Bought "another bike" to keep the CB company

[E11even_Hunnit]

While I love my CB, and it's been my primary mode of transportation for almost 2 years, there's always added conveniences in owning both a bike and a car-which though a huge PITA where I live- I finally decided to pony up and get a vehicle to enjoy the nice roads near me when not on 's

Fun, compact, and good looking(like the CB) were some of the must-have features. I did think of buying a small 4x4 Taco but with suspension setups I'd want, they're not very highway friendly, I also didn't necessarily need the added utility & overall functionality(although awesome to have).

With not many cars that caught my attention(at least not within my limited budget) I went back to the poorly marketed(much like the CB) 124 Spider that I had briefly sat in at the Auto show back in 2017

Despite of being assembled in Hiroshima(right alongside the MX5), with 75% Mazda parts, it is not a Japanese convertible, it is, in fact, an Italian roadster

With the used car market being insane right now, the car hunting process was a complete nightmare, had I purchased the car a year ago when I first started looking at them, I would've saved $ and had access to more inventory. I never thought I'd live to see the day where used cars(not collectibles) appreciated over time and sold for a profit from their original purchase price

After months and hours of tracking down a decent, non over-priced Abarth, and 4 fallen deals later, I was able to snatch this one in AZ last week.


This past Memorial Day Weekend, drove ~1,100 miles between PHX/LAS/LAX/SFO(via PCH) making a few stops to visit friends along the way. Great bonding time indeed. She's as much fun as the CB

[Gordo_imp]

I must live in a shoe, I have never seen that car. That thing is cool!! Nice pics!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[LongRanger_imp]

Congratulations! You’re the second forum member I’m aware of who bought a 124. Stichill loves his, too. Doesn’t matter one iota where it was made or whose parts it has — just enjoy the ride!

[treedoc_imp]

Nice car, looks good next to the CB.
Why are used cars so expensive there at the moment, have the import laws changed?

[GoldOxide_imp]

Great lookin' convertible - like pretty well any vintage Mazda Miata. I would consider one as a CB1100 replacement, if it weren't for the dang problem of bashing my forehead into the top frame of the windshield when being seated.


(yeah, it is a problem)

[Stichill_imp]

Woo hoo!

Excellent call on the color and no matte black Heritage Stripe. The Abarth will be fun!

Being the distinguished gentleman that I am, married to the distinguished Mrs. Stichill, we went with an '18 Lusso Red Top Edition in Moda Gray with Ivory leather interior.



Be sure to join us over at [url=https://www.124spider.org]124spider.org. I'm "Magoffin".

Ciaio, baby!

P.S. If anyone's interested, my local dealer - [url=https://www.fiatusaofflorence.com/new-inventory/index.htm?make=FIAT&model=124%20Spider&gvBodyStyle=Convertible]Jake Sweeney Fiat of Florence (Kentucky) - recently bought 10% of the remaining US inventory of 124 Spiders. One week ago, they had 35 cars; as of this posting they have 15.

Great lookin' convertible - like pretty well any vintage Mazda Miata. I would consider one as a CB1100 replacement, if it weren't for the dang problem of bashing my forehead into the top frame of the windshield when being seated.


(yeah, it is a problem)

The ingress / egress procedure:
[li]Open door to widest extent[/li] [li]Turn perpendicular to the car, bum toward seat, and back toward car[/li] [li]Sit[/li] [li]Spin clockwise and draw legs into footwell[/li] [li]Close door
[/li]
Too, seat lowering rails are available. Me, being a short stuff, raised the rear of the seat rails 35mm off the floor for a better view.

[E11even_Hunnit]

Thanks all. As previously mentioned, the car was very poorly marketed and not very well advertised, in addition to reaching MSRP over $35k in fully loaded configurations, not as appealing as other options(much like the CB when new) Also, similar to the CB, not many people are aware it exists, and with limited numbers, making it somewhat rare or unique

I only bring up the Mazda parts to make comparison of the quality of this car, compared to the notoriously unreliable 1970's & 1980's Spiders when FIAT was acronym for FixItAgainTony

It's a very fun car to drive. Tiny, yes, very much so. Also very light at 2,300 pounds. The 1.4T Garrett baby ear turbo really goes a long way putting a smile on your face.

Pandemic-induced bottle necks in manufacturing and disruptions in many supply chains have greatly affected production of new vehicles due to chip shortages among other factors.

As a result of that now-limited supply of new cars, the used car market has dried up and inventory is being sold at a premium(above new MSRP in some cases)
To make things worse you bring in companies like Carvana,Vroom,Shift that essentially buy cash and mark up in the name of convenience.

The fact that the car is in a somewhat limited configuration(Abarth 6MT), and 2020 was the last model year didn't necessarily help my cause either.

Jake Sweeney won't budge on none of their new inventory, they want $30k + fees for their most basic 2020 Abarth

As crazy as it sounds, it's much like the housing market at the moment, it's a seller's market

[GoldOxide_imp]

Woo hoo!

Excellent call on the color and no matte black Heritage Stripe. The Abarth will be fun!

Being the distinguished gentleman that I am, married to the distinguished Mrs. Stichill, we went with an '18 Lusso Red Top Edition in Moda Gray with Ivory leather interior.



Be sure to join us over at [url=https://www.124spider.org]124spider.org. I'm "Magoffin".

Ciaio, baby!

P.S. If anyone's interested, my local dealer - [url=https://www.fiatusaofflorence.com/new-inventory/index.htm?make=FIAT&model=124%20Spider&gvBodyStyle=Convertible]Jake Sweeney Fiat of Florence (Kentucky) - recently bought 10% of the remaining US inventory of 124 Spiders. One week ago, they had 35 cars; as of this posting they have 15.

Great lookin' convertible - like pretty well any vintage Mazda Miata. I would consider one as a CB1100 replacement, if it weren't for the dang problem of bashing my forehead into the top frame of the windshield when being seated.


(yeah, it is a problem)

The ingress / egress procedure:
[li]Open door to widest extent[/li] [li]Turn perpendicular to the car, bum toward seat, and back toward car[/li] [li]Sit[/li] [li]Spin clockwise and draw legs into footwell[/li] [li]Close door
[/li]
Too, seat lowering rails are available. Me, being a short stuff, raised the rear of the seat rails 35mm off the floor for a better view.

That ultimately is what I ended up doing, although in the Miata case, I still found my should scraping the upper corner of the front windshield frame. I had to meaningfully squeeze my shoulder blades to finally complete the transition. Sitting in these cars I thought, " ... don't flip it - otherwise there would be carnage for somebody else to clean-up ... ".

At least on the CB1100, I have a chance of jumping off.