Co-op with Mazda - different engines for each marque. Mazda to get more biz in Europe, Fiat to expand in Asia. Plug 'n play. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-05-23/mazda-says-it-will-jointly-build-sports-car-with-italy-s-fiat
Why in the world Alfa Romeo, of all manufacturers, would need to copy the Miata to come up with a rear wheel drive spider ??? WTF is going on there?
Sergio Marchionne is a business man and knows how much it costs to produce a good chassis these days. He is guaranteeing the car will be successful, probably not what Alfa lovers want to hear but it should work and sell well.
If it has a Japanese designed engine or body I won't touch it. Im sure the American's will line up to buy them as they love anything from Japan if it's cheap enough.
Like it or not the MX-5 is a great car. They handle well and MANY are raced on a regular basis. No, I don't own one and I can't even fit into them. Take the MX-5 chassis and add an Alpha body and you could well have a great car with low development costs. This does two very interesting things: 1) It creates an upscale place for Miata lovers to move up to 2) It keeps Alpha from competing head on with what is arguably the most successful roadster of all time Honestly, I think the idea is inspired and could produce some great cars. Who hear thinks we need one less great car in the world? Prepared to get flamed now for even suggesting that anything not Italian is a good car ....
The Miata started out like a Japanese Lotus clone but since they messed up the body with their update it's just ugly. Sure it's small and sporty, but thats as far as it goes. The Miata has ZERO class or style. Hell, why not make all the new Maserati's in a Toyota plant with Lexus engines. Im sure they would be great cars
http://www.insideline.com/alfa-romeo/spider/2015-alfa-romeo-spider-will-spring-from-next-mazda-miata.html I think that they had to share the platform costs to make it feasible. This won't be a Toyobaru sportscar I hope....methinks the styling will be different and the new turbo Alfa engine will be under the hood on Alfa's version.
If you read the article this is pretty much what they said. Different body & different engine; share the chassis. That probably means different suspension setup as well.
Considering Alfa has been doing beautiful but terrible performance FWD cars for the past 20 years or so, I don't see this as a bad thing, as long as the style is 100% Alfa. The Alfa brand has already been abused by Fiat for decades, this can only be an improvement. I just hope they don't start again with the Italian pride BS as they did with the 500 which is made in POLAND, as I've read it'll be made in Japan.
I did read the article-my fear is that a "different body" means only a different front and rear end treatment...we shall see. As for heritage, my "ultimate driving machine" BMW 325i was built in South Africa. Really don't care where its built as long as it has real Alfa character/looks/performance...
As long as the styling, interior, and engine are 100% Alfa, I think this is fantastic news. The miata is a great chassis with wonderful balance. Now, if they go slapping Alfa badges on a Miata with restyled front and rear bumpers, I will want to puke.
Alfista, head for the exits and leave the building, now! WTF? No more blood left to suck out of the Lotus heritage, so on to an Italian donor? Just how far will the liberal "borrowing" of other marques provenance go? Time to call BS on these marketing guys before we all go to a KIA showroom to view the new entry level retro 308.
I agree because what they need is a chassis that can pass the crash test and other crap the USA demands. This is a smart move that will get Alfa into the States years earlier than if Fiat did it on their own. I am sure the styling will be Alfa's.
I think this announcement covers a lot of what Alfa owners have been asking about for decades - small light weight roadster, rear wheel drive and good handling characteristics. I do not think this will be a nose, bumper and badge swapping exercise. I think they will share a platform, maybe some suspension components, and probably a gear box and rear end. The latter two probably because Alfa/Fiat does not have any of those in the parts bin as all of their passenger vehicles are FWD. To support my point, look at other JV's Fiat is involved in. Fiat also makes the Ford Ka in their 500 factory in Poland. Those two cars share a platform but appear to have no body panels or interior parts in common. They are really two separate designs. For whatever reason, some people expect Alfa to develop a sports car the way Ferrari does - from the ground up and built by hand by dedicated craftsmen in a small rural factory in Modena. They did that more or less with the 8C and probably the 4C, but the price points of those vehicles are out of reach for a lot of their fans. One thing that is for sure is that the body style should be much better looking than the current MX5. I say best of luck to Alfa with this project. Cheers everyone, Jeff Dallas, Texas 1994 Alfa Romeo 164 LS 1977 Fiat 124 Spider
Maybe the style will resemble this - the Pininfarina 2uettottanta, a show car released a few years ago. Jeff Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Alfa design with MX-5 handling, reliability and hopefully price, I'm in. Hopefully they will bump the power too. I always wanted an Alfa convertible. The old ones are not reliable and take some (relatively) commitment to keep running. The new ones are gorgeous, but FWD (hate that). I like Alfas direction these days. 159 is one of the most beautiful sedans around if spec'd properly. They got their flagship C8 Competizione (I know it's sold out). They got their small city cars. They have an upcoming Boxster fighting mid-engine car. And with a proper Spider with RWD I think they will have a complete folio and start to make money for Fiat = even better cars in the future. It's a very cool brand.
Bollocks ... rust issues maybe but no reliability issues, unless your mechanic cannot use a spanner. Pete
I side with PSk on this. If you let a Honda sit around for 5-10 years it won't run very good either. If you drive your Alfa alot it will be very reliable. I know since I have used several as daily drivers, and they ran like trucks with no problems. The motor, interior and body have to be Italian based designs on this new spider. They also might need to stretch the chassis as the Miata is very short for an upscale car. What do you think?? We don't want another stubby production Brera.
OOPS, and that too Nice looking car Jeff. That works for me +2 I daily drove my Spider for 12 years. I only changed cars because a minivan going 40+ hit me when I was stopped in traffic. Surprisingly little damage but it was time to move on.
Yes, I never figured out where the "reliability" issues statements came from. Yes, the old Spica's were a bit of a pain but FI pretty much solved that. I had 3 and they never had anything even remotely close to British or American cars built in the same period. I considered my spider reliable. The cars designed in the 80's and 90's did hurt (Milano and 164). They weren't reliable. But, the spiders were. I'm torn on this one. If it's a rebodied Miata, I think I'm out. If it has an Italian drive train, I'm in.
