For a time, before Mazda’s engineers tweaked the fourth-generation MX-5 to give it a greater appetite for revs and more punch to go with it, I would go around telling people that the retro-revival Abarth 124 Spider was the best MX-5 you could buy.
This was a matter of no small frustration for someone who is rather fond of Mazda’s roadster. It wasn’t the first time in history a shared-platform vehicle was better in its spin-off form than the original, and it’s already proven not to have been the last by the current Toyota Supra, which is a more exciting car than the BMW Z4 on which it’s based. But I did wonder how Mazda had somehow missed the potential in its own platform that engineers in Italy had spotted immediately.
The Abarth had two things immediately in its favour over the original ‘ND1’ variant of the fourth-generation MX-5: Its torquey turbocharged four had more low-down punch than the Mazda’s 2-litre and was not notably less enthusiastic at the top end than those tight-feeling early Mazda ‘Skyactiv’ engines. It also had tighter body control and a feeling that the structure itself was a little less flexible than that of the near-identical Mazda. The result of this and the more enthusiastic engine was that the Abarth simply felt like more of a sports car; it was keener to turn, adopted its preferred cornering stance earlier, and could be steered on the throttle without quite so many revs, making it easier to feel out the Abarth’s balance.
Getting into the real nitty-gritty, the reduction in wobbles also seemed to allow more steering feel through the electrically assisted rack, and the less roly-poly cornering didn’t seem to come at the expense of ride quality. The Abarth was firm, naturally, but not notably more so than its Mazda counterpart.
As you might expect given Mazda was probably doing a bit of a favour for the Italians with its pair of new roadsters (there was also a regular Fiat 124 Spider, but that’s more of a cruiser than either the Abarth or Mazda), Abarth didn’t really publicise any specific differences between the Abarth and the Mazda, beyond the obvious styling and engine changes.
But the Abarth notably had thicker anti-roll bars than its Fiat counterpart, so it wouldn’t be a great leap to imagine it’s also a little beefier than those used as standard on the Mazda. The Abarth also got Eibach dampers (and Brembo brakes) as standard, like those used on higher-spec MX-5s, and Abarth did decide on its own chassis tuning.
The 124’s 1.4-litre turbocharged engine put out 168bhp, more than those early Mk4 MX-5s, but more importantly, 184lbft of torque from 2500rpm, to the Mazda’s 147lbft at 4600rpm. The Mazda never really felt under-nourished given its low weight, but the Abarth’s extra twist was just where you needed it to feel brisk in daily driving, and was right there under your foot, whatever the gear, as you drove out of corners. The brand’s now-characteristic growly, burbly soundtrack came as standard, too, giving the 124 more aural character than the slightly flat-sounding Mazda.
It added up to a car that was simply a real hoot, more boisterous than the MX-5, and while it pains me to use this word in a retrospective on an Italian car, more characterful. The interior wasn’t a great deal different and I’ve never quite got on with the styling – retro touches aside, it looks a little too much like Fiat’s take on one of those bodykits that attempts to turn a Z3 or indeed an MX-5 into an old Ferrari or an Aston – but Abarth got the driver appeal spot on.
Its biggest stumbling block was probably price, since it was knocking on the door of £30,000 at a time when you could still pick up a 2-litre MX-5 for around £23K. Then in 2018, Mazda updated the MX-5, not just giving it more power (now 181bhp) but also several internal changes that made the 2-litre four-pot smoother and higher revving, and a lot more enthusiastic.
The Fiat and Abarth Spiders were pulled from sale in the UK in 2019, and a year later globally, having sold just over 41,000 units of all 124s in its four years on sale – some way short of the roughly 130,000 MX-5s that Mazda managed to move over the same period.
Presumably, the sums didn’t quite work out for Fiat, even with a partner like Mazda, though the car’s rarity will undoubtedly play into its hands as a future classic – particularly as, with its fingers burned, the world going electric, and current parent Stellantis seeming in many ways even more dysfunctional than Fiat-Chrysler was on its own, the chance of another roadster revival is slim.
But for a good two or three years, the best MX-5 you could buy really did wear an Italian badge.
