Unfortunately it’s “retro” looks had more in common with Dodge Detroit 1956 than Fiat Turin 1966.
I think you find 125 production was in Poland. Some Lada revisions to the 124 looked superficially similar to the 125. I saw that review of the original 124 the other night, and it looked a bit rubbish, Hardly any Fiats survived, for good reason. The Lada version was made in period, so it wasn’t always out of date.
Seat, of Ibiza fame, made them almost as long.
None of which has much to do with Mazda.
Well it was styled by an Austrian schooled by Pininfarina, so you cannot blame America. And the original 124 was styled by an American, from Detroit. So the original 124 was a Detroit design, and the latter pastiche was an Italian copy.
I’m referring about the actual “look” of vehicles produced - 1956 Dodge p/u ex Detroit vs 1966 Fiat 124 Spider ex Turin - not the CV’s of the designers. Sorry to confuse you.
Far from being ‘a bit rubbish’ the 124 was widely lauded and was European Car of the Year in 1967. Both coupe and spider versions also had critical acclaim . Fiat stopped making 124s in 1974 but the Eastern Bloc versions carried on until the early/mid 80s. So far as 125 is concerned, very few cars matched its all disc brakes and twin cam engine when it was launched in 1967 , ended production in 1972 . The Polski Fiat was made until the 90s .
FWIW I did a lot of passenger miles in a 125 in the late 60s and compared to the old tut I usually rode in (sundry Triumphs and Vauxhalls) it was a revelation. Then only Brit car anything like it was the Lotus Cortina .
Lets not pretend the ECOTY jury always pick great winners. The Renault 9 won it. Apparently the Fiat was judged to be better than the BMW 1600 and the Jensen FF (a car that predicted the future in drivetrains). Can anyone even remember the 1973 Audi 80? Or the snappily named Simca 1307-1308, aka Talbot Alpine, a car famous for eating camshafts.
Very few cars matched the Fiats; corrosion rates. Fix it again Tony.
Frankly, very few people remembered the 124 Spyder until Fiat reminded them in 2015. This was the car that Fiat quit calling a Fiat at one point.
Yeah, it doesn’t look much like a 1940s Leyland lorry either.
Why pick on Dodge and Detroit? My reference to Dodge was in relation to the 2007 Dodge Demon concept, not a pickup.
No chrome on the 2015 Fiat.
1956 Dodge concept, incredible looking, considering when it was made.
Cos’ whenever I’ve posted a comment about the Fiatsco’s looks I’ve always compared them, especially the front, to a Dodge p/u, so nothing new there, and you’ve always responded in your usual k.i.a. way, so nothing new there either. My comments are personal opinions regarding visual influences as seen “through the eye of the beholder”, your responses quote facts about the nationality and CV of the designer(s). Totally irrelevant! My guess is that if I were to express an opinion about the influences and elements within paintings by, say Renoir or Hockney, you would counter with a response about who made the brushes, paints and canvas’s they used. Again, totally irrelevant.
Hmm, I remember doing a temporary get-you-home bodge-fix on the brake master cylinder mounting of a brand new 124/125 Fiat company car proudly being shown off by a friend visiting us in the very early 1970s.
The brake pedal hit the floor, literally, when he parked outside my house. The spot welds failed leaving holes in the paper-thin bulkhead and the master cylinder etc carried on into the engine compartment. While the wives cooed over each other’s small children and made tea, we hurriedly drilled through the weld spots on the bracket that held it so as to replace the welds with nuts and bolts (odds from my scraps tin) and with penny washers to spread the load on bulkhead and bracket.
He never bothered to get it fixed properly, and did about 30K a year for a couple of years before moving on to a Cortina.
Fiat, you should have been so much bolder!
Very nice, I’ll go along with that.
It always amazes me what many car designers come up with when they sit down with a blank sheet of paper and design a new car. The 124 could have been stunning, but no, they took load of design ques from a roadster hardly anyone actually remembers and in my opinion largely failed. I didn’t really recall the 124 from back in the day either (until Fiat reminded us about it) and I say that as the former owner of the 124 Special T saloon! And as above one of my cables broke loose through the bulkhead as well…
Quite impressive! Now that would cause a stir if it were the real thing!
Strangely, there have been talk of a new Kia (part of the Hyundai empire) Roadster.
MX5 nugget; when Kia started building their version of the Lotus Elan, they ditched the Isuzu engine, and fitted a 1.8 DOHC, which was a version of the Mazda BP motor, albeit made by Kia.
Interesting new (to me) anecdote about the MX5 development in that article:
That cuts through all the marketing guff.
The Kia rumour has been kiboshed though.
Another nail for the proverbial; report now circulating that the planned homologated GT4 version of the 124 has been canned:
I have read today, only the headline to be honest, it was on social media somewhere (and then lost the thing so never got any detail) that sales of both the Abaerth and Fiat 124 in the UK have ceased.
Here you go, found it;
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/abarth-124-and-fiat-124-are-no-longer-sale-britain
I guess they missed the boat by releasing it so late, all the crinklies already bought the MX5. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone under 60 in an ND.
Oh, dear, oh dear!
All those with who bought an ND:
All those without:
Hang on a minute, Rubberduck…
By your measure - That makes me a crinklie, too!
Significant evasive answer to the question on the exchange rate. As I expected, FCA aren’t making a cent on the 124; in the largest single market for the 124, they can’t make any money on it.
Future classic, or orphan car?
Worth buying one and locking it away for 30-40 years. Wish i had done that with my Escort, Cortina, Capri and Granada to name but a few. Most cars I’ve had are fetching silly money now. Still kick myself for not buying a fantastic Supra Turbo a few years back for £3k.