1991 Mazda Miata Turbo Track Car on 2040-cars

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Fiat version of Mazda MX-5 Miata to be called 124 Spider

Fiat has a definite use for its recent US trademark on the 124 Spider name, and it's something that should make many performance fans quite happy. FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne confirmed to Auto Express that the Italian brand's future roadster would bear the classic name. Auto Express reportedly asked Marchionne directly about the convertible at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show. The CEO said: "Do we want to do it now?" After another executive verified the name, Marchionne responded: "There you go – a world class premiere right in this room!" Autoblog reached out to Fiat Brand communications boss in the US Ariel Gavilan for more information, and he verified the story. Gavilan said that brand head Olivier Francois confirmed the 124 Spider name to international media during a briefing in Geneva. FCA isn't going quite so far as officially confirming that the 124 Spider shares a platform with the latest Mazda MX-5 Miata, but that's almost a certainty. The two automakers jointly developed the chassis, and the original plan was for it to underpin an Alfa Romeo. However, Marchionne didn't want an Alfa assembled outside of Italy. Fiat even hinted at this possible change as far back as the corporation's five-year plan last summer. Insiders tell Auto Express that the 124 Spider reportedly carries retro-inspired style, and hopefully, that means the roadster evokes the look of the original 124 Sport Spider (pictured above) by Pininfarina. Fiat allegedly is also aiming for a weight less than 2,205 pounds, and the engine range is likely comprised of versions of the brand's 1.4-liter turbo. The mill already pumps out 160 horsepower and 183 pound-feet of torque in the Fiat 500 Abarth in the US. According to Auto Express, Fiat and Mazda have an agreement to launch the Miata in 2015 and the 124 Spider in 2016. A hotter Abarth version could come along eventually, too. Related Video:

Mazda could electrify the next Miata, is trying to figure out how

The next Mazda Miata is at the embryonic stage of development. The men and women in charge of the project are debating whether to electrify the roadster, or if it's better to keep it true to its roots. The Miata is not a high-volume model in any market, so it doesn't need a plug to help Mazda comply with looming emissions regulations. The company explained it's not a matter of compliance; it's about how the definition of a sports car and the expectations of motorists could change in the 2020s. "The preferences of people who enjoy driving sports cars might be changing, so we need to think about what direction society is going in. We want to look at the best powertrain to keep the vehicle lightweight, but because of the diversifying requirements and preferences, we need to explore various options," Ikuo Maeda, Mazda's global design director, in an interview with Autocar. Adding any degree of electrification to the Miata beyond a relatively basic mild-hybrid system is easier said than done. An unusually low weight and a compact footprint defined the original model introduced in 1989, and these attributes continue to characterize the fourth-generation car (pictured) sold in 2019. Electrification requires batteries, batteries add weight and require space, and Mazda doesn't want to end up with a 3,000-pound Miata, or one that's the size of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class Convertible. Keeping its chassis balanced is a delicate task, too. Overcoming this challenge is not impossible, however, and batteries are expected to become lighter and smaller during the 2020s. The next-generation Miata isn't expected out until the middle of the 2020s, so Mazda has time to figure out whether it should go hybrid, arrive as an electric car, or carry on with a rev-happy, naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine. Maeda stressed a final decision on the matter hasn't been made yet. "I don't have the answer right now, but we need to make a vehicle that people can own without worrying that they are not being eco-friendly," he concluded.

The spirit of these 7 weird Mazdas lives on in today's cars

HIROSHIMA, Japan — When visiting the Mazda Museum in Hiroshima, housed amidst the company's main manufacturing site on the shore of the Enko River, you can follow Jujiro Matsuda's early 20th century entrepreneurial path from artificial cork manufacturer to machine and machine toolmaker, to motor vehicle producer. But probe a bit deeper into the exhibits, and you can uncover more than just a chronicle of corporate achievements: delightfully weird outliers, paragons of oddball design, engineering and marketing solutions It's looking at these delightful misfits that really illustrates Mazda's tale. You can also see precisely how many of these vintage conveyances led directly (or indirectly, or obtusely) to Mazda's most iconic American-market cars and trucks. Our seven favorite precursors, and their lovable successors, are listed below. 1931 Type TCS/Mazda B-Series Mazda's first vehicle was this little three-wheeler, powered by an air-cooled, one-cylinder motor. Because the company lacked a distribution network at the time, the trucklet was marketed by Mitsubishi; hence the three-diamond pattern on its side. All of this is very reminiscent of the company's eventual foray into the U.S. market, where its sales were spearheaded by compact pickups. The B-Series, which was one of the first Mazda vehicles available in the U.S., arrived in 1972, and stuck around through the first decade of the 21st century. Like its partnership with Mitsubishi, Mazda teamed up with stakeholder Ford to market this little truck as Ford's first small pickup, the Courier, the precursor to the Ranger. There was even a rotary-powered B-Series for a few years, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. 1968 Bongo Van/Mazda5 The Bongo allegedly was the first one-box van design in Japan, and apparently it was so popular that the name Bongo became, for a period of time, the generic metonym for the category—the way that Kleenex is a stand-in for all facial tissue. With a tiny rear-mounted engine and a planar expanse of metal to push around, it was not particularly fast, but it was both spacious and innovative. The same could be said of the brand's mini-minivan, the Mazda5, which was available for a couple of generations in the States in the Aughties. Sadly, the name 5 never caught on as a synonym for fun-to-drive family hauler, at least not yet, and the category itself (like nearly every other car category) was crushed in America by the rise of the crossover.