I went to test drive the 124 but no one was available to take me, they took my details but never contacted me again!
Similar story at Toyota for the GT86, they actually didn’t even have a car to test drive!!!
Whereas Mazda have always been very accommodating without being pushy and dealing with them is easy.
Maybe because I turned up in my MX-5 the other marques it was pointless trying to compete
Mk1s are not being remade. Mazda is talking about launching a restoration service; whether that will actually gain traction is debatable. They tried that in 2004, and a grand total of 30 Mk1s were overhauled. Nissan tried the same with the 240Z, and that flopped, with each car costing 50% more to restore than what they could sell them for.
What is more significant is that Mazda has performed an analysis of parts availability for the Mk1. 60% of parts are no longer available. They did a further analysis to determine which of that 60% would you likely need in restoring a car. And on the basis of that, have done a limited reissue of some discontinued parts. One of which is a new hood. You might wonder, don’t the aftermarket offer decent hoods? Well, the language Mazda has employed has suggested, at least for Japan, they are looking to squeeze the aftermarket. Historically, Mazda has displayed a rather negative attitude to the aftermarket pattern spares market (preventing “Miata” magazine from using the Miata logo, preventing advertisers from using the “Miata” logo, at one stage, Mazda Cars wanted to invest in the Owners Club, but prevent advertising by companies seeking to compete with Mazda (eg. Moss etc) in club literature).
The move might be less to do with Mazda’s enthusiastic support of owners, and more a business decision, related to revenue generation.
About a year ago, there was a ‘Press Launch’ event for the Fiat 124 at a large swish hotel near me in Chester.
They were just setting up for the event, with about seven 124’s of various types available for the members of the ‘fourth estate’ to play with. As I was passing in my 2.0 NC sport I decided to be nosey…
I looked long and hard at the 124s, and was quite impressed with the interiors, engine bays, etc, but disliked the ‘mini-mustang’ front end treatment and decided I preferred the MX5. (any marque…)
A couple of days later, they were packing up to leave, and I spoke to one of the organisers…
He privately agreed with me that he couldn’t justoify spending almost £15k over and above the value of my own car (£6k tops…for a low-miles smart rust-free car)) to get what was basically the same car, but probably less fun!
Just saying…
Aldi
That probably says it all.
Like I wrote in my opening post, I’ve only seen one 124 Spider on the road - perhaps most other people in the market for a roadster think the same !
Maybe not many in the UK but I was in Austria earlier this year and saw loads of them. Barely saw a single MX5 though…
Interesting point there Pete.
Perhaps after over 27 years, the MX-5 as a marque is so entrenched as the ‘go-to’ roadster in the UK market, that any new arrival on the scene is going to struggle to break in. The MX-5 is quite rightly LOVED by their owners, and coveted by many more, and any new roadster hoping to make a mark in Britain, is going to have to be very very special - which judging by reports and reviews in the motoring press, the Fiat 124 Spider is not !
The reason for that is simple! Turin is just over the hill and down the road a piece!
This is probably going to be regarded as a sacrilegious comment but…
I’ve just[ earlier this am]driven a Mk 4 and a 124 Abarth back to back. The Mk4 I found to be boring, remembering my sadly long gone S/C Mk1. I felt disconnected and coddled. The Abarth was a much better package. Handles better, goes quicker, sounds better and stops more effectively. I was being a bit naughty as I have no intention of buying either, my old bones are to creaky and my 4wd goes places that no sports car can get
…just sayin
Does ^^^^^ count as sledging??!
Anyway - each to their own of course. I think I’d find the Abarth exhaust sound too much for the long term.
Was on holiday in Lanzarote last March,
Outside a car hire office in Playa Blanca was this sports car gleaming in white - roof down looking good against the harbour backdrop
just waiting to tempt someone into a few days open top motoring around the island.
LOOK I said to the wife doesn’t the new Mazda MX-5 look good.
Took several pictures from different angles - walked around the front - saw the Fiat badge - deleted all the pictures!!!
Paul
Unrelated to the thread topic but isn’t Playa Blanca lovely! It was mine and the OH’s first holiday away together and we absolutely loved it. Some great places to eat and see coupled with the adults only hotel and stunning weather made it very enjoyable for us both! :D
Back on track, I’ve seen only one 124 out and about, a white number a couple of times on my commute to work. I have to admit, I think I prefer the styling of the 124 over the ND, but prefer the NC1 over both. I like the ‘wide eyes’ look and gaping mouth, the DRLs look a bit better (subjective), and the bonnet looks longer for whatever reason, which seems to appeal to me. I do also like the twin exhausts in the style of the NC…
Apart from a bit of panel beating and suspension softening by Fiat they are designed and built by Mazda in Japan.
I’m not a fan of tuning exhausts to make more noise. I like the cheeky rasp of the 1.5 ND but it wouldn’t bother me if it sounded like a Mazda 2. At least it isn’t pretending to be a V8.
The Abarth is certainly resonant, i.e. boomy, and would be enough to annoy me quite quickly. Convertibles are noisy enough without adding to it; and it’s never going to sound like an AC Cobra, especially with a turbine chopping up the sound of the exhaust before it gets to the exit pipe.
Several of these most recent posts, seem to reiterate what I wrote in my post no.28 - that the Fiat 124 Spider has the body shape that many people would liked to have seen on the ND.
From a side-view, or a 3/4 rear view, the 124 has the graceful, curvy look of an NC, and I’m sure that Paul R is not the only person to mistake it for an MX-5. As I commented before though, the front end, with its two big grills seems to let it down - to my eyes anyway. However, being longer than the production ND, I think the 124 does look sleeker.
Perhaps if the 124 had been released as the new MX-5, there would have been those who would have commented that it looked too much like the NC, and was not different enough. The production ND is certainly different, and many have been sold because it is different.
The fact that the Fiat 124 Spider has been made, and looks so much like a ‘traditional’ MX-5, gives buyers the choice, and because the 124 has been manufactured in Japan, with many parts in common with the MX-5, they perhaps wouldn’t feel too disloyal for purchasing one.
You pays your money, and takes your choice !
Yes Benz3ne we liked Playa Blanca very much. We also stopped in a adults only hotel, The Timafaya Palace, lovely gardens
but only one criticism first hotel we have stopped in that didn’t offer porridge for breakfast.
Anyway nice walks, Shops, bars, we liked the one next to the harbour in Rubicon Marina.Think it was called Rubicon bar or cafe.
Sat there for many an happy hour drinking beer. And do you know after an hour or two you can see twice as many boats!!
Also the boardwalk there has a sort of Florida Keys feel about it.
Also walked the other way to the light house, found another nice bar (believe it or not) that way which was behind glass screens.
Walked up the volcano path to the top a couple of times, spectacular views from up there and all that climbing is thirsty work.
We are looking forward to going back sometime but we might try Costa Teguise.
Seriously thou’ the Fiat does look great and using the gearbox from the NC has none of reliability issues relating to the drivetrain (as far as I’m aware).
Paul
Very nice! I stayed down by the harbour where they do the weekly market on the coastline - it was a self-catering place but food was cheap enough for us to not care too much! We could also cook to our tastes should we fancy a night in.
We went to a couple of very nice ones - there was a lovely Tapas-type restaurant right on the coast with high glass walls. Very warm in there in direct sunlight but the owner was very accommodating with an excellent grasp of English. Made us feel very welcome and explained how he came about to be there and helped us with his own recommendations. In fact, he remembered us on the last night as we went back to his place, remembered near enough what we ordered and gave some incredible attention to the customers.
We’re definitely contemplating a revisit - we were sub 25 last time so couldn’t rent a car! This time we’d be able to so can take trips a little further afield. I’m keen to walk up the volcano and do a bit more sightseeing. The only issue is we’re struggling to find dates available in the apartments we stayed in last time, called ‘Pueblo Marinero’. It was quiet enough last time that we were upgraded to a 2-bedroom apartment free of charge and had extra towels etc. on request! 
Lovely people working there as well, not stressed out by kids so made everyone very chilled!