When Mazda’s MX-5 set motoring back 30 years
Ah, see what they did there?
Ordinarily, you might consider it a bad thing to set something back 30 years, though you’d not know it judging by the actions of some prominent political figures, but in this March 1990 advert for the fresh new Mazda MX-5, it was tapping deep into nostalgia for a period of motoring that seemed long abandoned by the early ’90s.
The MX-5’s backstory has been repeated nearly as often as the Mini’s, so we’ll keep it brief here, but the genesis goes all the way back to the late-1970s when an American car journalist, Bob Hall, met with Mazda’s R&D chief Kenichi Yamamoto and impressed upon him the need for a traditional European open-topped sports car, just without traditional European open-topped sports-car quirks.
Yamamoto agreed, and in the mid-1980s development cautiously began, at the hands of just a dozen designers and engineers, at Mazda’s then-new California studio in Irvine. Well-executed development mules—and a positive reaction from Californians wherever the prototypes went—convinced Mazda to put the car into production. It debuted in February 1989 at the Chicago auto show and arrived on UK shores in early 1990, which is when our clever ad appeared. And there you go, the history of the MX-5 condensed into only two paragraphs.
The car undoubtedly met Hall’s expectations, too. The MX-5 is oft-compared to the Lotus Elan, but in truth those involved in the project used numerous small sports cars for inspiration, and the end product—unfailingly reliable, better built, easier to drive, and relatively watertight—was as full of genuinely original thinking as it was a throwback to any 1960s roadster.
All this would have been for naught if the car didn’t also drive well, but despite a few dissenting voices here and there, the little Mazda was among the best-driving cars at any price point. It was responsive and adjustable, it steered, gripped, and handled beautifully, and it was as happy being driven hard as it was pottering along looking pretty. In-period, before age made their bodies rustier and more flexible than when they were new, only the modest performance and a relative lack of comfort for some drivers could be counted as reasonable criticism.
Many of the MX-5’s highlights shine just as brightly today, and arguably more so in a market where the only modern equivalent is… well, the current MX-5. After a flurry of imitators arrived in the 1990s to capitalize on the Mazda’s success, the market has since dwindled to just the Mazda itself, and a few cars that have since moved significantly upmarket in search of profit.
And while prices for early MX-5s have been going up for a few years now, they’re still a bargain for what you get. The Hagerty Price Guide puts a driver-quality example under $10K, even though the cleanest first-gen (NA) examples quickly approach or clear $20K.
Mazda’s 1990s ad also reminds us just how good an early MX-5 still looks. Funny how more than 30 years later, Mazda’s 30-year throwback still seems as appealing as ever.
***
Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.
I’ve owned a 2003 NB since it was new. Many owners of more expensive and higher performance cars have looked down their noses at the Miata, but I don’t care. The Miata is a well built car that is not only fun to drive, but easy to service and repair. Try to perform any service on a new car. The NA and NB Miatas have the perfect balance between new technology and old simplicity that affords many enjoyable and trouble free miles. I wouldn’t want to drive my Miata as a daily driver, but it’s a valued car in my small collection. I have often suggested that every sports car collector should own a Miata in order to have something to drive when everything else needs repair. I also ride a new Royal Enfield 650 twin that improves upon the British motorcycles of the 1960’s. High quality construction and thoughtful design with just enough technology but not too much.
I owned a ’90 model NA. Good platform to start from. Added a real four-0point rollbar (not one of the “style bars” that are known as mouse trap bars for their propensity to fold over and trap the driver), stiffer and shorter springs, upgraded dampers, a home-made cold air intake that draws from the cowl tray, header/exhaust upgrade, and a bunch of chassis braces. It was an absolute blast to drive on curvy roads. Yes, it could have used more power, but it was perfect for hanging the tail out in the curves. They are very easy to add power to if you feel the need.
Oh – and that’s the wrong Elan pictured there. Should be a 60’s Elan, not the M100 that came out at the same time as the Miata.
I’ll join the chorus. I bought a 95 NA in maybe 1999 when I came to the point where the 90 Nissan 350ZX-TT was just too much car for the kind of driving I was doing. The 95 was a 5 speed, nothing unusual about it, but it was an eyeopener. I started, it ran well, and I was having fun at 40 mph! In 2004 or 5 I got the itch for an NB and one day a 2002 laser blue metallic SE, 6 speed, 14,000 miles, showed up on Craigslist. I bought it, sold the NA, and that car is still my 4 wheels when a scooter or motorcycle won’t do. It just turned 59K. My friends and family ask me sometimes why I don’t treat myself to a new MX-5, and the truth is I just like this one too much.