I drove the original for about 4 years back in the 80s. Great car for its day but we expected less from our cars back then.
(lots of little things went wrong but most were easy to fix)
I mostly DIY'd it but I took it to an Italian Mechanic when anything major went wrong with it and it did. The motor had to be rebuilt at about 110,000km.
An exhaust valve broke which basically totaled the engine. (destroyed the piston, bent the rod and ruined the crank and a whole lot of other stuff)
He rebuilt it using a second hand engine taken from a wreck. I sold it shortly after I got it back.
So would I buy the new one now? I like the idea but I can't imagine the Fiat engine being as reliable as the Mazda especially turbo charged. That's just asking for trouble in an Italian car.
IME... Cheap Italian cars tend to be very expensive to own.