Retrospective: The Miata Roadster

The Mazda Roadster: 人馬一体 or “Jinba Ittai”, meaning “The unity of Horse and Rider as one”…

If I am perfectly honest, the Mazda Roadster as it’s known in Japan ( or Miata for Amercian markets, MX-5 for Australian markets ) is about as pure a driving experience as you can get anywhere. It is not every day you come across a car this connected to a driver on a fundamental level – a car that likes to remind you how fun motoring can be without any of the unnecessary frills; without any of the hindrances of unnecessary technology.

Mazda created the instantly recognizable look of the cute 2door sports car way back in 1989 with the introduction of the iconic 90kw ( 126bhp ) 1.6 liter twin cam B61P, NA model MX5 Roadster. The Roadster sold so well that demand very often outstripped supply thanks to positive reviews from the motoring press and a constant stream of collectors special editions. By taking the classic British ideology behind a lightweight FR platform, fitting it with 2 doors, a soft or hard top option and a free revving and sprightly naturally aspirated engine, Mazda essentially revolutionized the budget performance sector in a way unseen since the release of the Mini. The punchline? The Roadster easily became the world’s top selling light weight open two-seater sports car ever made with the accolades going down in the big book of Guinness.

Before we get to the 2010 model 7tune tested recently, there are a few things I would like to share with you about the origins of the Roadster – facts that many of you may not know. Indeed, if you look right back to well before it went on sale, the origins of the Roadster can be attributed to a symbolic partnership between Japanese, British and American minds. For the humble Roadster as we know it, is as much a part of British and American heritage as it is Japanese. And here’s how…

During a meeting in 1976 with Kenichi Yamamoto and Gai Arai, heads of Research and Development at Mazda in the 70′s, American Bob Hall, who at the time was a journalist for Motor Trend, found himself being asked what kind of car Mazda should produce in the future. Hall went on to recall that he, ” …babbled how the simple, bugs-in-the-teeth, wind-in-the-hair, classically-British sports car doesn’t exist anymore” and that he, “…told Mr. Yamamoto that somebody should build one inexpensive roadster.” At that moment, the international seeds for the Roadster had been sewn in Japanese minds and Yamamoto would never forget the encounter with Hall.

As fate would have it, in 1981, Hall found himself charged with the task of developing the very car he had suggested. The timing was perfect as a Mazda design department had recently been set up in California and Hall put it to Mark Jordan to pen the design, an FR concept codenamed Duo 101; a name that came about thanks to its hard or soft convertible roof.

Up against the stiff competition of two other submissions from the Japanese design department, whom favored either FF or MR configurations, Hall and Jordan knew they had their work cut out for them. It took them until the second round of competition for their design to be chosen, thanks largely to its superior design characteristics. In the Mazda design offices that day, the Miata Roadster as we know it, was born.

Hall credits some of his inspiration for the initial design of the Roadster with the 1960′s Lotus Elan. You can see this inspiration clearly in the compact dimensions of the car, the front assembly reminiscent of the Elan, complete with retractable headlight recesses.

That the NA model Roadster was also made available in a British Racing Green finish contrasting nicely against a tan and wood interior was very intentional indeed, reminding many of the essence of British motoring- except this time, in the form of a Japanese body.

The Roadster was an instant global phenomenon with huge numbers of aftermarket tuners the world over taking to the chassis and engine in a bid to appease the growing number of performance hungry owners. Many argued that the Roadster was never to be taken too seriously power wise with Mazda’s own design legend Tom Matano stating in an interview that the, “…Miata was and still is a pair of jogging shoes. It is an every day sports-car. It should not be a highly tuned professional piece of sports gear.”

That didn’t deter Mazda Australia though, who in 2002, showed the world the car could indeed handle more power by taking the initiative and offering a retrofit turbo charger to the 1.8 liter BP-Z3, thereby giving it the 157kw ( 211bhp ) shove the chassis was arguably crying out for.

Despite a production limited to 100 units, it proved successful enough for Mazda Japan to release a turbo charged version of their own and in 2004, the Mazdaspeed Roadster became a reality. Even with an engine developing less power than its older Australian brother, ( 133kw / 173bhp ) the Mazdaspeed Roadster nevertheless is still one of the most highly sought after versions ever created for the venerable car.

It isn’t a complete surprise that in power mad Australia, the MX-5 was never going to be left alone for long before someone got the idea to drop a V8 into it. And that is exactly what the people from Bullet Roadsters did. Many of our North American and European readers may not have heard of the company but all the readers from Australia and New Zealand have no excuse not to.

Bullet Roadsters took the chassis of the Miata Roadster and engineered it to house a Lexus 1UZ-FE V8 capable of delivering an internal organ moving 429hp (320kw) and 575 Newton Meters (424ft/lb) of twist to the tarmac. The argument here is not over the sanity behind such a creation but how much of that power actually makes it to the ground and for how long before tyres started discarding their carcasses!

The secret to the success of the Roadster was in its simplicity. Anyone could get in and drive it and have massive amounts of fun along the way. The reasons for this are simple. The original design brief stated that the car had to have independent double wishbone suspension on each corner. It had to have 4 wheel disc brakes. It had to include rack and pinion steering, a limited slip differential, and weigh under 1000kg’s but most of all, it had to be powered by a free revving naturally aspirated twin cam 1600cc engine.

The recipe provided a driving experience unlike any other budget sportscar of the time and with a perfect weight distribution of 50:50, the sheer chuck-ability of the chassis made the meekest of drivers look and feel like they were banzai powersliding drift warriors. It never went very fast, nor was it meant to but the lack of weight, the frenetic power delivery and sound of the engine made you feel like it was moving very quickly indeed. Add to that a mere 10 seconds or so to convert the car from a closed to open top and you now have not only a strong performer dynamically but also a beautiful car to look at physically.

The fact that the original NA model Roadster made it all the way from 1989 to 1998 unchanged except for minor trim adjustments and mechanical upgrades speaks volumes about the enduring qualities it embodied. I mean, look at the numbers! They sold 600,000 of these things in the 9 years it was on sale. 600,000! That’s an obscene number of cars to shift in anyone’s language.

Some 20 years after its inception and Mazda has done it again with the introduction of the NC model that is a throwback to the essence of all the traits that made the first car so successful and delivering along with it, modern and functional creature comforts in a chassis containing the same essential ingredients.

The new NC model Roadster re-delivers what some, including myself, felt was lacking in the NB models of the early 2000′s and it reappeared in a functionally beautiful package that draws the same looks from adults and kids alike, adorned with a no frills attitude that refuses to scream “discount” or “budget” at anyone. Even the irrepressible Jeremy Clarkson went on to gush that, “…if you want a sports car, then the MX-5 is perfect. Nothing on the road will give you better value. Nothing will give you so much fun. The only reason I’m giving it five stars is because I can’t give it 14. ”

The Mazda Roadster was made to be everything set out for it to be; simple and dynamic in its execution, available at a fraction of the price of its larger, heavier and more complicated rivals and loads of fun to drive in any condition.

What more could any willing, carefree couple want in sports car at a bargain price? A dog perhaps? A child? Not in this car baby.

Words: Adam Zillin

Photos: Courtesy of Mazda and Bullet Roadsters