Reborn Fiat Spider is one pretty ride

What do you get when you serve Roadster Ricotta with Sports Car Sushi?

The 2017 Fiat 124 Spider, a wedding of the original, Pininfarina-designed 124 Sport Spider, one of the loveliest Fiats ever, and the wonderfully playful Mazda Miata.

Due in U.S. showrooms this summer, this latter-day evocation of that first Spider is a collaboration between Fiat and Mazda. The Japanese automaker supplies the Miata platform and some parts, and will build the rear-drive 124 Spider at its assembly plant in Hiroshima.

Its Italian partner's Turin styling studios furnished the car's exterior and interior design (all the body panels are new). Fiat also substitutes its 1.4-liter turbo for the Miata's normally aspirated 2-liter, and has retuned the Mazda suspension by using its own shocks, springs, and antiroll bars. (The result is a suspension that produces a little less body roll than the Miata's and is a little less high-strung.)

The first Spider debuted in 1966 and was introduced here two years later. It persisted, with only modest styling revision, until 1986. During its nearly 19-year tenure here, it sold 170,000 copies, making it the top-selling Fiat.

The second coming of the Spider (waggishly dubbed the "Fiata") evokes the original without aping it. There are, rather, some subtle reminders of the first one. The pages from Pininfarina's playbook include the hexagonal upper grille, the headlight cutouts, the edgy taillights and the sculptural dips atop the doors.

While the Mazda platform's 90.9-inch wheelbase remains the same, the Fiat's longer fore and aft overhangs tack five inches on the vehicle's length, increasing it to almost 160 inches. That stretch, coupled with additional sound deadening, makes the Spider 100 pounds heavier.

Even with the weight gain, the Spider still weighs only about 2,500 pounds, which means its little turbo can get it from 0 to 60 in about 6.4 seconds, which is fast enough to be fun.

The 124 Spider will come, initially, in two flavors. The Classica, which will start at $24,995, is the entry-level model aimed at younger buyers. The Lusso (Italian for "luxury"), at $27,495, targets a more mature clientele with more mature bank accounts and a need for the likes of leather, dual exhausts, and a standard six-speed automatic gearbox. (A six-speed manual is standard on the Classica. The automatic is a $1,350 option.)

Both of these models are powered by the same 1.4-liter turbo employed in the Fiat 500 Abarth, an engine that develops 160 horsepower and 184 pounds/feet of torque. The sportier Abarth version of the Spider, which goes on sale this fall at $28,195, utilizes the same engine but with a freer-breathing quad exhaust system that bumps up the horsepower rating to 164.

To commemorate the rebirth of the 124 Spider, the first 124 vehicles off the assembly line will be offered as Prima Edizione Lusso models. They will be numbered, with an exclusive paint color, premium leather - and a $35,000 price tag.

I had an opportunity, at a recent regional show-and-tell, to drive both a Lusso and Abarth version.

These are pretty cars from any angle, inside and out. They are fitted with a manual top that goes up and down quickly and almost effortlessly. From the instruments to the well-bolstered seats, they are ergonomically sound.

The Lusso proved surprisingly quiet with the top up, and a higher-decibel diva with it down. The sportier Abarth was louder. The cars' suspensions afforded a comfortable ride and athletic behavior in the corners.

The tiny turbo surged to life around 2,000 rpms, then lost interest above 5,500. Both the automatic in the Lusso and the Abarth's manual proved nifty. The manual majored in precise, short-throw shifts, while the automatic featured quick up-and-down shifts.

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