23 Mar 04
Way back in 1979, an American journalist named Bob Hall went out to Mazda's headquarters in Hiroshima to talk to the company's then head of engineering, Kenichi Yamamoto. Now, we've all had these conversations with car company representatives - usually after a bit too much corporate hospitality - but when Yamamoto asked Hall what kind of car he thought Mazda should be building, Hall actually came up with rather a good idea. A lightweight sports car is what you need in your range below the RX-7, he said, accessibly priced and great to drive, and he sketched an outline of something a bit like a Triumph TR7. Mazda took this advice to heart (unlike any suggestions I've ever made to product planners), a California-based design and engineering team began the project in the mid-1980s, and the MX-5 eventually went on sale in 1989. It didn't look much like Hall's wedgy, long-bumpered sketch in the end, but the basic premise of affordable drop-top fun was the same. It took the classic configuration of front mid-mounted engine, rear-wheel drive, with a long bonnet and 50:50 weight distribution between the front and rear axles, and was instantly acclaimed as a proper driver's car, despite its relatively low-powered 1.6-litre, 115bhp engine.
Fast-forward fifteen years: the 700,000th MX-5 has just rolled off the production lines, well over 56,000 have been sold in the UK alone, and even though it's a much older design than most of its rivals, sales remain stronger than ever. Known simply as the Roadster in Japan and as the Miata in the USA, the MX-5 inspires fanatical owners' clubs worldwide and it was recognised in 2000 by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's best-selling two-seater roadster. Even the most cynical industry-watchers credit Mazda with kick-starting a revival in the roadster market - dead since the glory days of the MGB and Triumph Spitfire - and with creating a modern classic.
Although it was facelifted in 1998, when the pop-up headlights fell victim to stringent pedestrian safety legislation, and there have been power and specification upgrades along the way, the MX-5 on sale today is really little changed from the car of 1989. But technology, refinement and consumer demands have all moved on, there are increasing numbers of more modern roadster rivals competing for buyers in this niche and Mazda's all-new next-generation model is still a year or so off. So can the MX-5 still cut it?
