Everybody loves British sports cars, two seaters that put the wind in your hair yet aren't too heavy or overpowering to be enjoyed on a fast-paced B-road. But in recent years, it's only the Mazda MX-5 that's offered that kind of action.
Enter the Fiat 124 Spider, a revival of the famous nameplate that's also being offered in the US. Along with the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio, it's one of the few import from Italy that really gets us excited... only it's not made in Italy.
Unfortunately, the Miata rival was created with Mazda's help. Theirs is the super-lightweight chassis, which the Italians had to burden with a 1.4-liter turbo engine and retro-inspired body for the sake of variety.
But the 124 Spider drives and looks differently than the Mazda model. Could you imagine the lady in the commercial driving an MX-5 without looking try-hard?
Chivalry is not dead, but it's a little weird, especially when a man takes his fresh, clean jacket and places it in the puddle like that. But the smooth moves could have been better than any pickup line. We say "could have been" because all he manages to get is the attention of another man driving a Fiat, who makes a comment about his shrunken... ego.
Because the range is still small, Fiat and marketing money is tight, Fiat tried to hit two birds with one stone, and I think they succeeded. If you ignore the fact that the 124 Spider is bright red, this could just as easily have been an ad for the 500X.
Fiat commercials have been hit, hit, hit and miss in the past. It all started with the sexy seduction ad featuring the new-to-the-States 500 Abarth. They also had a couple of funny ones with Viagra getting into the tank, but controversy found its way to their doorstep when they hired both J-Lo and Charlie Sheen. We weren't fans of the one placed in the Zoolander universe either.
Unfortunately, the Miata rival was created with Mazda's help. Theirs is the super-lightweight chassis, which the Italians had to burden with a 1.4-liter turbo engine and retro-inspired body for the sake of variety.
But the 124 Spider drives and looks differently than the Mazda model. Could you imagine the lady in the commercial driving an MX-5 without looking try-hard?
Chivalry is not dead, but it's a little weird, especially when a man takes his fresh, clean jacket and places it in the puddle like that. But the smooth moves could have been better than any pickup line. We say "could have been" because all he manages to get is the attention of another man driving a Fiat, who makes a comment about his shrunken... ego.
Because the range is still small, Fiat and marketing money is tight, Fiat tried to hit two birds with one stone, and I think they succeeded. If you ignore the fact that the 124 Spider is bright red, this could just as easily have been an ad for the 500X.
Fiat commercials have been hit, hit, hit and miss in the past. It all started with the sexy seduction ad featuring the new-to-the-States 500 Abarth. They also had a couple of funny ones with Viagra getting into the tank, but controversy found its way to their doorstep when they hired both J-Lo and Charlie Sheen. We weren't fans of the one placed in the Zoolander universe either.