Hi, recently got a mk1/ eunos and I was trying to determine what spec it was. Is there anyway you can tell from the plate on the firewall and so on?
Tried searching the forums but not been able to pin point anything yet. Been an import with the owner not knowing a lot I haven’t got much to go on.
Any info would be awesome
Only a tyre pressure sticker in Japanese. Was the first place I looked.
Going by the chassis number it is an early model.
Does it have only one large round hole on the bonnet landing panel?
The VIN plate says NA8C, therefore an early-ish 1.8. Probably built in the autumn of 1993.
Matches up with the info I’ve got, 1.8, 1993 (1994 on gov site). Just not clear on spec. It has what I think is a mazdaspeed rear wing and some other bits, but not sure what came on the car or was fitted in Japan before import.
On the drivers door shut, there should be a sticker with VIN and also build codes (not present on 1989/90 cars). If its missing, then the car has probably had some paint in the past. I think Mazda UK can supply a replacement sticker for about £50.
Its fairly simple to work out this car. As its red, it can really only be one of two model; S-Special, S-Package (which was the equivalent of the iS model) or Normal.
S-Special would have had originally a front tower brace in yellow (could go missing), Nardi shifter and steering wheel (could go missing), Bilsteins (most have died by now), 14" BBS wheels (could go missing). A boot spoiler (different to the OP’s) was no longer fitted as standard to the S-Special. S-Specials had the tear drop speaker covers; these are unlikely to go missing. But they could get added over the years to a S-Package.
S-Special bits:
Technically, in August 1993, there were 4 models available; Normal, S-Special, V-Special, V-Special Type 2.
Aircon was a shop-option for all models (but its rare to see a car without it)
All manual cars, according to the manufacture brochure, came with a Torsen diff (T1, 4.100 final drive). I know there is some confusion about this, because some early NA 1.8 Roadsters arriving here didn’t have Torsen fitted.
The Normal car, out of the box, came with a polyurethane steering wheel and steel wheels, manual mirrors, manual windows, power steering. The S-Package added power mirrors, a Momo steering wheel, power windows, 14" alloy wheels. Most Roadsters were S-Packages. This car is likely a S-Package, with mild aftermarket upgrades (eg Mazdaspeed spoiler, GAB shocks, HKS intake).
Factory brochure:
Cheers that’s a lot of info. Might get in touch with Mazda to try sort a replacement sticker.
Seems I have a bit of a mix match. Have a pretty standard looking airbag wheel, not Nardi. No power mirrors as far as I’ve noticed, electric windows. Alloy wheels but not bbs. No tower strut brace but seems to have some extra bracing underneath.
Cheers guys
Air bag wheel? Looks like an early 1.8 JDM import S Pk, we can help with a build sticker.
M-m
Ye at least I think it’s an airbag wheel, but I may be wrong. Same as this image from the brochure above.
Also that would be great, would definitely love a replacement
Thats not an airbag wheel. Thats the basic rubber steering wheel (the title on the photo literally says “base car”). You have the base model, not S-Package. This is what the 1993 airbag looks like
Pretty much all S-Packs would have had the Momo. The airbag could be optioned on all models, not necessarily as part of the “S-Package”.
Base models are relatively rare; those that were ordered often ended up as track toys, so check it hasn’t had a rollbar fitted previously.
1993 options
Square= Auto, circle = Manual. On base cars, airbag came only on autos. On V-Specs, only on Autos, on S-Specs, could be had with manual. Note, SRS airbag was not a package automatically combined with ABS. Though in practice, anyone ticking off an airbag ended to tick off ABS. Yours certainly has no airbag.
These base cars tended to get the hell modded out of them over the years.
Ah that’s slightly disappointing! It’s probably just a standard with electric windows then. But I did buy the car assuming it was a standard spec, was happy enough to have the rear wing as seen hardly any of that style around.
Also glad it’s not an airbag stealing wheel as I want to change it out for a Momo or Nardi. Just assumed by the shape and the airbag on dash( guessing they all have that but only spec ones will light up?)
I’ll have a look round under the carpet for any drill holes or anything. Diff wise, I’m guessing there’s no real way to tell without having a look inside? I’m hoping it’s not been raced as both uk owners were older and hoping more sensible. But don’t know jap history.
Cheers for all that info though, can already say this forum is awesome!
Re diff. According to the brochure, all the manuals “should” have had it:
Torsen is visibly different externally
Right diff is an open 1.8 diff (if a clutch diff was fitted, it would use this). Left is Torsen with rubber dampener.
But as an anecdote, a member had a 1991 base model, with the rubber steering wheel. It also came from Japan with a full cage on Watanabes (completely stock shocks, intake and exhaust though).
He changed the diff oil, and afterwards, the diff really rattled. He thought it was knackered and fitted a used one. And swapped the old diff for a MX5OC umberella… The old diff turned out to be a Mazdaspeed (KAAZ) clutch-type LSD… A big paperweight for the owner.
If the car has been here 15-20 years, I would hope the diff oil has been changed at least once, and any wierdness identified.
Jap history is now far enough away not to worry too much. Raced cars wouldn’t have made it here. But a lot of the tracks had cars for rent. Back in the day, many UK import brought standard parts from Ka Yu (which later became Shing Fung, then SFT MX5parts) to put modified cars back to stock. Rollbars were pulled and thrown in the skip. Yep, a lot of parts went for scrap. One dealerIrish importer (at one point, most imports came through Dublin) I knew recalled throwing away 2 or 3 superchargers. At that time, modified cars were cheaper to buy at auction, but harder to sell here.
Those base cars were the lightest though; 980kg!
i was looking at that last night, found the import documents and the weight was listed at 980kg!
ill get a look under at he diff when i can to see if it has the damper. i think im just going to have to slowly work out whats what on it. the previous owner had it for 17 years, did less than 1k a year in it. He had it off a family friend who had it since import, she got rid of it after a couple of years as she was struggling with getting in and out. From speaking to him i dont think they really looked into the car too much, wasnt even aware of the GAB adjustable shocks.
Hopefully its all either normal or extra free goodies, we’ll see. Must be plenty of people kicking themselves now knowing whats been binned over the years. but i suppose if nothing gets binned nothing becomes rare or desirable.
Its a standard base model early 1.8 import .
M-m
The GABs are basically a road shock. The AGX version became widely sold; I would consider it at the milder end of shock upgrades, and given the age, whatever they were is now largely moot. Maybe the adjusters are still free. The pin stiffens and the plastic knob just rounds off. Your car is one of those that fall into the gap of the usual import VIN checkers; these checkers I think are not constructed from a full Mazda database. The 1.8s started at NA8C-100001. We unfortunately don’t have monthly data for Eunos Roadsters in 1993, only annual (https://www.miata.net/faq/production/MazdaMX-5_MonthlySalesJAP_CY1989-2006.pdf). The NA8 was launched in August that year. NA6 sales had been on a slide before then (22,594 in 1991, 18,657 in 1992 (8% down), 16,789 in 1993 (NA6 and NA8, 10% down).
H1 1993 sales were probably 10-12% down compared to H2 1992. I could model it out a bit, but a quick estimate would be around 7300 NA6s sold in 1993, so around 9500 NA8s. I think your car was likely made in Novermber-December 1993 (though its not quite that simple, as Mazda would likely have ramped up stock in August 1993, so the dealers would have preregistered stock that they could mark up.
Finding out the history of an import might be fun, but be careful where it takes you (sometimes better not to know). There was a forum member who had one of the Tokyo Limiteds. It had distinctive monogrammed cream dials; literally unique. The dials resonated with me as something I had seen before. A bit of hunting around tracked down a small Roadster club in Japan, and contact was made with the club secretary, who remembered the car. The members had commissioned custom dial sets each with their initials, and this included a Tokyo Limited. This sounded great; a car owned by an enthusiast. Only the club secretary confirmed that the car had been crashed, and he assumed scrapped (so maybe the damage was bad). So he was surprised the car ended up in the UK. Probably not so surprising, as I know, certainly around 1997-2002, dealers had managed to import Tokyo Limited and even M2-Inc cars without really knowing what they were; these cars were priced at auction low because they had crash damage. My M2-1002 only got to the UK because underneath, it had some pretty bad damage and bad repairs. The first UK owner had no idea what it was. When I pulled the panels off the front and found the inner wing seperating off the chassis rails, I knew this wasn’t a project for me. So sold it on to the trade (with full disclosure) who could do a better job than me (and Sam Goodwin did a superb job).
Certainly 1997 to around 2002 there were some top notch cars being imported. Companies like Japatrans were going to forecourts and paying full price for really nice cars, not going to auction. But stocks of NAs became increasingly hard to find; importers liked Grade 3.5 cars (often cars with a history of minor panel damage that had been decently repaired).
Back in 2000 I was looking for a replacement for my first NA (import, off the boat, purchased in 1997, stolen from club meet, and torched). I went down to the Dublin yards, expecting to bag a bargain (imports bulk brought, then English buyers went over). Honestly, the condition of the cars was horrendous. Not retail worthy.
New Zealanders and Aussies had been buying imports for years, but were gradually outpriced at auctions by British buyers. Who in turn were pushed aside by Canadian buyers (15 year rule there) eager to buy something that wasn’t rotton to the core. Now US buyers are buying cars up, and the quality of the NA Roadsters ending up there is pretty shocking (rust). Some US importers are now sourcing RHD cars from the UK because we are/were a pretty cheap used market.
After 25 years of imports into the UK, I can look at the Japanese version of Autotrader, and still see really nice NAs, but nearly all of them sky high prices.
I suggest enjoy the car, don’t delve into it too deeply (and if you do, don’t be too disheartened if you find something you don’t like. Its been here a long time already).
Completely agree, don’t want to dig up any skeletons. I just checked the diff out, I’ve got the rubber damper.
However I seem to remember reading something on miata net that you can have open diffs with the rubber dampener. But I may be mistaken, can you do the test of rotating one wheel and seeing the direction/ motion of the other?
I know this has gone off on a tangent now from the original topic so let me know if I need to change anything, new to this 
Not with a Torsen
Best way is to drain the oil and look.
