It would be better to go back a decade or two to be able to decipher the reason behind the success of Mazda’s MX5. After all, it is through humble beginnings that success is accomplished. MX5 or Miata (as it is widely known) started its production in 1989 in its home country in Hiroshima Japan. Its debut was a significant event as it paved the way for roadsters to be revived in the automobile industry; being a roadster sports car itself.
It was Kenichi Yamamoto, head of the Research and Development in Mazda, when he was interviewed in 1976 who revealed Mazda’s intention to revive roadsters. He said that British convertibles have already been faced out. That is why Mazda thought of producing convertibles but at a much cheaper price. Bob Hall, the one who interviewed him, in 1981 was then with the Mazda US company and he met again met up with Yamamoto, who became chairman then of Mazda. Their meeting resulted into the approval of researching about the idea of producing a roadster.
1983 came and Offline 55 program of Mazda (the one responsible for seeking ways to change the look of new Mazda models) approved the idea of a Mazda roadster and so it was then made to be a concept car. The Mazda teams in Tokyo and California then made a competition out of the concept development to produce the best concept for the car.
The initial judgment was made in April 1984. The designs were still on paper then and the California team presented an FR layout(or Front-engine, Rear-wheel drive), while the Japanese team proposed the regular FF layout(Front-engine, Front-wheel drive) and an MR layout(Mid-engined, Rear-wheel drive). The judges first favored the MR layout of the Japanese. But when the second judgment was made in August of 1984, the FR layout of the California team won. At this time, clay models were already presented. The California team named it Duo 101 and it was selected to be the basis for the new-lightweight sport car that Mazda will soon produce.
It was International Automotive Design in England that received the commission to develop its running prototype, to be codenamed V705. It was completed in August 1985 and was driven on the roads of Santa Barbara in US. It got positive reactions from bystanders and so in January 18, 1986, the project got its final approval.
Then in 1989, the definitive model was chosen and then they named it MX-5 from Mazda eXperimental project number 5. It came out as expected, a light-weight sports car with only 940kg.
The First MX-5 Draft
