The Rarest Miata Makes An F40 Seem Common
Miatas, generally speaking, are anything but rare. Everyone and their mother has owned one at some point. But while the dinky Mazda is the world’s best-selling two-seat convertible sports car in history, with over 1.2 million units produced, there is one special example that is eye-wateringly rare. And we aren’t just talking about badges and alloys special editions, either — we are talking about a long-forgotten coupe version that would make even the rarest supercars seem commonplace. Was this the best Miata ever — and why the heck has no one ever heard of it?
Mazda Didn’t Put A Roof On The Miata Until 2016…Right?
October 2016 was a big month for Mazda’s MX-5 Miata. Ten years ago, the company started building the Mazda MX-5 RF retractable hardtop (aka the Roadster RF in Japan) at Ujina Plant No.1 near its global headquarters in Hiroshima, in preparation for the car’s launch the following year. The reason this was so momentous for the Miata was that Mazda had always been very careful not to mess with the car’s winning formula. The Miata was always a simple, modestly-powered, rear-drive sports car with no roof — that’s how people liked it — and the RF was perhaps the biggest change yet. The Retractable Fastback Miata swapped the roadster’s manual-folding soft top for a power-folding targa panel and a coupe silhouette, but fans loved it and it settled into the range. But what a lot of people didn’t realize was that Mazda had built a coupe before — and that’s because it’s unlikely anyone would have ever seen one on the road.
The NB Mazda Coupe Is A Unicorn That Few People Remember
The Miata launched in 1989 as a reminder of what made motoring great. The mini Mazda drop-top unashamedly borrowed the ’60s concept of bugs-in-your-teeth British sports cars, updating it for the modern day with features like an engine that would actually start in the morning. The cute Miata was an instant winner, from the Minilite-esque wheels to the keen 1.6-liter engine (and even keener price at around $17,000) — no wonder people flocked to Mazda dealerships in droves.
By the time the second-gen NB arrived in 1998, Mazda hadn’t messed with the recipe, giving it slightly more power, dropping the pop-up headlights, and making the convertible body stiffer. What a lot of people didn’t realize was that Mazda was working on a top-secret production version of the previous gen Miata M Coupe Concept, which everyone had thought was nothing more than a one-off show car. There would be a coupe version of the NB Miata, but with a metal roof instead of the concept’s fiberglass lid, and it would be for Japan only. Launched in 2003, Mazda built just 179 examples. That’s seven times rarer than a Ferrari F40, of which 1,311 units were built.
The Coupe Could Just Be The Best Miata Ever
How so? Well, we already know that the NB Miata was even better than the OG version in many areas (aside from perhaps the looks), with a 1.8-liter 16v four offering an 11% jump in power to 155 hp, a quicker sprint to 60 mph in 8.1 seconds, and the aforementioned body reinforcements. The Coupe version added a steel roof that upped the curbweight by just 22 lbs (the weight of a decent Thanksgiving turkey) but drastically improved chassis rigidity and reduced drag. That means the Miata would corner even better than its adored roadster sibling.
There were said to be four trim levels available, including one with a 1.6-liter engine (Base) and three with 1.8s. The Type S models (just 63 were built) packed 158 hp from a 1.8-liter engine, connected to a six-speed manual gearbox. The Type A (40 built) had race-style add-ons including fiberglass arch extensions, and the Type-E (23 built) was a nod to traditional British sports cars. Anyone who has ever driven a Miata will know that a healthy dose of improved dynamics can make a great car one of the all-time greats.
Here’s Why Mazda Only Made It In Minuscule Numbers
Creating a coupe version of the Miata seems like no simple task, so the fact that Mazda built so few is mysterious. The problem likely lies in the fact that the cars were built to order, like a true exotic, and were hand-modified and assembled through Mazda Engineering & Technology (M2/MELT), instead of being mass-produced. This created another problem, too. A large proportion of cars were traditionally sold to people visiting showrooms, seeing a model in the flesh and sitting in it. The elusive coupe wouldn’t have graced many showrooms due to it being made-to-order, and hardly anyone would have seen one on the street, so it didn’t market itself at all.
The fact that Ujina No.1 Plant (U1) was also damaged during a fire in December 2004 may have meant that Mazda decided to quietly can the project. Finally, the results looked aftermarket on most trim levels, which undermined the appeal of the coupe among enthusiasts.
You Can Soon Buy An NB Coupe — If You Can Find One
Good news for any Miata fans in the US who would like to get their hands on an NB Coupe. If you can actually find one for sale in Japan, then it is eligible for import to America in 2028 under the 25-year rule. With so few made, the prices are hard to predict. When an example went on sale with 30,000 miles on the odometer seven years ago in Hong Kong, the seller wanted around $34,000 for it — at a time when standard NBs fetched a few thousand dollars. If you can unearth a decent NB Coupe, import it, and drive it in the States, you will surely have one of the best JDM cars of all time. You could just grab a bargain drop-top NB right now, before prices skyrocket.
Sources: Mazda
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