This special edition 124 Spider you see here stands out from the rest of the Fiat range with a few styling tweaks made to the exterior.

It sits above Lusso Plus in the range and you get Ice White paint, a red stripe down the side and a small Italian flag on the boot. To contrast this bright paintwork, there’s gunmetal grey on the front windscreen frame, door mirror caps and the darker alloys – recognise them? They’re found on the more aggressive Abarth 124 Spider…

That’s it…

With no changes made to the engine or suspension, the 124 Spider S-Design combines the same 140hp engine with a decent ride and handling balance, all wrapped up into a lightweight package.

The 1.4-litre turbocharged engine sounds throaty from inside the cabin, but there’s no shouty exhaust here – the twin pipes are far more discreet than both the Abarth and Mazda equivalent. This is easily the most laidback iteration of the MX-5-based roadster.

This is one engine that needs waking up though. Power delivery is slightly old fashioned with very little performance below 2,000rpm, so attempting to accelerate quickly at junctions or roundabouts can leave you in no-man’s land – which isn’t ideal.

Stay above this threshold, and the 124 Spider feels much livelier. All the power tails off by 6,000rpm but it’s happy to rev to its 6,500rpm limit. Sure, it’s not as exciting as the equivalent 1.5-litre naturally-aspirated Mazda engine in the MX-5, but it leaves you with a choice: wring out the engine to an inch of it’s life, or use the mid-range shove in a more relaxing way, depending on your mood.

Inside, the body-coloured door cards that brighten up the cabin in the Mazda are missing, as are the grippy Alcantara-covered surfaces in the Abarth – so if you’ve been in either of these two, you’d be forgiven for thinking this Fiat has the cheaper-looking cabin out of the trio.

If you haven’t experienced either, you probably won’t care. It’s not a deal-breaker for the Fiat by any stretch; it just feels a little less special in comparison.

Should you get one? Head on over to the link below for all the details:

Source: Fiat 124 Spider Review | Parkers