Since the Fiat 124 Spyder came out pages upon pages have been written comparing it to its twin, the ND Mazda Miata (MX-5). The final consensus seems to be that the Italian company did just enough to give its version a unique visual character, which distinguishes it from the Japanese model. However, such a direct comparison misses another clear similarity…
Namely, the similarity between the 124 Spyder and the previous (NC) generation of the Miata. While the Fiat is distinguished by having a longer overhang than the ND Miata, it shares this key proportion with the NC model. Also, as can be seen in the two pictures provided, this is not where the similarities end – there is a similarly-designed bumper with a twin pipe assembly, an identically-placed license plate, a similar integrated bootlid spoiler, and even rear lights with similar graphics. Of course, at the end of the the day the two models are still clearly distinct, but one has to wonder whether, when Mazda was developing the ND Miata and the Fiat side-by-side, it did not make a conscious decision to develop some of the NC’s language into the Fiat, while purposefully pushing the ND further away by giving it a more compact, BMW Z4-esque styling language.
