For over 35 years, the Mazda Miata (known as the MX-5 or Eunos Roadster in other parts of the globe) has been “the answer” for over a million enthusiasts looking for a fun, sporty, easy-to-handle, affordable, and reliable sports car.
In fact, the little roadster is so beloved by enthusiasts that it even earned its own now-famous MIATA acronym:
- Miata
- Is
- Always
- The
- Answer.
Or to put it another way:
Need to get groceries? The Miata has a trunk.
Need a commuter? The Miata is efficient and reliable.
Need a fun weekend cruiser? Convertible, duh.
Need a canyon carver? It’s rear-wheel drive with a manual transmission.
Need a track toy? In addition to spec racing classes, the Miata has massive aftermarket support.
Suffice it to say, the Miata MX-5 is a lot of things to a lot of different drivers. So we wanted to show a little love to this plucky Japanese roadster with some history and insight. Let’s dive in.
A Brief History of the Mazda Miata
Back in the late 1970’s, an automotive journalist named Bob Hall was touring Mazda’s headquarters in Japan, when he met Mazda’s Head of Research and Development, Kenichi Yamamoto.
Being a fan of both classic European roadsters and modern Japanese vehicles, Hall suggested to Yamamoto that Mazda should build a lightweight roadster similar to the Alfa Romeos, Triumphs, and other convertible sports cars that were slowly disappearing from the roads.
A few years later, Hall found himself working for Mazda USA. And that’s when Yamamoto revisited the roadster idea, this time encouraging Hall to pursue the concept.
After beating back suggestions that the car should be front-wheel drive, or mid-engine, or perhaps even have a fixed roof, Hall convinced everyone that the recipe was obvious:
It had to have a convertible top, feature rear-wheel drive, and be designed for driving pleasure—not outright performance.
During development, program manager Toshihiko Hirai pushed his team to engineer the car with the Japanese philosophy of Jinba-ittai (“oneness of horse and rider”) in mind.
Hirai’s team’s adherence to this mantra paid off: In 1989, the Mazda Miata was released to international acclaim.
The car featured many of the same qualities found on the European roadsters that inspired it, like a dual overhead cam engine, five-speed manual transmission, and a quick-folding soft top. Better still, the Miata also featured disc brakes fore and aft, an electronic ignition with fuel injection, and a double wishbone suspension setup at all four corners.
To car shoppers, the Miata was affordable—and embraced anybody who wanted a turn behind the wheel.
It wasn’t vulgar or off-putting, and it wasn’t ready to send drivers into a ditch at every opportunity.
The Miata was designed so that anyone could get behind the wheel and connect with the car in a fulfilling, meaningful way.
Perhaps most importantly, the Miata was easy to live with.
Unlike some of its European forefathers, it was reliable—with a fuel efficient engine that required no exotic maintenance (which made it easy on the wallet too). The Miata also had a modest trunk which, when combined with an optional removable hardtop, made it a relatively practical year-round commuter car.
At the time, these qualities were almost unheard of in a small import sports car.
A Brief Rundown of the Mazda MX-5 Generations
For starters, understand that Miata aficionados often use Mazda’s internal chassis codes to nickname each generation. That may sound confusing at first, but once you realize that it follows a pretty obvious alphabetic sequence, then it all makes sense. “NA” is the code for the first MX-5 generation, NB for the second, then NC, ND, and so on.
So you’ll likely hear hardcore Mazda fans refer to the N* chassis code, rather than a specifc year when talking causally about these roadsters.
First Generation, NA (1989-97)
Easily distinguished by its pop-up headlights (unique to this generation), initially the NA Miata came with a 1.6L DOHC four making 115 horsepower. A 1.8L arrived in 1994 that pushed output closer to 130; by 1997 it was good for 133 hp.
Second Generation, NB (1998-2005)
For its second-gen. refresh, the Miata said goodbye to its pop-up headlights, but welcomed a new handful of special models—notably a 2004 Mazdaspeed edition (pictured above) that, thanks to turbocharging, made close to 180 horsepower.
Third Generation, NC (2006-15)
While a removable hardtop had always been available, the NC generation kicked it up a notch by offering a slick retractable hardtop option. Power continued its upward trend, thanks to the introduction of a larger 2.0L powerplant that replaced the 1.8L.
Fourth Generation, ND (2016+)
In a delightful turn, the new ND Miata was shorter and lighter than the outgoing NC. But the big news for the ND was the introduction of a coupe variant, the RF. Short for “Retractable Fastback”, the coupe has a retractable panel that folds backwards and gets tucked under the rear deck for open-air driving.
Which Miata is Best Miata?
Are you ready to blast through winding mountain passes with a grin from ear-to-ear? Well, consider picking up a Miata for yourself.
With a long production run, you’ll have no trouble finding plenty of Miatas on the used market. But that does present a dilemma: Which Miata generation is considered the best one? Well, like many things, the answer is a simple one:
It depends.
To that end, we’re compiling valuable tech resources and information into handy Mazda Miata buyer’s guides. That way, you’ll be able to assess some pros and cons to (perhaps!) make your choice a bit easier. Stay tuned, we’ve got the NA and NB Miata Generations done now, and the others are coming soon—we promise.
Mazda Miata Buyers Guides by Generation
Go ahead, take the plunge, and find out for yourself why Miata Is Always The Answer! Click the link to the Miata Buyer’s Guides below for more insight:
- 1990-1997 NA Miata Buyer’s Guide
- 1998-2005 NB Miata Buyer’s Guide
- 2006-2015 NC Miata Buyer’s Guide
- 2016+ ND Miata Buyer’s Guide
Mazda MX-5 Miata Upgrades & Service Parts
If you’ve got a Miata in your driveway and want to start tinkering, you’ll be glad to know there’s a massive amount aftermarket support for the MX-5 that can help you do it.
Click here to see Miata upgrade & restoration parts at Summit Racing.
Powered By Enthusiasts: Miata Edition
Summit Racing employee and friend of OnAllCylinders Ian Giebler has a 1999 Miata that he uses as a weekend track toy and fun top-down cruiser. Check out his story here:
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