Mazda originally debuted the MX-5 Miata at the 1989 Chicago Auto Show, so it's only fitting that the Japanese automaker has chosen to celebrate the 30th anniversary of that car by making the world premiere of the MX-5 Miata 30th Anniversary in Chicago. Only 3,000 examples will be built, but if you're in the US, you're already too late to claim one.
Since its debut in 1989, the MX-5 Miata has remained extremely popular all around the world, with sales reaching over 530,000 units in 2000 to give it the Guinness World Record for the best-selling two-seater sports car in history. Sales kept climbing and topped 900,000 by 2011, and in April 2016 the one-millionth MX-5 Miata rolled off the production line.
It's also collected numerous awards in its lifetime, including the World Car of the Year and World Design of the Year in 2016, marking the first time a car has taken out both these awards in the same year. So, if any vehicle deserves to celebrate its 30th birthday, it's the MX-5 Miata.
The 30th Anniversary Edition unveiled in Chicago features exterior paint and interior accents in an exclusive Racing Orange that Mazda says it developed to evoke "the breaking dawn of an exciting new day," as well as to pay homage to the yellow MX-5 Miata Club Racer that also debuted in Chicago in 1989. Whatever of the reason, or reasons, it's sure to turn a few heads.
Other unique features include 17-inch Rays ZE40 RS30 forged aluminum wheels developed in partnership with Rays, and a 30th Anniversary badge displaying the vehicle's serial number. Under the hood, the car borrows the Skyactiv-G 2.0-liter engine found in the 2019 MX-5 Grand Touring model that delivers 181 hp and 151 lb-ft (205 Nm) of torque – a 17 percent increase over the 2018 model year.
The interior sees the inclusion of heated Recaro sports seats that feature orange piping and are wrapped in Alcantara, which also makes its way to the door inserts and lower instrument panel. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come standard, as does a three-month SiriusXM subscription and three-year Traffic Plus and Travel Link subscription. Audio is delivered by a nine-speaker Bose AudioPilot 2 system.
The MX-5 Miata 30th Anniversary will be available in soft-top and retractable hard-top (RF) models, starting at US$34,995 and $37,595, respectively. Only 3,000 will be sold globally, and all of the 500 reserved for the US have already been snapped up by online pre-orders, which only opened yesterday. But if Mazda stays true to form, we might only have to wait another five years for the next special edition MX-5 Miata.
Source: Mazda
