Mazda introduces the MX-5 Miata at the Chicago Auto Show on Feb. 9, 1989, giving new life to the classic roadster.
The MX-5 Miata went on sale in May 1989 with a starting price of $13,800 and a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine with 116 hp and 100 pound-feet of torque.
A five-speed manual transmission was standard but a four-speed automatic transmission was available as an option. It featured a four-wheel, independent double wishbone suspension and four wheel-disc brakes with the front ventilated.
Mazda engineers created a lightweight, threefold, easy-to-operate soft top with simple one-hand operation.
The MX-5 Miata weighed just 2,116 pounds and could reach 60 mph in less than nine seconds.
The Miata’s development roots went all the way back to1979, when Mazda Managing Director Kenichi Yamamoto hosted Bob Hall, the West Coast editor of Automotive News.
According to the 1989 book Mazda MX-5 Miata — The Rebirth of the Sports Car in the New Mazda MX-5 with a History of the World’s Affordable Sports Cars, Yamamoto asked Hall what kind of cars Mazda should build.
Hall had a father who championed British open-top cars from the ’50s and ’60s and suggested a “low-priced, opened-bodied sports car.” Hall even sketched his vision of a roadster on a blackboard and suggested Yamamoto drive a Triumph Spitfire.
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U.S. sales peaked in 1990, the car’s second year on the market, at 35,944.
The MX-5 has acquired more horsepower, technology, advanced engineering and — to the dismay of some enthusiasts — heft and weight. Those changes were made after federal regulators required new frontal and side crash standards in the early ’90s. Still, more than three decades after its debut, the Miata remains a few-frills, grin-inspiring roadster with open-air flair.
And in a testament to its standing, it has become a bona fide prize in the eyes of many collectors.