February 9, 1989 marks a highly significant time in automobile history, and certainly in the life of Mazda. On that day, Mazda unveiled the MX-5 Miata to the world at the Chicago Auto Show. Since then, the MX-5 has become the world’s best-selling two-seat sports car, and been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most popular sports car ever built.
Mazda MX-5 offers roadster driving at its best. The MX-5’s original concept has been so successful that Mazda has never changed it: affordable to buy and use, lightweight, Jinba Ittai (“rider and horse as one”) handling, and classic roadster looks. The Mazda Miata is the jewel of “Kansei Engineering,” a deeply held philosophy that every car and truck that Mazda makes should be designed and engineered to provide strong emotional as well as functional satisfaction to its driver. For a unique sports car like Miata, whose sole purpose is pure driving fun, this objective is very important. Thus the Mazda Miata project team scorned “packaging” and “off-the-shelf” componentry per se, and instead began with a pure, bright concept of “America’s ideal sports car.”
Miata has been heralded as saving the sports car world, has amassed nearly 900,000 global sales, and has won a total of 178 major automotive awards around the world. Two decades later, the MX-5 Miata is still a lightweight, balanced and responsive roadster that delivers the very best wind-in-the-hair driving at an affordable price.
And because Mazda’s engineers never lost sight of that “soul of a sports car” positioning for which the entire brand has become known, the MX-5 Miata also is the world’s most-raced nameplate. The MX-5 is currently in its third generation.
First Generation:
A 1990 model launched in 1989, the original Miata featured a starting price of $13,800 and first went on sale in May in the United States, and in September in Japan. The first-generation Miata featured a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine with 116 horsepower and 100 lb.-ft. of torque. A five-speed manual transmission was standard and City/Hwy fuel economy was 25/30 mpg. Suspension was by independent double wishbone on all four wheels, and braking consisted of four wheel-disc brakes with the front ventilated. Wheels were 14×5.5″ steel or 14×6″ alloy, both with 185/60 R14 radial tires.
Important to convertibles is the roof operation. The Miata engineering team created a three-fold, easy-to-operate soft top, with one-hand operation, that was lightweight and offered superior weather protection.
The coefficient of drag was 0.38. All together, the Miata weighed a low 2,116 lbs. (curb weight) and could reach 60 mph in less than nine seconds. When it was launched, the car created such excitement among buyers that demand exceeded production and became an instant success.
The first change came in the 1994 model year. Miata was refreshed with a little more power through use of a 128-horsepower 1.8-liter engine. For the 1996 model year, horsepower was increased to 133 and a racing-themed R Package was also introduced with a Torsen® limited-slip rear differential, Bilstein shocks and front and rear spoilers.
Significant events over the past 20 years for the Mazda MX-5 Miata include:
- 1983
- Mazda begins study of lightweight sports car production
- 1986
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- February: Starts project aimed at volume production
- February: Starts project aimed at volume production
- 1987
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- September: Design finalized
- September: Design finalized
- 1989
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- February: Mazda introduces the MX-5 Miata sports car as a 1990 model at the Chicago auto show
- May: U.S. Sales begin
- July: MX-5 Miata named as one of the five “World’s Best Cars”
- September: Sold as Eunos Roadster in Japan
- October: Sales begin in Australia
- 1990
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- January: MX-5 Miata receives a “10Best” award from Car and Driver
- January: MX-5 Miata receives “Automobile of the Year”
- February: Sales begin in Europe (U.K. and Holland)
- 1993
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- July: undergoes minor change. 1.8-liter engine introduced.
- July: undergoes minor change. 1.8-liter engine introduced.
- 1997
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- January: Automobile Magazine names MX-5 Miata to its “All-Star” list
- October: Second-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata unveiled at Tokyo Motor Show – the first redesign since its introduction in 1989
- 1998
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- December: Limited edition Miata released to commemorate ten years of production. Special limited edition car with world-class specifications: total of 7,500 units manufactured for worldwide sale (500 units for Japan, 7,000 units for the three markets comprised of North America, Europe and Australia)
- The second-generation Miata goes on sales as a 1999 model.