Comparison: Mazda MX-5 Miata vs. Fiat 124 Spider

Mazda MX-5 Miata at the 2015 NYIAS

One of the most popular automotive trends of the 1990s and early 2000s was badge engineering, where companies would take an existing car produced by another company and stick their logo on the front, since it was far cheaper than going through the R&D of developing a new car. The issue with this was that, aside from different grilles, the rebadged vehicles often looked identical to the existing vehicle and this resulting in "cannibalism," where the sales of one eats into the sales of the other. This ended up killing off multiple brands, from storied brands like Pontiac to failed endeavors like Eagle. For the most part, automakers seemed to have learned their lesson. However, this hasn't prevented them from sharing platforms and components under-the-hood. While car companies may share the skeleton of the cars, they now develop distinct exteriors to maintain a brand identity. A perfect example of this is the new Mazda MX-5 Miata and its Italian cousin, the Fiat 124 Spider, which share the same platform.

Fiat 124 Spider at the 2016 NYIAS

Up front, the two roadsters are vastly different. The Miata has squinty, slinky headlights that point down towards the gaping, smiling grille. With shiny black plastic and thin grey crossbars, the grille looks luxurious and sporty, and flows smoothly into the sleek front wheel arches. The lower front fascia also gets aggressive, forward leaning faux air intakes, which add to the Miata's athletic image.

The Fiat pays tribute to the 1960s 124 Spider, and therefore has a much more upright front fascia. Large oval headlights, featuring a clean, modern-looking LED cluster, point inwards at the grille. In between the headlights is a trapezoidal mesh grille that harkens back to the original 124. While the grille itself is not bad looking, it protrudes out in front of the headlights, causing it to look like a snout. The lower front fascia features a lower grille and fog lamps, but lacks the aggressiveness of the Miata's faux intakes. Overall, the Mazda's lower, sleeker hood and curvy headlights results in a more attractive front end. 

old Fiat 124 Spider outside the Javits Center

The side is where the two sports cars look most similar--the doors are the same shape and both feature a small triangular turning light just behind the front wheels. On both cars, the belt line dips down to the door handle before swooping back up into powerful rear haunches. The Mazda has a slight advantage for its blacked out side view mirrors, but aside from that the two are near identical in profile view.

Out back, the design return to being very distinct. Continuing the sensual look from the front fascia, the Mazda features taillights that resemble eyes with eyeliner applied, sweeping creases, and curvy reverse lights on the bumper. The powerful rear haunches that plunge downwards to form the trunk, completing the sexy appearance started up front on the Miata.

Mazda MX-5 RF at the 2016 NYIAS

The 124 mimics its predecessor with the rear end as well. The rear haunches do not curve downwards, instead straightening out to form a flat rear decklid.  The taillights are a simple rectangular oval, but Fiat spices the design up by making them hollowed out in the middle, similar to the headlights on the Bentley Bentayga. However, they are angled slightly downwards, which makes the whole rear fascia look slightly off. Overall, the Miata's slinky tail looks far better than the 124's straight lines.

Fiat 124 Spider at the 2016 NYIAS

   

The Mazda beats out the Fiat on both front and rear styling, taking home the crown in this matchup. That is not to say the 124 is an ugly car, but it simply doesn't match the Miata's sleek bodywork.
Grade-Mazda MX-5
Front: A
Back: A
Overall: A

Grade-Fiat 124 Spider
Front: B+
Rear: B+
Overall: B+

European Vans: Part 1

Fiat Scudo in Sorano

For the majority of my life, America's van market was limited to the boxy offerings from Ford and Chevy. But within the past few years foreign companies, such as Nissan and Fiat (through the RAM brand), have joined the fray. These companies introduced mid-size vans, like the Nissan NV200, as well as European-style full-size vans, to American customers and slowly began eating away at the sales of the American vans. Soon Ford changed its ways, selling its popular European model, the Transit, for the first time in the US, and discontinuing its long running E-Series. But after traveling to Italy this summer, I realized that the United States is still missing out on a large chunk of the global van market. In this post I will outline some of the vans I saw while in Italy, and what I like or dislike about each.


Fiat/Citroen/Peugeot

Fiat Ducato in Verona

Fiat and PSA Peugeot-Citroen share the same basic mechanical and visual elements for the majority of their van fleets. At the top of the range is the Fiat Ducato, Peugeot Boxer and Citroen Jumper triplets. On this side of the pond, it is branded as the RAM ProMaster, although our version has yet to receive the facelift that the European models got for the 2015 model year. The update lessens the third generation's bug-eyed look, and adds a sleek silver grille on the Fiat models. The boxier grille on the Peugeot variants causes the front fascia to look pinched, and the Jumper, known as the Relay in the UK, features a simple plastic grille topped with two silver bars. The Ducato is by far the best looking, and also seemed to be the most popular of the three by leaps and bounds.

Citroen Jumpy in Verona

Slotted below the Ducato is the Fiat Scudo, Citroen Jumpy, and Peugeot Expert. An extremely slanted front end and a bulky plastic bumper makes the vans appear as if they have an underbite, and each variant had its respective company's familial grille. My favorite is the Jumpy, called the Dispatcher in other markets, because the small, chrome grille lessens the effect of the underbite.

Fiat Doblo in Florence

Citoren Berlingo in Pitigliano

For the mid-size segment, Fiat and Peugeot-Citroen use separate designs. Fiat has the Doblò, which is rebranded as the Opel Combo, sold as the RAM ProMaster City in the States, and the Toyota ProAce in other parts of Europe. The Fiat received a facelift recently, and features a thin full-width grille which sit underneath the horizontally oriented headlights. The update brings the model into line with the appearance of the new Ducato, and it causes the model to have an odd, smiling look. Meanwhile, the French twins, the Peugeot Partner and Citroen Berlingo, have a snail-like shape, and feature more traditionally oriented front fascias, with the simple chrome bars of the Berlingo being my favorite.

Citroen Nemo in Sorano

Fiat Fiorino in Grosseto

Fiat and the French brands team up again for the smallest vans. The Fiat, called the Fiorino in cargo spec and the Qubo in passenger trim, and the Citroen Nemo both have no grille, which creates a streamlined appearance. The Peugeot Bipper, on the other hand, has a small grille surrounding the lion logo, which disrupts the clean space between the headlights. All three models are cladded with a massive plastic front bumper. These cute vans were quite popular, especially in the more urban areas I visited.

Ford

Tourneo Courier in Massa Marittima

While in America, Ford is known for the square, boxy, and ugly E-Series, its European van range is composed of aerodynamic, attractive vans. At the bottom of the range are the Transit Courier (cargo) and Tourneo Courier (passenger). These two vans are not sold in America, and have slightly sporty styling due to the corporate trapezoidal grille. These two vans look very aerodynamic and also quite handsome, and were some of my favorite vans that I saw while in Italy.

Next is the slightly larger Transit Connect (cargo) and Tourneo Connect (passenger). These two are sold across the Atlantic too, with only difference being that the Tourneo Connect is referred to as the Transit Connect as well. Next up, is the Transit Custom (cargo) and Tourneo Custom (passenger). These vans are slightly smaller than the full-size Transit, and are front wheel drive instead of rear wheel drive. The grille is more akin to that of the Transit Connect, and the corners of the headlights are pulled back towards the A-pillar, making the van look like it's being stretched backwards by the wind. At the top is the Ford Transit which recently replaced the E-Series in the USA. I found Ford's European van range a bit confusing, especially considering how simple it is in the USA: you can either get a Transit, or a Transit Connect. European customers have much more to choose from, including some particularly good-looking cargo-haulers.

Iveco
Italian truck company Iveco produces a full-sized van called the Daily. While the majority of Dailys that I saw were the bland fifth generation, which features very un-original oval headlights and a rectangular, silver grille, I did spot a few of the new sixth generation models, which quickly became one of my favorite vans. The sixth generation's face is all angles, with a thin, blocky grille, which turns upwards at the ends. The grille runs directly into the aggressively tilted, rectangular headlights.  The robotic Daily stood out among all the smooth lines of the other European vans. 


  European Vans: Part 2 Coming Soon!!!