Mazda Motors has announced that on April 22, they reached the milestone of one million Miatas made. It took them 27 years to reach that number, with all of the cars being put together at the Ujina plant in Hiroshima. The Millionth car is a Japanese spec 1.5L soft top in red.
The 2016 Mazda MX-5 will be taking the Millionth Miata on a world tour beginning May third at the Hiroshima Flower Festival. The car will make its way around the world, arriving in Canada near the end of summer. The final destination for the tour will be the annual Miatas at Mazda Raceway event at Laguna Seca on October first.
The little roadster has come a long way since debuting at the Chicago Auto Show in 1989. It has inspired countless clubs and owners groups, a performance and styling aftermarket to rival the likes of Jeep, hard tops, targa tops, and even multiple MX-5 spec racing series. It is also one of the few cars that has gone 27 years and four generations without losing sight of what made it popular in the first place; affordable, light-weight, open-air fun. Whether you call it an MX-5, a Miata (M-eye-otta or Mee-atta?), or a Eunos Roadster, it's hard not to smile when you see one.
A brief history of the Mazda MX-5:
- Feb 1989 Original MX-5 debuts at Chicago Auto Show
- Oct 1997 Second-generation MX-5 debuts at Tokyo Motor Show
- Dec 1998 10th Anniversary Limited Edition MX-5 launched
- May 2000 Recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s best-selling two-seater sports car (531,890 units produced)
- Jan 2002 Production reaches 600,000 units (Guinness World Record updated)
- Mar 2005 Third-generation MX-5 debuts at Geneva International Motor Show
- Apr 2005 Production reaches 700,000 units (Guinness World Record updated)
- Jul 2006 Retractable hardtop model debuts at British International Motor Show
- Jan 2007 Production reaches 800,000 units (Guinness World Record updated)
- Jul 2009 20th Anniversary Limited Edition MX-5 launched
- Feb 2011 Production reaches 900,000 units (Guinness World Record updated)
- Apr 2014 25th Anniversary Edition MX-5 launched
- Sep 2014 Fourth-generation MX-5 debuts
- Mar 2016 Mazda MX-5 RF debuts at New York International Auto Show
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