Now for something completely different! Alright, so technically this is a 2000 Mazda Miata with a five-speed manual… and a 1963 Alfa-Romeo replica body merged into one in an attempt to create a modern Giulietta Spider. Calling it a replica Giulietta doesn’t feel quite right to us, so we’ve dubbed this one the Mialietta Spider. The car can be found here on Craigslist in tourism-friendly Temecula, California (Riverside County), with a $15,500 or best offer asking price.
Let’s get this out of the way first. The front-end styling, incorporating a (probably necessary) scooped hood, is awkward. And while the car definitely recalls the Giulietta it’s nowhere near as well balanced. The nose protrudes at a less-than-aesthetic angle. The Giulietta is just a gorgeous car; this one, well, it’s like the dancing elephant. The miracle is not how well the elephant dances, but that it is dancing at all. I’m sure the car is one-of-one, because who else would undertake such a project?
The ad doesn’t say if the add-on bodywork is steel or fiberglass, but the car appears to retain some of the Miata’s original steel panels, with the “Alfa” components slotted in. The doors look like unchanged Miata items, as well as the windshield. I should know since I own a 1999 Miata (the first year of the NB) in this same color. I also had an Alfa Spider, circa 1976, and both cars are a lot of fun.
The seller says this car “has some original Alfa-Romeo cosmetic parts,” but it’s unclear what those might be. The grille is undoubtedly an Alfa item, and possibly the badges, bumpers and some lights. The rest is probably Mazda. “Car runs good,” that’s encouraging, right? Miatas generally do “run good”. There’s a new battery and spark plug cables.
The interior (what we can see of it) is pure Miata, with original dashboard, a Nardi wheel (just like mine), instruments, door panels, and an aftermarket stereo. I’m guessing the seats are Miata, too, but you can’t see them clearly in the photos.
The engine bay is scruffy, with tin foil heat shielding and an aftermarket Spectre air filter. But if the 107,000 miles is actual then it may well “run good”. It’s worth noting that both the Alfa Giulietta and the Miata use twin-cam fours, though the latter is much more modern and offers a considerable power increase.
The car was apparently last registered in South Dakota, but the California owner can’t find the title from there. That will be a problem for buyers in some states. Purchasers will get a bill of sale and a “statement of facts filled out”. There are California dealer plates on the car in the pictures.
If you can get past the styling, this car would certainly be a conversation starter. Membership in the Alfa-Romeo Owners Club is probably not going to happen, though. My guess is the best bet is to just leave it as is and have fun, though the price would also buy you a pristine, low-mileage and unmolested Miata from this period. So which would you rather have, this Miata-Romeo or an untouched Miata?
Have a great April Fools Day!
Proportions. Who needs ’em, anyway?
Oh! That’s just sad!
To be featured on the first episode of “Botched – the Automotive Edition”
Well it is April Fools Day….
Would rather have the TDI Ford…
I could add this to my collection of Ferrarieros (if I had one).
A for imagination, F for execution
In one word, YUCK!
Didn’t think anything could be worse than those goofy Corvette retro conversions.
I was wrong.
Fix the panel gaps…freshen the paint…find some period correct wheels…lose the roll bar…and you’ll have something a little less hideous.
I don’t think that will be nearly enough!
Hideous minus a little less hideous still equals hideous
Wish I could unsee that.
This car was for sale 6 years ago for 8 grand. That is the real April Fool’s !!!
http://www.dailyturismo.com/2014/08/5k-mialfa-romazda-2000-mazda-mx-5.html?m=1
That’s a long time for a flip. But worthwhile as a positive investment, if it can be pulled off!
Hideous
“Do you want to know how I got these scars?”
They took a swan and made into an ugly duckling.
I’m buying it, bringing it to Florida – Put a lift kit on it, big mudders, convert the luggage rack to a gun rack and I got me a badass Alpha Miata Huntin Swamp Buggy! YeeHaw!!
Blasphemy I tell you!
All the owner had to do to make a massive improvement was get a set of wheels that are close to what the originals are and replace the steering with a wood one.
They went to so much trouble but didn’t fix a couple of simple details.
I saw the front view and thought man that’s a good looking car. Then the side view made me want to hurl chunks!
$15K! You couldn’t give me the car for free. Well you could and then I’ll just burn it to the ground.
“The front-end styling, incorporating a (probably necessary) scooped hood, is awkward.”
Yes, it is. And that’s its best end.
Actually, it does open (or could open) a world where fiberglass reproductions of similar cars fit onto a Miata chassis. I think if the fit was better, the wheels were ditched, the car was cleaned up, it might present well. I’d be curious as to what is happening to those panels while the car is being driven.
@steve sammut. Check out the website for “Undiscovered Classics” it’s an education in itself re fibreglass bodies for lots of different chassis. I’m a purist as far as the classics are concerned but having been involved in manufacturing FG bodies for VW Beetle chassis’ back in the 70’s, I still follow what’s happening in the FG world.
Why?
Put this blob back under the heat lamp for a couple more…years, and see what emerges. Maybe it will just catch fire and be forgotten.
guess when you have nothing to do and the time to do it this is what you do
For the recycle bin!
Looks great. I would like one very much. , Hugh. Thailand