn\u2019t miss a beat. On the contrary, he mused, after the drudgery of a week commuting in a self-driving pod on crowded freeways, drivers will want a sporty getaway car in the garage for weekend romps in the countryside.<\/p>\n
Brin might have something like the 2017 Fiat 124 Spider in mind.<\/p>\n
Sharing the platform with the grin-inducing Mazda MX-5 Miata, the much-anticipated comeback of the \u201960s Italian icon is the antithesis of the Google bot. This sensuous, topless, affordable video-game-on-wheels \u2014 call it a \u201cFiata\u201d \u2014 demands to be driven. It\u2019s more fun than a wet Disneyland log flume ride with Kate Upton.<\/p>\n
In my own rendition of Brin\u2019s transportation future I endured a traffic-choked, hour-long shuttle ride last week from San Diego airport to my hotel. Then I awoke next morning to drive the Spider across Southern California hills to an autocross course in the parking lot of the San Diego Chargers\u2019 Qualcomm Stadium home. I imagine this is what every day in heaven is like.<\/p>\n
Actually, it\u2019s what my weekends were like as a West Virginia youth when I accompanied my father on drives across the mountains in his tiny Porsche to autocrosses in Columbus or Belle Fountain, Ohio. So endures our love affair with the automobile. The winds of time may blow, but the flame never goes out. That was the 1960s Golden Era of the Automobile when muscle cars roamed Woodward and European roller skates ruled parking lot autocrosses. Cars like Fiat 124s, Alfa Romeo Spiders, Lotus Elans, Triumph TR6s, MG MGBs.<\/p>\n
It was an epoch that was all but wiped out by the oil crisis and Big Government mpg meteors that imposed huge costs on carmakers. As reduced fuel prices and increased technology have converged, \u201cThe Second Golden Era\u201d \u2014 as Fiat-Chrysler motorhead exec Tim Kuniskis likes to call it \u2014 has bloomed and muscle and mirth once again fills today\u2019s showrooms.<\/p>\n
The Miata was the first throwback to the \u201960s glory years and has spawned a wealth of imitators from the Honda S2000 to the Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 (formerly the Scion FR-S). Affordable front-engine roller skates that are as much fun to drive to the autocross as they are between the pylons.<\/p>\n
The Fiata fans the flame further.<\/p>\n
It is a rich irony that the Miata now sustains one of the cars it was created to emulate. The days of small, niche sports car manufacturers are past. Mazda and Fiat need each other to build enough volume to make their fun-mobiles financially viable \u2014 just as Toyota and Subaru team to make the 86 and BRZ twins. Both Miatas and 124s roll off the same assembly line in Hiroshima, Japan.<\/p>\n
Should you get a Miata or 124? I dunno. Whatever flips your switch. It\u2019s like a choice between the Wrigley Doublemint twins. You can\u2019t go wrong either way.<\/p>\n
These rear-wheel-drive cuties are tossable fun, but drive them back-to-back and their subtle differences echo their different brands. Mazda caters to the edgier, ZOOM ZOOM crowd \u2014 the saucier Fiat will attract a more stylish customer.<\/p>\n
Atop Mazda\u2019s short 90.9-inch wheelbase, the 124\u2019s driver\u2019s seat is a happy place to be even for a 6\u20195\u201d giant like myself. The passenger seat is another matter \u2014 with my knees pressed against the dash, it\u2019s as cramped as Delta coach class.<\/p>\n
When rain threatens? With a sweep of my arm, I covered the cabin with the soft-top as easily as pulling over a down blanket in bed. On road the familiar Miata steering, switchgear, short-throw gearbox (the best manual this side of a Porsche), and suspension make for hours of topless driving pleasure.<\/p>\n
Fiat has mated that box to its own MultiAir, 1.4-liter, 160-horse, turbocharged engine (to accommodate the extra turbo torque, Fiat actually used the last-gen Miata tranny \u2014 but I defy you to tell the difference) also found in the more raucous Fiat 500 Abarth. Despite sporting one more tailpipe than Miata, the Fiat\u2019s quieter tone is instantly apparent. The MX-5 wants to make noise. I am boy racer, hear me roar!<\/em>The Fiat is more refined, less intrusive for long drives through the Italian \u2014 er, American \u2014 landscape.<\/p>\n The Miata\u2019s suspension setup is a tad edgier too, as is its styling. With its angular headlights and sharper lines, this Japanese Rottweiler looks to be in permanent attack mode. The 124 is curvier, sultrier. Its long hood and flanks add five inches in length \u2014 like stilettos on an Italian model. The car\u2019s thin mouth, sculpted hood, and curved hips faithfully trace the 1966 original\u2019s lines \u2014 stirring older buyers\u2019 nostalgia \u2014 while the modern headlamps and aggressive lower intake update the car for younger buyers.<\/p>\n Trim levels run from the base, $25,990 Classica to the $28,490, leather-upholstered Lusso to the spiciest meatball on the menu: The $29,190 Abarth.<\/p>\n I jumped in the latter \u2014 which gains Bilstein shocks and meatier anti-rollbars \u2014 for a few spins around the Qualcomm course and it was sizzling, mouth-watering fun. My preference is for the stiffer chassis of a Subaru BRZ, but the softer, shorter-wheelbase Fiat can be tossed around like a ragdoll.<\/p>\n Loaded up, however, my mouth-watering Abarth reached an eye-watering $37K. So I\u2019m happy to report that the base model is just peachy. With the same engine \u2014 and only shy some non-essential style bling \u2014 the Classica is as raw and sporty as its pricier brothers. Even its wheels are sexy. The bane of base models (lookin\u2019 at you, Chevy Cruze), wheels alone often force me to up-trim. Not the 124. Though an inch smaller than the Lusso, the Classica\u2019s 16-inch discs are just as cool.<\/p>\n The boot will hold two bags more comfortably than the seats hold two basketball dudes, so weekend dates Up North are doable compared to other favorite, trunk-challenged Italian sports cars (lookin\u2019 at you, Alfa 4C Spyder).<\/p>\n Maybe we\u2019ll all be imprisoned in self-driving Google bots one day \u2014 but the Fiat 124 will offer an escape. Now if Mazda would agree to build Alfa Romeo Spiders, Lotus Elans, Triumph TR6s, and MGBs on that marvelous Miata platform …<\/p>\n 2017 Fiat 124 Spider<\/strong><\/p>\n Specifications<\/strong><\/p>\n Vehicle type:<\/strong> Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-passenger sports car<\/p>\n Price:<\/strong> $25,990 base ($33,635 Lusso as tested)<\/p>\n Power plant:<\/strong> 1.4-liter, turbocharged 4-cylinder<\/p>\n Power:<\/strong> 160 horsepower, 184 pound-feet of torque<\/p>\n Transmission:<\/strong> Six-speed manual or automatic<\/p>\n Performance:<\/strong> 0-60 mph, 6.8 seconds (manufacturer)<\/p>\n Weight:<\/strong> 2,436 pounds (manual); 2,476 pounds (auto)<\/p>\n Fuel economy:<\/strong> EPA 26 mpg city\/35 mpg highway\/30 mpg combined (manual); EPA 25 mpg city\/36 mpg highway\/29 mpg combined (automatic)<\/p>\n Report card<\/strong><\/p>\n Highs:<\/strong> Nimble handling; attractive base model<\/p>\n Lows:<\/strong> Cramped passenger seat; sure those plasticky cupholders will hold up?<\/p>\n Overall:<\/strong>\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At a Google media test drive of its marshmallow-shaped, autonomous car last year, an Aussie colleague put it straight to CEO Sergey Brin: \u201cAre you going to take away the fun of driving cars?\u201d The bearded, elfin tech billionaire didn\u2019t miss a beat. On the contrary, he mused, after the drudgery of a week commuting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18997"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18998,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18997\/revisions\/18998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}