The Mazda MX-5 35th Anniversary Edition Seems Accidentally Retro In The Best Way

It’s hard to believe the MX-5 is approaching middle age, but a first-year Miata is now as old as an MGA was when the Miata went on sale in 1990. It’s enjoyed an uncharacteristically long lineage considering the capriciousness of the sports car market, and to celebrate its latest birthday, a small number of MX-5s are trading the party ball for an IPA. Mazda just revealed the MX-5 35th Anniversary Edition at Daytona International Speedway, and it’s making us feel all warm and fuzzy, even if it’s not the most boisterous roadster Mazda’s ever offered.

Instead of basing the 35th Anniversary Edition on the Club trim with the BBS wheels, Recaro seats, and Brembo brakes-containing Sport package, Mazda’s gone a little softer by going up the range to the Grand Touring trim. This means it gets nice touches like a frameless auto-dimming rearview mirror to fight glare from modern headlights, GPS navigation for exploring backroads with patchy cellular service, adaptive headlights so you can see into dark corners better, and leather upholstery.

Specifically, the MX-5 35th Anniversary Edition gets what Mazda calls tan leather, but it’s really more of a beige. Hang on, don’t change the channel yet — over the past few years, the de facto light interior color for most cars has become grey, and do you really want that? Compared to grey, beige is warm, and the matching convertible top feels charmingly old-school.

You know what paint color goes well with beige leather? Green, sure, but also darker red, such as the Artisan Red seen on the Mazda CX-90. In the ’90s, this color would’ve been named after a wine, and you can’t help but get a sense of accuracy in that age-old convention. It’s a full-bodied sort of red that contrasts a lighter interior and top nicely.

Speaking of contrast, the MX-5 35th Anniversary Edition also sports something sorely missed from the greater automotive landscape: Silver wheels! The automotive industry’s been tormenting us with diamond-cut wheels for what feels like ages, so it’s nice to see a simple single-tone finish that stands out from the asphalt and fills the wheel wells nicely.

Perhaps best of all, the MX-5 35th Anniversary Edition still keeps most of the performance parts you really want on a Miata, from the limited-slip differential to the track mode to relax the stability control. In fact, this mixture of colors and amenities seems incredibly familiar.

Ah yes, that’s where I’ve seen this color scheme before. The 1995 Mazda Miata M Edition, like this one that sold last year on Cars & Bids, featured Merlot paint over a tan interior with a tan top, and Artisan Red is conceptually an evolved version of Merlot. The big difference here is that Mazda made 3,000 M Edition 1995 Miatas, while only 300 MX-5 35th Anniversary Editions are coming stateside.

Still, with a price tag of $37,435 including freight, or $1,620 more than a regular MX-5 Grand Touring, the Mazda MX-5 35th Anniversary Edition feels worth the premium, especially since you can’t get an MX-5 professionally wrapped in a non-factory color for less than this delta. Sure, Artisan Red is not Mariner Blue or the awesome orange that came on the 30th Anniversary MX-5, but there’s something wonderfully mature about the MX-5 35th Anniversary Edition. It’s grown up in all the right ways, sanding down the spikiness and volatility of youth without losing a childlike sense of wonder. Happy 35th, Miata. Thanks for keeping the dream of an affordable sports car alive.

Photo credits: Mazda, Cars & Bids
Top graphic: Mazda, Hanna-Barbera

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