Mazda MX-5 (Mk1)

Fantastic fun and credible at last – but prices are going up

IF IMITATION is the sincerest form of flattery, Mazda’s launch of the MX-5 Miata in 1989 represented a heartfelt homage to the golden era of the affordable British sports car. You could have stuck a Lotus badge on the nose and no-one would have questioned it.

What was so remarkable about the efforts of the Japanese/US design and development team was its thoroughness. It might have been sufficient if they’d recreated the charms of the Big Healey, Frogeye Sprite, MGB, Triumph Spitfire and Lotus Elan by using humdrum mainstream components for reliability, and making it front-wheel-drive to save costs. Possibly the public wouldn’t have cared.

But the team had a vision of doing the job properly, and fought off the accountants. So the MX-5 (launched as the Miata in the US, and Eunos MX-5 Roadster in Japan) had rearwheel drive for more entertaining handling; it was engineered to be light – just 940kg – to keep it nimble and lively despite its modest 114bhp 1.6-litre twin-cam; and its gearchange was tuned to be short and ultra-precise, to enhance the sports car feeling. The MX-5’s details further revealed the depth of passion of its creators: bespoke, lozenge-shaped stainless steel door handles, a cam cover casting that mimicked those of Lotus’s twin-cam motors (and disguised Mazda 323 origins) and – wonderfully – pop-up headlamps.

It was a cracking drive. Even a spin around the block was a giggle. The MX-5 created the illusion of speed even while travelling not all that quickly. Speedy turn-in to corners and a raspy exhaust note helped; but once they’d dialled themselves into the softness of the standard suspension and slight vagueness of the steering at higher velocities, keen drivers then discovered that the friendly little roadster was also up for some major backroad hustling.

Proof of deeper talents arrived in 1991 when Mazda UK commissioned BBR GTi to develop a 150bhp turbo kit, available through the dealer network and warrantied. (BBR also produced its own 250bhp turbo kit.) The special edition (22 sold) Le Mans, commemorating Mazda’s 1991 24-hour victory, was also turbocharged.

In July 1993 the 1.6 was replaced by a 128bhp 1.8, the bodyshell was stiffened, and a base model was introduced without power steering; in 1994 the suspension was uprated and a year later the flywheel was lightened to put some zing into the 1.8-litre engine, while a 1.6 was reintroduced, albeit with a paltry 88bhp.

Throughout the years until the Mk1’s replacement in 1997, the UK was subjected to numerous limited editions, some of which are now highly sought after. And imported Eunos models from Japan brought with them a plethora of performance-oriented specials. All are huge fun.