Mazda MX-5 Miata
It's from 1989, before you were born.
- Iconic generation
- 1989 MX-5 Miata (NA, pop-up headlights)
- Origin
- Hiroshima, Japan
- Engine
- 1.6L DOHC inline-four
- Power
- 116 hp; ~100 lb-ft torque
- 0–60 mph
- ~8.6 seconds
- Top speed
- ~117 mph
- Weight
- ~2,100 lb with 50/50 balance
- Price when new
- $13,800 base (1989)
About
As of 2026, it's 37 years old.
In the late 1980s the affordable two-seat roadster was effectively extinct, killed off by leaky British convertibles that broke down if you looked at them funny. Then Mazda did something radical: it built a small, cheap, rear-drive roadster that captured everything magical about a 1960s Lotus Elan, except it actually started every morning. The 1989 MX-5 Miata reinvented the genre single-handedly.
The formula was almost suspiciously simple, guided by the Japanese principle of jinba ittai, 'horse and rider as one.' A 1.6-liter four making just 116 hp, a near-perfect 50/50 weight balance, a curb weight around 2,100 pounds, pop-up headlights, and a manual gearbox with the most satisfying shift action this side of a rifle bolt. Slow-car-fast incarnate.
It was never about straight-line speed, which is exactly the point. The Miata is about cornering grin-per-dollar, which it delivers more of than nearly anything ever made, and it has gone on to become the best-selling two-seat sports car in history, with the Guinness record to prove it.
Across four generations Mazda has done the hard thing: it refused to ruin it. The 2015 ND went back to basics, staying light and modestly powered when every rival bloated up. 'Miata Is Always The Answer' became an enthusiast mantra precisely because, more often than not, it is.
Mazda MX-5 Miata through the years
Roadster reborn
The NA Miata debuts at the Chicago Auto Show and revives the affordable roadster.
NB era
The second-gen drops the pop-up headlights but keeps the lightweight magic.
Record holder
Guinness crowns the Miata the best-selling two-seat sports car in history.
NC arrives
The third-gen grows slightly but stays true to the formula.
Back to basics
The ND sheds weight and refocuses on pure driving joy.
One million
Mazda builds the one-millionth MX-5, an unmatched roadster milestone.
