Calgary Herald

Mazda unveils its first Miata restoratio­n

- ALEX REID

A year after Mazda announced it would be restoring first-generation Miatas in-house, we’re now getting a glimpse of what its team can accomplish with the first completed restoratio­n.

The first restoratio­n by the factory team is no ordinary MX-5, but rather a 1992 V-Special edition. We’re talking tan leather interior, Nardi wood wheel, front strut tower bar, limited-slip differenti­al, and a hardtop that’s colour-matched to the British Racing Green body. The 1992 models still had the 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine.

The happy owner is Neiji Nishimoto, who has owned the car for the 26 years since it was new. He says he enjoys taking it on road trips all over Japan with his wife, and now that his car is restored, he plans to do the same thing for another 25.

He was already planning to have his MX-5 restored, but when he heard that he could have Mazda do it, he jumped on the opportunit­y.

The car is, obviously, perfect. Mazda did a terrific job bringing what some would call the saviour of the small two-seat sports car back to its original specificat­ions.

There are no photos of the car before restoratio­n, but via the passion of its original owner, we’re going to guess it wasn’t that bad to begin with. It will be interestin­g to see what Mazda can do with a Miata that hasn’t been given such a pampered life.

The service is currently only offered in Japan. When it was first announced, Mazda received more than 600 applicatio­ns for MX-5 renovation­s.

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