Everyone should drive an NA Mazda Miata

Inspired by Lotus Elan
The original Miata, which comes to be known as the NA generation, is officially released as a 1990 model and vaguely resembles a '60s-era Lotus Elan remastered for the 20th century. Its features are endearing, including pop-up headlights that, when opened, give the MX-5 the appearance of a happy, wide-eyed thing—especially in conjunction with the rounded "mouth" in the bumper. At launch, the MX-5 Miata is powered by a 116-hp 1.6-liter engine and is available solely with a five-speed manual transmission. It is also a Transaxle car meaning the transmission sits at the rear of the car creating a close 50/50 weight balance.


Love at first sight
I first drove this car back in 1992 and it's big brother the Mazda RX7 FD. Having driven other powerful sport cars of the era like the 1990 300ZX. The Miata was magically to drive since you felt at one with the car. The steering, pedal placement and the shift gear were all perfect and being 6 foot tall it was quite comfortable for such a tiny car.

Future track star
Car and Driver wrote in their 1993 Sports Car Comparison Test "*The tight handling course at Willow Springs Raceway brought all this into focus. Yes, we know real people buy real cars to drive on real roads. And, no, we didn't let racetrack performance unduly bias our final judgment. But this was where the true character, the driving character, of these cars could be most dramatically (and most safely) exposed. And it's where the Miata showed itself to be much more than just a vintage-Lotus lookalike without oil leaks.*"


35 Years Later
It hard to believe that in 2025 Mazda Miata is celebrating its 35th Anniversary with a million plus cars produced. Mazda’s Miata production crossed the 531,000 mark in 2000, the year it was declared the world’s bestselling roadster of all time and it hit a million cars in 2016. The car was a sensation in 1990, and while subsequent versions would cause less of a stir by following the same basic format, the cult following the Miata had created, as well as the little sports car’s continued excellence, established the Miata as something here to stay. For a car inspired by the Lotus Elan, MGB's and Alfa Spider it has out lived them all to become the reigning champ of the classic top down two seat sports car - sorry Boxster...


Back to that 1993 Sports Car Comparison Test
This is what Car and Driver wrote about the 1993 Alfa Spider *"Dedicated Alfisti may rave till the pasta goes limp, singing the praises of the Spider's certain je ne sais quoi (or is that non so che dire?). But we have to say, "Basta! Enough, already." Alfa Romeo first whipped the cover off Pininfarina's design for the Duetto Spider at the 1966 Geneva auto show. Do you realize how long ago 1966 was? Liz Taylor won the best-actress Oscar for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and the Baltimore Orioles won the World Series. So to say the 1993 Alfa Spider is a little dated is an understatement of heroic proportion."*
Since I am dedicated Alfisti I need to drive 1993 Miata in 2025 to see how it compares to my 1993 Alfa that is based on the same platform as the 1966 Duetto and in my mind it is a true beauty like Liz Taylor. Happy 35th Birthday Mazda Miata!