According to Mazda, the 2026 MX-5 Miata will ditch internal combustion in favour of electric power. However, the carmaker chose not to specify whether electrification will be entirely electric, hybrid, or plug-in hybrid. The next-generation Miata must take this step in order for it to survive through 2030 when Mazda’s entire lineup is expected to be mostly electric.
The Mazda Miata has a long-standing, well-deserved reputation as a fun, inexpensive roadster with excellent driving dynamics, and an electric version would ensure its continued viability in the years to come. The Japanese automaker will probably release a hybrid or plug-in hybrid Miata before creating an all-electric model because Mazda is taking its time to develop EVs.
When people think of Mazda’s MX range, the MX-5 Miata would come to mind. Or, those who keep up with auto news will know that the company now sells a model known as the MX-30 which is the brand’s first mass-produced fully electric car.
However, long before the MX-5 – which became the bestselling 2-seat convertible sportscar of all time – there was another Mazda which had the ‘MX’ designation. This was the MX-81 Aria, a concept car displayed at the 1981 Tokyo Motor Show. Designed by Marc Dechamps for coachbuilder Bertone, it was the first Mazda MX and now, 40 years after its unveiling, Mazda Italy has carried out a restoration of the small wedge-shaped coupe.
To create the MX-81 Aria, Bertone used running gear from the 323, which was the first generation with front-wheel drive. On this platform was placed the futuristic hatchback form. With its gold paint, huge glasshouse and pop-up lights, it stood out at the motorshow.
The concept car had futuristic features, some of which would find their way into production models in later years. Back then, the features gave the cabin a radical look with the recessed square steering wheel, TV screen and side swinging front seats. Exterior ideas like high-mounted tail lights and pop-up headlamps were adopted in Mazda models too.
Discovery in a warehouse
While many prototypes and concept cars have been destroyed (or ‘lost’) after finishing their round of displays, the MX-81 was kept in a warehouse at Mazda’s headquarters in Hiroshima. In 2019, Nobuhiro Yamamoto – the former 4th generation MX-5 programme manager and rotary engine developer – found the concept car and proposed the idea restoring it.
It was supported by the company and shipped to Mazda Italy, where it has been painstakingly restored by SuperStile in Turin. Fittingly, the completion of the restoration was celebrated by the recreation of the original press images of the MX-81 in front of Milan Cathedral.
Mazda’s connection to Italian designers
However, the connection between Mazda and Italian design celebrated by the restoration of the MX-81 actually started even before the MX-81 was displayed. 20 years earlier, in 1960, a young automotive writer by the name of Hideyuki Miyakawa travelled to Italy and the Turin Motor Show where he met Giorgetto Giugiaro, then Head of Design at Bertone. He also met his future wife, Marisa Bassano – a Japanese-Italian translator with a passion for cars. During Marisa’s study trip to Hiroshima in 1961, Miyakawa met then-chairman of Mazda, Tsuneji Matsuda, and the pair discussed the importance of design in the Japanese car industry.
Back in Turin, Hideyuki and Marisa began working as intermediaries between the legendary Italian design studios of Bertone, Ghia and Pininfarina and Japanese car manufacturers. The collaboration between Mazda and Bertone they helped to facilitate led to Giugiaro designing the Mazda Familia and Luce models of the 1960s, plus the R130 Luce Coupe of 1969. The relationship with Bertone continued even after Giugiaro left to work for Ghia, and the restoration of the MX-81 Aria is a celebration of that partnership.
The MX line begins
However, the Mazda MX-81 was only the beginning of the story of the MX badge, which has actually been used more than a dozen times across a broad spread of production, concept and racing Mazdas. After the MX-81 was the MX-02 concept car of 1983. This was a larger 5-door hatchback design with large windows, aerodynamic rear wheel covers and flared-in door mirrors. Unique features included rear wheel steering and a Head-Up display projected on the windscreen.
The one-off theme continued with the 1985 MX-03, another radical looking car. This sportscar concept was proposed with an exciting powertrain – a triple rotor 315 ps engine. The low-slung was very futuristic, with a cabin that featured an aircraft style yoke rather than a steering wheel, plus digital displays and a Head-Up Display. It showed off a lot of advanced technology like 4-wheel steering and all-wheel drive, while the long low body had wind resistance of just 0.25 Cd.
While the MX-02 and MX-03 shared some of the same futuristic design cues, the MX-04 was completely different. Displayed the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show, the MX-04 was a front-engine rear-wheel drive sportscar that had removable fibreglass panels. These allowed the car to switch from a glass dome-roofed coupe to a beach buggy style open-sided roadster. Powered by a rotary engine this ‘shape-shifting’ sportscar was never considered for production.
But little did outsiders know that Mazda was already developing the MX-5, which would come 2 years later. Other production models to have ‘MX’ were the MX-3 and MX-6 production coupes.
MX in racing
In the 1990s, arguably the most radical car to have the MX badge was the Mazda MXR-01. After the rotary-powered Mazda 787B took victory in the 1991 Le Mans 24 Hours, the FIA promptly banned rotary-powered cars, leaving Mazda looking for a new car for the 1992 World Sportscar Championship at very short notice. A solution arrived in the shape of the MXR-01 prototype racing car.
Based on the previous season’s Jaguar XJR-14, the British firm’s withdrawal from sportscar racing, allowed Mazda to adapt this radical Ross Brawn-designed prototype and fit a Mazda-badged V10 Judd engine. Famed for its incredible grip and downforce, just 5 examples were built. But sadly, the collapse of the World Sportscar Championship at the end of 1992 spelt the end of Mazda’s world motorsport programme and denied the MXR-01 the chance of success.
Into the 21st century, the MX badge has still appeared on concept cars – the 2001 MX-Sport Tourer/MPV; 2002 MX-Sport Runabout; 2003 MX-Sportif; and 2004 MX-Flexa. The MX concept car that really started Mazda on the road to another success story was the 2005 MX-Crossport. Inspired by the RX-8 sportscar, this was a sporty looking SUV concept with sculpted wheel arches, slender headlamps and bold shoulder lines. It would be the basis for the model that that became the CX-7, which established a lineage of SUVs that lead to today’s CX-5, CX-30 and MX-30.
To know more about Mazda models available in Malaysia, visit www.mazda.com.my.
Many people who own a Mazda MX-5 Miata keep it for a long time. It’s the sort of car that comes into your life and you never want to part with it because of the pleasure it gives everytime you are behind the wheel.
Typical of Japanese cars, the MX-5 has not been a difficult car to maintain but after 30 years, some parts of the first generation NA model would be worn out and need replacement. For enthusiasts, the search for replacement parts becomes a weekend pursuit. Thankfully, with the internet, it is possible now to order parts online from other countries where stockists may still have them, or from specialists who fabricate them.
Understanding that there are many owners of the very first generation who need replacement parts, Mazda will now make Restoration Parts Program for the model. Generally, carmakers are obliged to offer replacements parts for up to 10 years after production of a model stops but now Mazda is going to produce some 1,100 parts for those who want to restore a model it produced 30 years ago.
As a fan-first brand, Mazda consulted specialty shops and Miata clubs to better understand which restoration parts were needed most. The parts will be made in Japan and while they will have the perfect fit and finish of those that were sold in the 1990s (as well as the look and feel of that era), Mazda says it will also use modern manufacturing techniques that will produce higher quality than what was possible before.
One example: a newly developed fabric soft top that uses the same rear screen material from the original version. Enkei Wheels is reproducing aluminium wheels designed like the original, but through current technologies so that it will be lighter and with a more protected finish. Essential in the maintenance of almost any classic MX-5, many moving parts – from the roller for the side windows to the brake piston caliper – that are likely in need of replacement will be offered.
“There is a pure feeling of joy when it comes to driving a Miata, of any generation,” said Masahiro Moro, Chairman & CEO of Mazda North American Operations. “Our unique Jinba-Ittai – ‘horse and rider as one’ – engineering philosophy has allowed for the engaging and exhilarating driving dynamic that has remained constant over the years, helping make the Miata an important vehicle for the brand and our fans. By helping prolong the life of MX-5 NA models, Mazda is committed to supporting the roadster culture and looks forward to seeing these historic vehicles on the road – and on the track – for years to come.”
Visit www.mazda.com.my to know more about the latest Mazda MX-5 and other models available in Malaysia.