Let’s hope the cooperation between Fiat’s Alfa Romeo and a Japanese automaker – Mazda now – is a bit more successful than last time with Nissan. Anyone remember the Arna? Thought not.
The 1983-1987 Alfa Romeo Nissan Autoveicoli was a fine blend of Nissan Cherry/Pulsar body panels and various other bits stitched together in Italy with less than loving care and mated to an ex-Alfasud flat four and front suspension.
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Result: a poorly built disaster with fragile mechanicals, ugly styling and the sort of handling forever associated with 1980s era Japanese cars. It failed spectacularly and has since been listed as number 26 in the Richard Porter book, ‘Crap Cars’ and blown up in 2000 by BBC Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson for his Clarkson’s Car Years series.
This time around, the Japanese partner is Mazda, a Japanese automaker once courted by Ford but now, after four years of straight losses is probably desperate for some marriage or at least live-in-sin partners, and the portents are much better. For one thing, the Italians won’t be building their new roadster – Japanese workers in Hofu will. And Mazda is the go-to company for small, rear-drive roadster perfection, or at least we assume so, as its UK sales company never deigns to show any of its products to us.
Mazda is also working on a new generation of efficient, lightweight bodies, engines and transmissions, starting with its just-launched CX-5 crossover and Fiat will probably be keen to leverage some of that.
The MX-5 architecture-sharing deal may be just the start as the two firms are said to be talking further cooperation.
Odds-on this venture will be way more successful than when Alfa last turned Japanese.
