Mazda MX-5 30th Anniversary

It’s hard to believe, but true. Mazda introduced the MX-5 to the car market 30 years ago, successfully reviving the two-seater, sporty roadster segment. Once this was the core business of British brands like Austin Healey, MG or Triumph. But through various, partly homemade problems, the sales figures of these manufacturers first were in free fall, before some of them went straight into the book of automotive history. In 1989, when the MX-5 debuted, only MG was still around – but only as a shadow of earlier days.

Many ridiculed the Japanese brand with their tiny roadster and its sympathetic sleepy eyes, which are the retractable headlights. It first started in the US (as the Miata) and a year later also in Europe. But the sales figures quickly dismissed all doubters. At the current Chicago Auto Show, an exclusive 30th Anniversary Edition celebrated its world premiere, based on what is now the fourth model generation, produced since 2015. It all started at the same place 30 years ago with the debut of the very first MX-5. From the third generation, Mazda offered two different roof concepts, namely a soft top or a foldable hardtop. The current vehicle comes either with a soft top or a retractable targa roof with the MX-5 RF. Both variants are available in this special edition.

For the 30th Anniversary special edition, the Mazda designers specially created a new body color called ‘Racing Orange’, which, according to the German press release is reminding us of “the dawn of a new day.” The wheel arches are filled with 17-inch Rays forged alloy wheels in dark grey, behind which the orange brake calipers from Brembo (at the front) and Nissin (at the back) stand out. They are mounted to sports dampers from Bilstein. In front of the left rear wheel sits a special badge with the running limitation number of the vehicle. Inside, the piping, stitching and decorative trim as well as the surroundings of the ventilation nozzles take over the body color. Driver and passenger take place in Recaro sports seats. The standard equipment includes a Bose sound system with nine speakers, AudioPilot 2 technology and smartphone integration including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Worldwide, only 3,000 copies of the Mazda MX-5 30th Anniversary special edition will be offered. 350 of them come to Germany, another 600 to the United Kingdom (400 MX-5 and 200 MX-5 RF). Both versions are only available with the two-liter Skyactiv-G engine with 184 hp, combined with the six-speed manual gearbox. Sales in advance start in April. While the pricelist for Germany isn’t out yet, in the UK the MX-5 30th Anniversary starts at 28,095 GBP and the MX-5 RF 30th Anniversary at 29,895 GBP. First deliveries will take place in summer.

Images: Mazda