I think it was registered Jan-Feb 1990.
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For a Roadster, you need to give the full VIN. DVLA won’t record the build date on imports, and they will, at best, only have an approximate date of first use. And at times, this can go desperately wrong. At the recent National Rally, there was a Mk1 Roadster on a “03” plate.
DVLA lists your car as being first UK registered in Sept 1998.
Wasn’t there a thread about that car on here a number of months back as it was on eBay at the time and many members were questioning it’s legitamacy…
My classic red G reg MX5 was registered on the 20.03.1990 and still gleams like new! Never been welded or had a respray, not bad for a 21 year old car that has lived all of it’s life in the UK! It had both the original dealer number plates when I bought it, sadly the front was cracked and has now been replaced. Will soon be up for sale too 
Still no joy on Mazda’s systems with any of those reg numbers, they all come up as “No Such Vehicle”. G173 RKM is the only one that has any history. It has a service and MOT recorded at around 61000 miles in 2002. But with a serial number of 100003 it changes everything doesn’t it?
Probably will never be solved; why G173RKM has a proper UK VIN (but is not on the DVLA database), why G174RKM has some sort of hybrid UK-Japan Vin, and what actually was the oldest MX5; G171RKM (on the basis that 173 is #3).
G215RKM:
he vehicle details for G215 RKM are:
| Date of Liability | 01 09 2012 |
| Date of First Registration | 01 02 1990 |
| Year of Manufacture | 1990 |
| Cylinder Capacity (cc) | 1597cc |
| CO2 Emissions | Not Available |
| Fuel Type | PETROL |
| Export Marker | N |
| Vehicle Status | SORN Not Due |
| Vehicle Colour | WHITE |
| Vehicle Type Approval | Not Available |
No mudflaps.
Re AT’s earlier post, the UK media press launch did indeed take place in Greece. My then-colleague at What Car?, Steve Sutcliffe, went on it and the polished road surfaces made for some entertaining drifts. The cars did have stick-on number plates because Mazda UK thought it looked racier. Once back in the UK, these early cars had standard acrylic plates screwed directly to the bumper. The UK plinths came later. The pic of G215 RKM is almost certainly of Sutcliffe in characteristic opposite-lock mode - we used that pic in What Car? if I remember rightly. And Liz, with her past connections with Haymarket Publishing, would probably have gone to Haymarket’s archive for some book pics.
John
Thanks for that. How did your Roadster end up on a F-plate? I remember seeing some ads for imported US-spec Miatas on F-plates, which must have been very early cars.
Can you recall how many cars Mazda sent over to Greece? I assumed they would have representatives of all the launch colours.
I hope no one minds me posting the pictures: I’ll take them down if there are any objections. Maybe the Club Archivist (Andrew Fearon?) has some better. Its a bit ironic, that in the above picture G215, Liz used it as an example of a MX5 being abused, and as a warning not to buy these cars. G215 is still on the road, so some sliding in Greece never did it any harm.
Not sure how many went to Greece, but enough for a posse of journalists. Probably somewhere between 10 and 20, in all the launch colours. They may have arrived directly from Japan to be united with their already-allocated registration numbers once in Greece, rather than travelling via UK. It sometimes happens with car launches.
Re the pics, it’s nice to see cars - albeit original press cars well known in the public domain - with number plates not obscured. I think it’s a shame when this is done on this forum, because a number gives a car part of its identity and tells you quite a lot about it. Cloning of numbers on old MX-5s is hardly a problem, I’d have thought. Maybe I’m wrong.
As for how my car got its F registration, it’s a bit of a mystery. It was probably built in October 89 according to the spreadsheet mentioned earlier, so should be a G. I guess it was a DVLA error, but I like it with its unusual ‘early’ registration. When I went to see it before buying, I was hoping it would have a very low VIN number, but sadly not. It’s in the 4000s. But it was a good car so I bought it anyway.
John
Hello,
I have a UK car with the vin No of JMZNA18B200100087. I think this makes at a pretty eairly car. Can anybody confirm this?
Hi…I know this an old post but just saw the reg number G215 RKM. This was one of the UK press cars and then was converted to a race car for the 1990 Mazda MX-5 UK Cup. When that finished it was converted back to a road car. What a great car I know because I was the driver in the race series. PM for more info.
I have been reading the thread with some interest.
I have a 1990 Mk1 MX5 import from Japan 2/4/2004 to P H Sports Shardlow.
The Vin No is NA6CE 117874 B6 Reg is G690 OKW U 1990.
Can anyone please tell me what date the car was made and sold to whom if this is possible.
Gren uk
Another oldie still on the road
I have just purchased G91 CJN 1st reg 28/03/90 JMZNA18B200102024
Red
Chrome deck rack
Totally standard including the original Clarion radio cassette
67,266 miles
1 original owner, then owned by the same family until 2017
Comprehensive service history - Mazda up to 2014 then local indy garage
Small repair to drivers side cill (un-noticeable, I didn’t even see it when inspecting the car on a ramp) no other welding, never been re-painted and still looks great
Rust free body
Still has the original hood with no rips or cracks.
Am I correct in assuming that this was the 2024th UK MX5, or was it number 2024 off the production line with cars destined across the globe ?
Is there anything else anyone can tell me about the car ?
Lastly I am looking at an agreed valuation insurance policy, what value should I place on it ?
Many thanks Ian
2024th UK car.
Updates:
G173RKM, JMZNA18B200100003, MOT expired 2009, at last MOT, it appeared to be in still good condition. Registered 31-12-90, so despite the low plate number, might not be an early car. Red, A car with this plate was used in press photographs. Now why was this registration apparently recycled?
G174 RKM: Oldest “UK” MX5. Mot expired in Nov 2020, but this appears to be a COVID expiry, likely the car is still in fine condition. This car was registered 17-01-90, and is the oldest UK registration. Red
G175 RKM; Still in MOT, Mariner Blue, 121k miles, appears to be in excellent condition. Registered 02-02-90
G176 RKM; Unknown red Mazda. Never MOT’d. Registered 02-02-90
G177RKM; Red MX5. Never MOT’d. Registered 02-02-90
G178 RKM; Unknown silver Mazda. Registered 02-02-90. Never MOT’d. A silver MX5 appeared in a 1990 Evo group test.
G201RKM; Blue MX5. Registered 01-02-90. Probably one of the Greece launch cars. MOT expired in 2013. 150k. Bit rotten.
G202RKM; Blue MX5. Registered 01-02-90. Likely another press launch car. MOT expired in 2019, 152k Vehicle appeared to be in good order.
G203RKM; Blue MX5. Registered 01-02-90. MOT expired in 2007. 55k miles. Odd last advisory; hole in footwell, but no other history of rust.
G204RKM; Blue MX5. Registered 01-02-90. MOT expired in 2016. 110k miles. This one was a bit crusty.
G205RKM: Not issued
G206RKM: Red MX5. Registered 01-02-90. MOT expired 2009. 132k miles. It failed its last MOT on rust or cracking. Probably scrapped.
G207RKM: Unknown red Mazda. Never MOT’d.
G208RKM; Not issued
G209RKM: Red MX5. Registered 31-12-90. MOT expired 2013. Anther car curiously out of sync and probably a recycled plate?
G210RKM: Red MX5. Registered 01-02-90. MOT expired 2012. Last MOT was a fail with lots of rust, broken springs etc. Probably scrapped. Got to 193k miles though.
G211RKM: Unknown white Mazda. Never MOT’d.
G212RKM: White MX5. Registered 01-02-90. MOT expired 2007. Only 1 digital MOT, with another odd hole in floor advisory. 106k miles.
G213RKM: White MX5. Registered 01-02-90. MOT expired 2013. 116k miles.
G214RKM: Not issued
G215RKM: White MX5. Registered 01-02-90. MOT expired 2007. 120k miles
G216RKM: Unknown silver Mazda. . Registered 01-02-90. Never MOT’d
G217RKM: Silver MX5. Registered 01-02-90. MOT expired in 2010. Last MOT was a fail with “unsatisfactory modification” to sills (read plastic pudding). Probably scrapped. 119k miles.
G218 RKM: Unknown Yellow Mazda Never MOT’d. Registered 01-02-90
G219 RKM: Silver MX5… Registered 30-12-90, so out of sync. MOT expired 2015. 137k miles
G220 RKM. Silver MX5. Registered 01-02-90. Still MOT’d to 2021. 151k miles, but car appears to be in good condition. Oldest surviving silver UK MX5.
I think that ends that initial batch; later regs seem to be various 626s, Mazda diesels.
My assumption is that the early cars that never made it to a MOT ended up being MX5 Cup cars, and ended their days on their roof.
G218RKM was probably a silver MX5 that was later repainted yellow, given how MCL registered packets of cars with the DVLA. The intriguing question was why it was repainted (and the DVLA notified) but never MOT’d. I recall meeting an owner from several years ago who claimed to have an ex-Mazda France MK1, that was brought in as a RHD car, and seemed to have then received a full repaint in yellow. He was told it was supposed to be a test car, when Mazda was considering launching a yellow model in Europe. The car that I saw was very convincingly repainted in yellow.
The odd floor pan hole advisories in cars that were otherwise not rotboxes. Possibly ex-Cup cars returned to road spec, and having some legacy of the full cage?
If you have a G-plate MX5 with a RKM suffix, very likely you have an ex-Mazda Cars Limited press car. In fact, the suffix “KM” appears in many other later MX5s appearing in press shots.
Some of these cars appear to have been in fairly decent condition when last known on a database, so might be still in some barn or shed.
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My mazda had stick on number plate to it had yellow seat and wheels to
Hi Alanjudy,
I have chassis number 41, registered in UK on 01/02/90.
Do you know if there is a register for early MX5s?
Thanks, Steve
This thread I think is effectively a registry; G220RKM has been mentioned here before.
Also, bare in mind, by the time cars started turning up in the UK, the MX5 (whatever you call it) had already been in production for nigh on 10 months, and had already seen some revisions (diff casing casting, welding on the suspension arms etc).
G220RKM was part of that first batch of cars, likely the oldest surviving Silver Stone UK market MX5. Probably had a life as a dealer demo, maybe journalist reviews.
Thanks Saz,
It would be great to know if it was reviewed in any magazines.
It has been fully restored and I will be taking it to Matfield classic car show this weekend.
Cheers, Steve
My red mx5 uk model is registered 14 th March 1990 with chassis starting jmzna1 so def uk not eunos