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Hello, new guy here. Today, I initiated the process of bringing a fellow Italian countryman into my garage to keep company with Sophia, my Moto Guzzi V7II Stone motorcycle. I made a deposit on a 2017 Fiat 124 Spider Classica. Red, rag top, stick shift. The quintessential Gentleman's Roadster. What more do you need?
Over 30 years of driving I've owned a series of very uninspiring vehicles. Vanilla cars and trucks and a boring midsize SUV. I dearly love motorcycles and will ride until... I can't. But for just as long as I've loved motorcycles I've had an affinity toward the small Euro convertibles. The Triumph TR6 belonging to a high school friend's father. The Alfa Romeo Graduate. Another pal's MG Midget. And as recent times have reminded me, I'm not getting any younger, and dreams don't fulfill themselves. It was time to act. But I'm not a gear head, I could not go old school, I had to buy new.
Yep, the window sticker states a 75% Japan origination, and a 20% Italy origination (hmmm, where'd that last 5% go?), but even though it came off the Mazda MX5 line, to me this car says Italy, and I love it. Japanese quality, Italian style. Perfect.
On a day off earlier this week I went to a local dealer and confirmed my emotional suspicions, that I was likely to fall head over heals for this car. And on this early afternoon in the dead of Minnesota winter where little was happening in an Italian sports car dealership, I was invited to take the Abarth version for a ride. In a word, tremendous. (Keep in mind my motoring background.) I've never been in a car with such minimal body roll while tossing the steering wheel back and forth in the bends. Yes, the roads were dry and clean on this winter day. "On rails", comes to mind. The exhaust barks, and ride is firm but not bone shaking. Then the salesman asked if I'd like to try the Classica in comparison. "Why yes, I would." Not being on a racetrack, I'll state that the engines were the same to me. But where the Abarth barked, the Classica purred. Where the Abarth had me feel the road, the Classica cushioned me from the road, just enough. Where the Abarth taunted me to push it, likely over time in ways where I would endanger myself, the Classica invited me to journey over hill and dale in comfort and style. Gentlemanly.
Arrival time will be sometime in the spring, the one I'm buying is on its way to town. And I am stoked! I am going to make sure that the summer of 2017 will be a good one. In the mean time I'll be reading threads, searching the archives for answers to questions I have, and maybe posting a few new ones along the way.
Steve.
Over 30 years of driving I've owned a series of very uninspiring vehicles. Vanilla cars and trucks and a boring midsize SUV. I dearly love motorcycles and will ride until... I can't. But for just as long as I've loved motorcycles I've had an affinity toward the small Euro convertibles. The Triumph TR6 belonging to a high school friend's father. The Alfa Romeo Graduate. Another pal's MG Midget. And as recent times have reminded me, I'm not getting any younger, and dreams don't fulfill themselves. It was time to act. But I'm not a gear head, I could not go old school, I had to buy new.
Yep, the window sticker states a 75% Japan origination, and a 20% Italy origination (hmmm, where'd that last 5% go?), but even though it came off the Mazda MX5 line, to me this car says Italy, and I love it. Japanese quality, Italian style. Perfect.
On a day off earlier this week I went to a local dealer and confirmed my emotional suspicions, that I was likely to fall head over heals for this car. And on this early afternoon in the dead of Minnesota winter where little was happening in an Italian sports car dealership, I was invited to take the Abarth version for a ride. In a word, tremendous. (Keep in mind my motoring background.) I've never been in a car with such minimal body roll while tossing the steering wheel back and forth in the bends. Yes, the roads were dry and clean on this winter day. "On rails", comes to mind. The exhaust barks, and ride is firm but not bone shaking. Then the salesman asked if I'd like to try the Classica in comparison. "Why yes, I would." Not being on a racetrack, I'll state that the engines were the same to me. But where the Abarth barked, the Classica purred. Where the Abarth had me feel the road, the Classica cushioned me from the road, just enough. Where the Abarth taunted me to push it, likely over time in ways where I would endanger myself, the Classica invited me to journey over hill and dale in comfort and style. Gentlemanly.
Arrival time will be sometime in the spring, the one I'm buying is on its way to town. And I am stoked! I am going to make sure that the summer of 2017 will be a good one. In the mean time I'll be reading threads, searching the archives for answers to questions I have, and maybe posting a few new ones along the way.
Steve.
