MotorWeek Retro Review: First Ever Mazda Miata Road Test

What do the Mazda Miata NA and MotorWeek have in common? Both often imitated but never duplicated.

[HondaCL]

"It will go down in automotive history as the car that saved the roadster from near extinction". Good call.

[RetroGamerr]

"The dash vents are difficult to manipulate" Oh Just give them about 20 years. they'll get nice and floppy....

[BestMillimeter]

The NA Miata was a spiritual sucessor to 20+ year old British roadsters, but now the Miata itself is 30 years old.

[clericduran]

Dash vents are hard to move? Haha 28 years later those vents are so loose they won’t stay up

[joecap]

I still have my Red 1990 Miata with only 59k miles on it. It only comes out in the summer, still love driving it and it still gets complements.

[goodeggproductions]

The Miata is a special car. They’re silly until you drive one. Not ride in one, DRIVE one. Then you will either like it or love it. I owned a 95 for 9 years and regretted selling it every day for 5 years after that. So I bought one of the first ND Clubs with wheel and brake package available. But something wasn’t right.

So a few months later, I bought a 1990. And there it was. The automotive world will never build another small, simple, light roadster that feels like the NA6. I’ve fully restored that little 90 and then I bought a 93 and gave it a turbo. So now I’ve got 3 miatas and they’re all fantastic in different ways.

If you think they’re girl cars, or slow, or dumb, drive one. Just for 30 minutes. You’ll understand. Nothing matters except the smile you won’t be able to wipe from your face.

[smitty]

It's really interesting hearing him compare it to MGs and Triumphs and all, seeing as how this has now become the absolute standard for all small sports cars.

[marshalmagooo]

One of the few cars that has a true soul.

[travisp]

Anyone that votes thumbs-down has no automotive soul.

[gtobob]

Nearly 30 years later and most of us still ask for more power out of our Miatas. What a car, so nimble, great brakes, and rides reasonably well. Our recently purchased 2001 has 58, 000 miles. My wife finally caved in and wanted to learn to drive a stick just so she could drive it. She is in love with it and named it Lil Blu.

[palebeachbum]

The first generation Miata is a great example why the Japanese succeeded and blew away the American auto makes in the 80's an 90's. They gave a damn and made better cars.

[theodor]

One of the most legendary sports cars of all times, from the golden age of Japanese autos.

[mervinprone]

That’s quite a stunning prediction he made at the end, for a car that was just introduced.

[mackchannel]

Miatas are so dreamy. When I was looking to buy my first new car in 1991 I had interest in a Miata, but the price was just out of scale. That's how I became a Celica man, but I always smile when I see a Miata, because I know the driver is having a good time for sure.

[superlegoboysz]

Ok, when it got to the slalom test, my lord you can really just see the way this car handles and why its so much fun

[erikhertzer]

...John wants that damn voltmeter!...hes a true electrophile...

[kittvskarr]

I was 18 when these came out & they were in such demand that after dealer markups were $30, 000 in the La Times in

[darrylyoes]

I was an MG fan, owned several of them. I had a personalized plate on my '74 MGB that read "NOMIATA". I had no idea until years later just how much better the Miatas were than my MGs...

[NYstranger]

I love how they man handle interiors on these videos for some inexplicable reason.

[hamerplayer]

Owned a Mariner Blue B Package brand new. Kept her for 23 years. I hope the new owner loves her as much as I did!