There are many amazing things about the Mazda MX-5, like the sheer number that have been built during its 35 years on sale (1.2 million and counting, one car every quarter of an hour since 1989). And while lots of sports cars have a devoted following, the MX-5’s might be the most fanatical – one Italian enthusiast was so besotted with his little Mazda that he created Miataland, a hotel in Perugia themed around the world’s best-selling two-seat sports car.
But I think the most amazing thing about the MX-5 is how little it has changed over the years. Park a brand new one alongside a 1989 original and you’ll see right away that the fundamentals are the same now as they were back then – they’re both lightweight roadsters with fizzy, naturally aspirated four-cylinder twin-cams up front driving their rear axles via manual transmissions (autos have been available; few ever specified them). Moreover, both set out to do precisely the same thing: to deliver a pure, uncomplicated sports car driving experience, the kind that doesn’t so much prioritise feel and interaction ahead of raw speed and grip as ignore those last two altogether.
And with MX-5s old and new sitting before you, you wouldn’t need a set of scales or a tape measure to see that the model hasn’t really grown in size or weight very much in three and a half decades. A back-to-back drive in both will tell you that. But if you were to weigh and measure them, you’d learn that the new car is wider by only 55mm and actually shorter by 35mm, and heavier by just 98kg, which is remarkable given all the safety and convenience content the modern one must carry.
