As a general rule, most segments of cars have grown significantly since the 1980s, when North American downsizing measures came to fruition. A new midsized Honda Accord is very nearly the same length as a full-sized W126 Mercedes-Benz S-Class from the mid 1980s, for example. That explains why the new Accord feels so capacious, then.
However, not every segment of car has seemingly grown to what used to be the next size class up. On Monday, Autopian Discord member Fuhrman16 pointed out something interesting. It turns out that the current Mazda MX-5 isn’t far off from the length and height of British roadsters sold some 60 years ago, and the MGB is a prime example.
We’re leaning on a fun little website called Carsized for this, which lets you virtually line up two cars in a row and compare their actual sizes. While the photos don’t exactly convey scale perfectly, the dimensions are pretty accurate. It turns out that a fourth-generation Mazda MX-5 is 1.15 inches longer and a quarter-inch taller than a chrome-bumper MGB, a seriously impressive feat considering the MG didn’t have crumple zones.
So far so tiny, but things change a bit when you move around to the front and compare widths. The ND MX-5 is more than eight inches wider than an MGB. If we’re comparing it to old-school icons, the MX-5 is less than an inch narrower than a C3 Corvette, a sports car which wasn’t exactly small in the late-’60s. To an extent, this is the price of side impact protection, but there’s just something right about a wider track.
When you think about what you’re getting for the extra width, roughly eight inches doesn’t sound so bad either. A boatload more power, two more forward gears, side airbags, modern door impact beams, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a cabin air filter, substantially wider tires, and telescopic front dampers instead of lever units are all some serious upgrades.
Weight’s kept nicely under control too, with a 2025 MX-5 spinning the needle on the scale to 2,372 pounds. For context, a 1962 MGB has a curb weight of 2,030 pounds, and a roughly 342-pound penalty for modern performance and amenities doesn’t sound like a terrible hardship.
I have to say, well done Mazda for not just keeping size relatively in check compared to earlier MX-5s, but also keeping it within the sightlines of the model’s spiritual predecessors. By not giving into pressure to build something bigger, the MX-5’s kept its appeal. No wonder it’s the only affordable roadster left.
[Hat-tip to Furhman16!]
Top graphic images: Bring A Trailer; Mitutoyo; Mazda
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I appreciate Mazda for keeping size in check on multiple models. I just bought a 2025 Mazda3 hatchback. At one time I had a first gen 2006 Mazda3 hatchback. I ran both through Carsized and in 19 years, it has only grown by 5 inches in length and 1.6 inches in width. Thank you Mazda for remembering that some of us like driving small cars.
The crazy thing is I think of the MGB as the “big” MG (relative to the Midget) and I am always surprised how small they are when I see one in traffic. It’s the same with a BMW 2002, I think of them as normal sized, which they were in 1963 but now they look tiny.
I am also discovering how genuinely tiny a Fiat 500 is.
I could probably fit a Miata, as long my shoulders aren’t pinched.
Haven’t Miatas always been about the same size?
Yes, until you park an NA or NB next to its successors. The NC and ND look absolutely taller with higher beltlines but then park one next o a BRZ or similar small sporty cars and they appear tiny again.
I’m fortunate enough to own a NC and ND Miata. I also have a MGB. The MGB feels so much bigger inside, but the ND Miata is a tight fit, but so rewarding. I like my NC best. I know it’s “too big” but it’s so much more roomy and easier to get in and out of. And it still rewards you with an outstanding driving experience. Carsized doesn’t have the NC for comparison yet though.
Over 25 years I owned 3 NA, 1 NB and 1 NC and spent considerable wheel time in a friends ND. The NC (Winning Blue) was my hands-down favorite as well. It was by no means spacious but did fit my wide load butt just fine. The tuning options have only gotten better over the years (another pal bought a Flyin’ Miata-built LS3 conversion) and they can take high-mileage horse beatings and keep smiling. the NC feels roomier and looks larger (its just taller by an inch or two) but weighs in within the spitting distance of the NB with most of its option list checked off.
My NC is Winning Blue as well. Must be a 2006. Good choice.
I haven’t driven an NC, but I’ve owned an NB and I’ve driven an ND, and yeah, My 6’1″ stocky frame fit far better in the NB than the ND. I can’t really pin down why that is, but I took my NB on days-long roadtrips, while I was ready to be done with the ND after an hour.
I like the looks of the ND, but it didn’t seem any more dynamic to drive than my NB, and the added power didn’t seem to add very much to the driving experience either.
Current RF ND owner can confirm I am only 5’7″ so I have to sit further forward so I am not killing my legs trying to shift and my head just barely scrapes by not hitting the roof. If I am wearing one of my winter hats with a poof ball/mohawk I can feel it rubbing on the roof when driving haha.
When I was auto crossing regularly in my C-Stock NA, I was caught up in the disease that that sport lures folks into. The fantasy of “If I just added a set of X options to my car, I could beat THAT GUY who always places tops in our class”, and I never could. THAT GUY beat times for C-Stock as well as several street prepared classes in his stock NA. Hell, he once showed up in his janky, slightly lifted son’s 20 year old Toyota pickup and was third fastest overall time of the day in it. – – – He could drive a phonebook faster than most people in their $100k cars.
I’ve had an NB and a ‘71 MGB. Being 6’3” I fit into the MGB so much easier. I had to do some serious seat mods in the NB to be comfortable. If I still had both (and the money) I’d somehow put the Miata drivetrain into the MGB and have the perfect roadster.
That caliper image is *chef’s kiss*. I wonder if there’s a super sized one for F-150 longbeds
My NA Miata is slightly shorter, considerably wider, and considerably lighter than my straight six 1964 Austin Healey 3000, aka the “Big Healey”.
The Healey is so narrow that you bump elbows with your passenger like fighting over the armrest on an economy seat airline flight.
We need narrow sports cars again. Cuts down on frontal area.
I own an NA miata (chassis) and a ’69 Datsun Roadster. The Miata track width is 6-7 inches wider than the Datsun. And the offset for Miata’s is quite high where the offset of the Datsun is around zero, so the actual suspension width is even greater a difference than the track width. Its crazy how small the vintage roadsters are compared to the seemingly tiny Miata.
One of my favorite things about our MGB is the ability to reach over and adjust the passenger side mirror from the driver’s seat while driving with the windows and top down. I also consider NOT having apple or android stuff to be an advantage.
I have a base 1.5SE-L and it has just a radio. No lane keeping, no annoyances, the pure driving experience.
The Miata may be the same size on the outside, but it is a LOT smaller on the inside. I owned a Fiata, and I have owned a Triumph Spitfire for 30+ years. The Triumph is 4/5s the size of a Miata, but has massively more space inside, and is far more comfortable to be in. There is more space behind the seats in a Spitfire than a M/Fiata has in the trunk, and then a much larger trunk as well.
Why would you want to make a Miata look like an MGB ? The MGB was a lousy car and it’s not pretty either.
The first Miata got it right. They visually imitated the Lotus Elan, and THAT is a car worth imitating.
Im surprised the Japanese haven’t come with a mgb body kit. Just that weird c2 Corvette thing from the coach builder. Maybe there is one lurking somewhere.
Are you also surprised that Angelina Jolie has not had plastic surgery so she can look like Jerry Seinfeld ?
Look at Mitsuoka’s line up. Its hard to look away but you really want to. And I thought she had ? Or maybe that was that one they call horse face
There’s plenty of those kinds of kits for the NA. Pit Crew Racing is the first one that comes to mind.
It might be a hot take but I personally think the PCR nose kit for the NB Miata is actually a visual improvement on stock:
https://myjapandirect.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/PCR-FKIT-FRP-NB-03-100×100.jpg
Not a $2k improvement, but an improvement.
I’m with you. I know the popups are loved but I’ve never been a fan.
I used to have a 73 MGB as my daily driver. At 6’2″ with 34″ inseam, I was always surprised that I could fully extend my left leg in the foot well, and my right if I slipped it between gas and brake. Huge leg room on both sides. Now I daily a Fiata, and it has to be an automatic because there is not enough room to work a clutch. Just 1 inch more in the Mazda cabin would be excellent.
I owned a Fiata for a year and a half until the literal pain became such that I couldn’t take it any more. Mazda baked a lot of stupid into the cabin of these cars. There is no reason why the rear bulkhead could not be arranged to allow for a couple more inches of rearward seat travel while allowing the seat to be further back without being church pew upright. And I have REALLY short legs for my also 6’2″ height – only a 29″ inseam. I am built like a gorilla and I still didn’t fit in the damned thing. I LOVED driving that car, but I couldn’t do it for more than ~45 minutes at a time.
That’s a bummer. At 6’1″ish, the Z4 definitely makes me trade seatback angle for space. Bonus, I know if I’ve got it wrong because the leather will squeak like hell on the interior plastics.
That’s why I replaced the Fiata with a 1-Series convertible and not a Z4. Though both the Z3 and Z4 are like limousines compared to the ND Miata platform. I can drive either just fine, but decided the minor gain in fun over the 1-Series wasn’t worth the reduction in usefulness. That back seat might not be very big, but it definitely comes in handy.
Basically just proof that the standard industry line that cars “have” to get way bigger to keep up with modern requirements is just bullshit to cover up cheap/lazy engineering and/or manufacturing.
It’s probably lazy marketing more than anything – just keep making them a little bigger with each subsequent generation to point to incremental improvement, and start introducing new smaller models to slot in below your now super-sized car.
True, they just gave up on the introducing smaller models part here in the US these days and it makes me sad
And yet they weren’t driving 20% smaller cars.
https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/chevrolet-impala-1960-sedan-vs-toyota-rav4-2019-suv-swb/
Outside dimensions don’t even tell the story. As with this rather dumb comparison of the MGB and the Miata, it’s the *inside* that matters, and modern cars are stupidly small on the inside compared to their size on the outside (for both good and bad reasons, there is no arguing with the safety of modern cars). They have had to get bigger to keep the insides usable.
And don’t even get me started on how awful the visibility out of pretty much EVERY modern car is in the name of “safety”, allegedly at least.
There’s a lot of fullsize pickups. Too many, even. There’s a lot more small/midsized crossovers.
Americans have also gotten significantly taller since then. I can assure you that my width and gut (I have a keg not a six-pack) were not problems driving my Fiata in any way. But my length definitely was.
I was shocked that they had to widen a Datsun 510 body by like 6 inches to graft it onto a Miata pan. I always loved that my old Nissan pickup was often narrow enough to slip between bollards.
I posted this up higher, but I own an NA miata chassis, and I own a ’69 Datsun roadster. The miata track width is 6-7 inches wider than the Datsun. Plus the miata has high offset wheels and the Datsun has zero offset, so the actual suspension width hub to hub is an even greater difference. I’m planning to stuff the miata suspension and breaking under the Datsun, but I haven’t decided if widebody datsun or narrowed miata suspension.
That could be really cool if it fit OK, don’t know if that OHC engine would fit where a pushrod used to go though. I would definitely try to narrow the chassis but that’s probably very, very impractical.
Keeping the Datsun chassis (its full on body on frame), just modifying it to take the Mazda suspension etc. The Miata suspension design is surprisingly narrowable. People have narrowed miata stuff front and rear by foot and still had something fully useable.
If you could pull it off that would be an amazing car.
We will see how it goes. Its not completely hopeless. I have a 1971 Travelall that I welded the body to the floorpan and firewall of a 2003 Tahoe that is nearly finished (so seats/dash/etc are all Tahoe, Chassis and engine are all Tahoe, but the skin is all Travelall) so I at least have some evidence its not all smoke. I have a small youtube channel if you wanted to check that project out. One day the Roadster should appear on there. I call it Project Toadstool.
Here’s my channel if interested: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTrdrGY5EdNUzXRRJXjVR6A
That is wild, and that Tahvelall sounds like a really fun idea.
So, what you’re saying is, a fiberglass MGB replica body kit might work on a Miata?
Also, another fact – a brand new 2025 Tesla Model S is almost exactly the same size as a 1955 Chevrolet, which is apparently intentional, it was decided somewhere in the development process that that was the ideal size for an American family car
It would look kinda funny widened like that, but it would be pretty cool also.
Do they make an MGB replica? Why? Wouldn’t it be easier just to buy an MGB?
No, but someone should. They made loads of MGTD replicas, and continue to do so, even though real MGTDs are about the same price or less than a good replica.
Man, I really wish I could fit into an MX-5, particularly the RF. My 6’3” body just can do it no matter how I try to fold myself up though.
I feel ya, 6’4”. The NC comes close for me but still isn’t ideal, and the rest are short drives only ever since I crested 30, before that I didn’t mind at all how squished I was, haha.
I’m also 6’4 and have been considering a Miata for my next car since I’m an empty nester.
I currently drive a MK7 GTI and it’s just plain roomy compared to my old Cherokee. Do the seats in the Miata lower like the GTI ones do?
I can’t remember, maybe the ND does? I don’t think NC does but the NB or earlier do not for sure. The NC has the most cabin room though for sure, and there a place that sells brackets that lower the seat a bit.
Same. I just don’t fit, and it’s a bummer. Another too-small-for-me was the Honda S2000.
Yeah most roadsters unfortunately.
I keep eyeing MGBGTs because, unlike Miatas, solid roofs with a pretty decent trunk especially I’m single.
Also Bolt Pattern is JDM Approved and BOY Do they look good on SSRs:
http://i.imgur.com/uqoTcPE.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/U2qBTOy.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/G6OStxJ.jpg
That being said, yes, I wish there was a legit, NON Specialized actual hatchback MX-5. A Mazda Clown Shoe would be welcome.
One of the reasons I love to autocross my BMW e36 M3 is that it is only one inch wider than an NA Miata, it also happens to be one inch narrower than an ND. For the power has on hand, it does pretty well for itself on the track, particularly in slaloms.
I came all the way here to say, the ND mx5 Miata has no in cabin air filter as built. Loved the perspective of the article though!
Came to the say the same thing. Supposedly it’s got the housing for the filter, but with the lack of glovebox it’s a pain to get to.
It has a screen to keep leaves and debris out. Flyin’ Miata offers a filter kit – there is an excellent video on Youtube that shows how to install it. It requires more disassembly than many people would want to do to a brand new car.
It has one (at least Fiatas do, so I can’t imagine Miatas don’t), but they hold it up in the air and build the car around it. MUCH disassembly required to change it. There are instructions out there online.
Kevin – They don’t weirdly. It’s a mesh screen but no changeable filter. As others have mentioned, there are after market parts to add it.
I love old British steel however I do not think the Mazda is even a comparison it is so much better in every way.
For the first time since, like, the 70s in Los Angeles, I saw a guy driving an MGB. Man, those things were tiny (as were the other roadsters of the day). This MGB looked extra small partly because the driver must have been about 6’3″, and partly because it was next to a Tahoe.
The Jensen Healey would actually fit under a semi truck trailer as seen on Top Gear
I drive an Austin Healey Sprite frequently, they make an MGB look luxurious and large.
I once snapped a picture of my NC right next to a Honda Beat. Kei cars are tiny!
I have a Triumph Spitfire, it is hilariously smaller than almost everything. Longer and lower than your car, but just as narrow.
Here it is next to my not exactly gigantic 1-series BMW convertible:
https://flic.kr/p/2jSmkD2
https://flic.kr/p/2jSmmuL
The BMW replaced a Fiata, the Spitfire is hilariously more spacious and more comfortable on the inside than the Miata with an Italian accent was.
I imagine if compared to one of the later rubber bumper Bs the Miata would be shorter and lower (MG had to raise the car up an inch to meet the minimum headlight height standards) while weighing roughly the same.
The one big thing I noticed though was the Miata’s truck space was nearly half that of the MGB (4.6 cubic feet to 8.8).
Even the cabin in the MGB feels more spacious since it’s basically a tub with a smaller central tunnel and no console.
MGB owner here (the B stands for “beater” in my case).
The extra space is quickly eaten up by the full-size spare, tools to change knock-off wire wheels, and all the tools/parts required to keep one on the road. I’d call it a wash (but don’t actually take my B through a wash though or the trunk will become an aquarium due to leaky trunk seal).
Joking aside, that full-size spare does eat up a bunch of trunk space, as does the fuel filler neck. And my trunk seal does leak like a sieve.
The topshot…
Fully extended, the 6″ calipers only go to ~6.1″. It’s not even possible, sans mods, to do what you have done. They do make 8″ ones, but that would have perhaps made things even more difficult (to satisfy me). Also, I have forwarded that to Mitutoyo so they can provide a bill for the clear lack of fair use going on here.
In the future, please clear all future topshots with me, thanks.
I’ve heard that some people who have 6″ calipers tell other people that they’re actually 8″ calipers. There is, however, no truth to the rumor that “Mitutoyo” translates to “in your dreams.”
I hear that women think they are 8″, or even 10″, calipers.
.
.
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I’ll see myself out.
Thank you both for filling in where my mind was, but did not go.
I hope Mazda will release a Miata that has headlights that look like the taillights (round). and offer some bright friendly color options as well.
It looks a bit aggressive from the front.
I mentioned it in the GT86 piece, but I think they deliberately moved the Miata away from its cutesy British roadster look to something more aggressive to broaden its appeal.
I think the previous generation ‘chicklet’ styling was the prettiest. It also was more of a no b.s. look without all the overwrought creases and the goofy shape of the headlights.
Wow. That is the only model I won’t buy because I can’t get over the aesthetics. ND is the best looking Miata by far.
NC Miata is clean but too jelly bean. It looks like an inflated Miata. The ND has great proportions and would be perfect if they eliminated the forced aggression. (pinched headlights, slightly thicc ass)
I’d say it depends on how it is optioned (suspension etc.) and which year nose treatment you have but generally I agree. It just so happens to be my favorite, with its NC1 nose. I never really cared for the creased and pinched later front end styles
Seeing these side-by-side pics makes me hope Mazda returns to a more “fun retro” design for the next generation. The ND just looks too angry at the front end and a little too BMW at the back end (love the side profile though). The NA was just such a great throwback-yet-modern design and Mazda has moved farther and farther away from that theme with each redesign.
Oh, and how about some fun colors again??? I can get a freaking Chevy crossover in more exciting colors than I can get in a MX-5, and that’s just sad.
Make one look like a Jaguar D-Type from the front, make it a Kammback or Kammail coupe with low drag, keep it light, narrow, and agile, and they won’t be able to take my money fast enough.
This is why I think it’s totally within the realm of possibility to build a pleasant ev roadster that gets 250 miles on the highway and weighs less than 3000lbs.
It probably couldn’t make the business case at the price people are willing to pay, but it could be done for non-supercar prices.
it could be done, but who is looking for that type of car
People without a second passenger or checked luggage?
Yeah, but even they have to haul a load of mulch and tow a horse trailer every weekend. /s
Here’s how you do one under 2,000 lbs:
Make it the size of a Lotus 11, perhaps a bit longer, absolutely no wider, keep the roofline around 1 meter in height, and make it an aerodynamic streamliner with a Cd value around 0.16. All you’d need is a 30 kWh battery pack to get a 250+ mile range at 70 mph. Rollup windows. AC/radio optional. Not a touch screen in sight. Don’t load it with crap: it’s a sports car, and intended to be an inexpensive one, at an entry level price point if volum can rise high enough to get the labor cost per unit down.
If you can mass produce it, and get enough sales, this has potential to be a sub-$20,000 car because of low material costs. If production volume is too low and it is expensive, even ino the six-figures, as a result, make sure it comes with 300+ horsepower to justify however high a price tag necessary to make a profit. This thing is going to do 0-60 mph in about 2.5 seconds and top 200 mph. If it can sell a bunch, keep this amount of power and lower the price, and undercut all the six-figure supercar makers and piss off all the rich people that think this sort of performance should be “exclusive” to them.
Low hanging fruit waiting to be plucked for more than 2 decades, and the technology has only gotten better since then.
Skip the radio put in Bluetooth speakers and let it hook up with your phone.
Honestly a neat idea for track focused cars – who cares about the weight of the stereo if you can remove it when you’re actually tracking it
Lolololol have you seen what the Cyberster weighs? It’s so fat Thanos had to snap twice.
It’s morbidly obese and deserves endless fat-shaming.
So you want an original Tesla Roadster?
It was based on the Lotus Elise and weighed almost twice as much, around 2800lbs.
245 mile range and apart from the ridiculous prices (80k in 2008 for the base) it does fit the bill.
New Tesla Roadster, if it ever exists, will never sell like it could have thanks to things