The ‘other car’ in those pics is a white Mk4 Spitfire, just like the one I had, after my French Blue one. The Spit gave me a lifetime love of open top 2-seat sports cars so as soon as I passed the company car / family car stage (kids grown up) I bought a new NB. Traded it for a new NC foldy hardtop which I ran for14 years with absolutely no issues. Last May I traded that for an ND2.
The ONLY substitute for an MX5 is another MX5.
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Well considering my car was under £5k when I bought it 2 years ago there’s a not much I could afford now in the crazy used car market. I’d probably go back to my previous car which is a FN2 Type R because for £5k there is not a lot of decent motors to be had.
Just to be different. My NC has cost me a lot recently in repairs, mainly due to MOT failure caused by corrosion (rear sub frame and sills) and that has set me thinking about its future. We recently bought a BMW for the first time - an X1 - and I’m very impressed with just about every aspect of it. So, I’m wondering about a BMW 1 Series. It has to be rear wheel drive.
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Bare in mind the current generation 1series are either front or four wheel drive 
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As an ex one series owner (M140i 5 door bought new in 2019) I can thoroughly recommend the car.
However, depending on what you expect from it, it really needs an LSD, plus when you start pushing on the poor quality suspension (adaptive in my case) runs out of ideas on anything other than billiard table smooth roads.
I would consider it more of a GT car, as it does the long distance stuff really well, and is ballistically quick in the right circumstances - mine was dyno’d at 372bhp / 380lbs ft as standard.
It’s worth owning one for the engine/gearbox (b58/ZF8) alone, and it’s probably my favourite drivetrain of all time.
The rest of the car is a bit meh, but practical and economical, and there’ll never be another one like it.
My MX5 is far more engaging to drive though, which says something I suppose.
Oh, I thought the X1 is based on the mini ukl2 platform, which is FWD, unless it’s the old shape one based on the 3 series?
When you own a Jag, you become vaccinated against the shock of big bills. By comparison, any job on the MX5 is as cheap as chips.
I had an E46 BMW for a while. Nice car to drive, but the quality of some under bonnet parts was terrible. They don’t seem built to last.
The XJ8s saving graces are its easier on fuel than a 4-cylinder 1.8 Mk1 MX5, and almost as cheap to tax. A bit indulgant though for a single person.
At the end of the day, stuff is what it is; some things work, some things do not.
No amount of imagination, delusional or otherwise, particularly when experimented with over a period of decades can detract from cold, hard facts and the experience of typically men, of a certain age who know what they want and have suffered expensive disappointment.
Find me a suitable replacement for the MX5, I challenge you?
My “other” car is a 2016 118i, rear wheel drive,relatively engaging and, in the three years I’ve owned it, inexpensive to run and reliable.Just doesn’t make me smile each time I get in it like my 13 year old NC does!
Yes indeed; it would be a rear wheel drive model that would interest me
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A good point. My MX5 always makes me smile when I drive it. For most of the time I’ve had it, it was my second car (the other was a Honda CRV - reliable, practical, comfortable but by no stretch of the imagination a driver’s car). I think trying to run the MX5 as your daily is not ideal. Not impossible but not ideal.
You’re right - our model X1 is front transverse engined and front wheel drive (there weren’t many 4WD models around when we were buying) and shares its platform with the BMW Mini. It’s very well made and good to drive (slight issue with torque steer) but I would want a RWD for my “other” car.
Apologies if this is slightly off topic. Bearing in mind how globally successful the MX5 has proved, why do you think other manufacturers haven’t offered something similar apart from limited productions such as the Honda NS2000? In most cases, if one manufacturer hits on the right formula, others pile in with “me too” products.
The market has declined.
It took 3 years to sell the first 250,000
It took 8 years to get to the next 250,000
Bit of a pickup with the NB, as it took 5 years to sell another 250,000, and get to 750,000
It took 12 years to get to 1,000,000 total.
In the last 5 years, Mazda has added another 100,000 or so, despite attempting to broaden the market by adding the RF version.
VW had plans for a compettor, but couldn’t see how the numbers would justify it.
VW estimated that if the 2009 BlueSport was going to be viable, they would need to shift 50,000 units a year. At the time, Mazda was shifting barely 20,000 MX5s a year (well down on peak NA producton of 75,000. NA sales never dipped below 30,000, peak NB production was 49,000 a year, in 1998, NC sales peaked in 2006 at 44,000, ND peak production (its not going to get any higher) was 39,000 in 2017)
The original car met an “unmet need” (namely a rwd roadster that was inexpensive). In hindsight, the 40-50 year old who recalled a cheap roadster from the 1960s, who brought a brand new NA, has declined as a buying demographic (in their 70-80s now). Mazda in its current marketing tries the nostalgia schtick again, but I think the problem is the the 40-50 year old’s now would likely have had a 3rd or 4th hand MX5, and not for that long. But a 40-50 year old in 1990, might well have had a pretty new Spitfire or Midget.
Mazda needed to have done a better job understanding why the MGB went away. At the end, they were selling well, but to who? I think MG saw a declining market in 1980, and saw the 30 year olds were more interested in hot hatches tuned small cars.
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An interesting and informative read, thanks for taking the time to post.
Are you implying that as the current buying demographic declines, subsequent generations are unlikely to replace them in anything like the same numbers? Is this just the case in the UK or is it reflected globally?
Having driven extensively in Italy & France over the years the MX5 is a rare sight as are convertibles in general which seems surprising given the weather they enjoy. Can you see Mazda discontinuing the MX5 at some point? I hope not!
The major markets for the MX5 have been US/Canada, Japan, UK/Germany. Outside of those, numbers have always been very small. These markets have also declined. The MX5 was a bit of a late bloomer in Europe, and gradually European sales (including UK) came to exceed US sales.
My crystal gazing these days is professionally confined to infectious disease. Crystal ball gazing; the market for “inexpensive” roadsters will remain niche, all the more so as cars become commoditized (become appliances). Our relationship with the car will change, for good and bad reasons.
I can see Mazda dropping the MX5/Miata name. The current model (ND) is getting long in tooth. Its a relatively conventional car that was only made possible through shared development costs with another manufacturer (Fiat), who has since bailed. Its been facelifted, possibly to extend the model by another 3 years or so, as which point decisions need to be made.
We’ve had no hint from Mazda about a new model in development; so show concepts teasing the market, no furtive shots of engineering mules. There is lots of speculation, from full EV, hybrids, small displacement turbo motors.
The MX5 will be the last Mazda to be electrified. I think Mazda will want to get that right, and will not want to electrify the model prematurely, and hurt the brand. ie. an electric ND MX5 probably won’t work that well, and will be seen negatively compared to the ICE bretheren. Mazda so far has not shown to be a leader in electrification; its current EV models are not as good as the competition.
If the current model soldiers on to 2025, will Mazda have something good enough ready then to see them through 2030-35 (end of ICE, end of hybrid). I would not be surprised if the MX5 is dropped in 2025, but a new model, probably at a higher price point, is launched in 2029.
There is MG. MG-Rover collapsed in 2005, and shortly afterwards, their new owners, SAIC, said they were going to go away an reconsider the future of the sports car. They had some interesting sports car-SUV concept things along the way, probably to keep the flame going. Then launched a range of laregly forgettable conventional cars, then a range of forgettable SUVs, and now a range of slightly interesting SUV EVs (how do they do them so cheap, with decent range, and they are not that ba).
There is the MG E-Motion coupe; which has been on extened “any day” projection for launch. The final designs point to a conventional shaped coupe, looking a lot like an old Jaguar X150 XK. Now they have the MG Cyberster, which does have quite a good basic (concept car) shape, with a rakish Kamm tail. If it makes it into production, no doubt it will be stacked with tech, probably quite quick. Probably not involving to drive.
Recently, its been revealed that Toyota has published 8 patents (count them) on an essentially fake manual gear change syste,. Its an invention to provide a pseudo manual transmission gear change to an EV. Its quite technical, regarding torque curves etc.
Something like this is probably essential for a EV MX5. There is one constant in all 4 generations of MX5; the gear change. People derive pleasure from the snick-snickness of the gear change. The loss of this is often cited by many as a reason why they would never get an EV MX5. Driver interactivity (emotion etc) is an important part of the MX5 recipe.
The fantasy collaboration will be with Toyota; Toyota essentially does all the componants. Toyota brushes off its S-FR coupe concept which I quite like te look of (it screams fun, not taking itself seriously)
FWD, with its Gameboy gear change, with clear youth appeal. Mazda takes the bits, in a RWD format, in a more grown up appearance, and distinctly upmarket (another £10-15k ontop of current list). Mazda redefines itself from a mechanically innovative company (its mechanical innovation in the rotary has ultimately gone nowhere), but to a car company that understands “automotive emotion”; that intangible that MG had in spades, that persuaded a conservative demographic (the MGB owner) to take a mid-engined roadster (MGF) to their hearts. And even now, when the company is basically a Zombie, product announcements attract more attention and expectation than they ought to.
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Personally i can’t see electrifying an mx5 an option for me or anyone who actually uses their car.
For example Friday last week I drove 3.5h to a B&B, went on to spend the next day whizzing my five on a trackday the whole day ( used up 1.5 full tanks of fuel) then on Saturday evening I drove the 3.5h back home.
On a weekend i may drive whenever I fancy just for the fun of it. If i had an electric car I’d need to look at a map and think where i can actually go with it. I hope an electric mx5 never happens, if ICE are going to die for the sake of the environment I’d rather remember the mx5 for what it stands for rather than be another electric compromise.
I also don’t really see how electric cars can be the future of transportation either, hydrogen cars are much more promising and actually can provide the range and quick refueling. The energy density of batteries will never match (or exceed) a fossil fuel car range - this is down to physics. Hence I do not buy the hype about the electric cars either.
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Fascinating stuff! I tend to agree that the daily drive for simply commuting & other mundane but essential activities will be reduced to the level of a mobile domestic appliance (especially for those of us who live outside of an urban environment).
However, speed cameras and wince-inducing petrol prices notwithstanding, it still remains a pleasure to drive something more involving on decent roads.
I think my wife will want to keep her 12 year old FHT Miyako which remains a joy. Looking forward to our upcoming tour of Northern Spain & Portugal later this year in said MX5.
- Absolutely agree with you. No-one is now saying how cheap electric cars will be to run now that prices have been rising for energy. I suspect that, given time, hydrogen will be the way forward. I believe we will end up with hydrogen V battery in the same way we had Betamax V VHS video machines. For now I will love my Mk 2 1.8S while I still can.
Guy Martin tested an electric car on a long journey. I watched the whole one hour episode a while ago, here’s a clip of it on YouTube.
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