The Rarest Mazda Miata Ever Made

• Mazda

People who love the Mazda MX-5 Miata tend to have a cult-like obsession with the plucky roadster, and for good reason. The Mazda Miata is an example of a quintessential sports car and has garnered a reputation for being fun to drive. This recipe has been refined and honed over 35 years, improving on excellence to the level that the Miata continues to win awards to this day.

Recently, Mazda unveiled the most powerful iteration of the Miata ever in Japan. Officially titled the Mazda Spirit Racing Roadster 12R, it finds itself on the receiving end of 200 metric horsepower and a host of other refinements developed through Mazda's motorsport exploits. Only 200 examples of this hardcore Miata will be produced, which might sound like a mere handful, but there is another that's even rarer, the only factory Miata coupe ever built.

Mazda Roadster Coupe: The Only Factory-Built Miata Coupe

179 Units Built

The year was 2003, and Mazda had just released the Mazda Roadster Coupe. Like the previous iterations of the Roadster (the Japanese market name for the MX-5 Miata), it was a two-seater sports car, but for the first time since the birth of the Mazda MX-5, it now had a fixed roof. Originally, Mazda had placed no cap on how many it would produce - although production was on an order-only basis. Four versions were available, and only two of these would be limited in number - to 150 and 200 units respectively. But total production of the Roadster Coupe only barely surpassed that 150-unit figure for all four variants, with the official number sitting at 179 examples.

It was designed to retain the Miata's fun-to-drive characteristics while delivering an even more driver-focused package. During the development of the Roadster Coupe's body, Mazda's engineers revised the structure of the standard frame to improve the rigidity of the body. Typically, you'd expect a weight penalty, especially compared to the lightweight manually-folding oft-top on the base MX-5, but the fixed roof only added 22 lbs to the overall weight while adding rigidity.

Another change to the standard MX-5's formula for the Roadster Coupe was a change in styling, said to advance the design of the standard MX-5 through a combination of computer-aided design (CAD) and hand modeling. The various versions had unique styling traits, too, with some being extra sporty while others leaned into the British sports car ethos - arguably unsuccessfully.

Four Flavors To Choose From

When Mazda introduced the Roadster Coupe, it offered four different grades it believed customers seeking uniqueness and styling would appreciate. These four grades were:

• Roadster Coupe: This was the vanilla configuration of the Roadster Coupe model and was the only grade to rely on a 1.6-liter inline four-cylinder engine paired with a five-speed manual. This was the least powerful option, mustering 123 hp for its plucky engine compared to the other grades.
• Type S: Visually, the Type S was similar to the standard Roadster Coupe model, but mechanically, it was completely different. Instead of a 1.6-liter inline-four-cylinder engine, the Type S employed a 1.8-liter inline four-cylinder engine paired with a six-speed manual transmission and commanded a total output of 158 hp.
• Type A: The Type A was designed to serve as a nod to race cars and, as such, it featured bespoke styling elements like a unique front end with a model-specific grille, larger front fog lights, headlight covers, and fiberglass arch extensions. Mazda had planned to produce a maximum of 200 examples of the Type A, but far fewer were made before the plug was pulled. This derivative of the Roadster Coupe was the most expensive grade in the model range.
• Type E: Production of this grade was intended to be limited to 150 examples, making it the rarest configuration of the rarest MX-5 model ever. In contrast to the Type A, the Type E was characterized by a more classic British sports car design, sporting a fine mesh grille and more simple headlight bezels. It was the only one to feature an automatic transmission.

The Type A and Type E were available in only two vivid paint colors - Lightning Yellow and Velocity Red - but the base version and Type S could be specced in three: Pure White, Sunlight Silver, and Classic Red.

When it debuted, the Roadster Coupe had a starting price of 2,350,000 yen, roughly $26,128 when adjusted for inflation. As the range-topping derivative, the Type A was offered at a retail price of 3,100,000 yen, which, when adjusted for inflation, would be roughly $34,467. All 179 examples of the Roadster Coupe produced were sold in the Japanese Domestic Market.

The Roadster Coupe remains the only fixed-top version of Mazda's beloved MX-5, and the reason for its poor production volumes remains a mystery. Yes, it was built to order only, so perhaps it was a direct result of poor demand that it was culled, but it's impossible to ignore surrounding circumstances that may have had an impact, like the fire that damaged the Ujina No.1 plant on 15 December 2004, where the MX-5 was produced alongside the RX-8. Mazda had to rearrange production and may have deemed these unique models superfluous in the grand scheme.

The Mazda Spirit Racing 12R: The First-Ever 200-HP Miata

Limited To 200 Units

As a result of fewer cars being built than planned, the Roadster Coupe has the honor of being the rarest MX-5 variant ever built. In the process, it beats out the newly-launched Mazda Spirit Racing Roadster 12R, of which 200 will be built. Limited to the Japanese market only, it's the most powerful MX-5 ever sold by the Japanese automaker, producing 200 metric horsepower (197 hp here in the US) thanks to a series of upgrades that include a specialized camshaft, revised piston design, revised exhaust manifold, and a revised cylinder head design.

Beyond the updates to its beating heart, the 12R model features Brembo brakes with ventilated discs at the front end. Mazda has also employed Bilstein height-adjustable dampers and a thicker tunnel brace to improve handling and stiffness. The 12R model is visually distinguished by its Aero Grey colorway, bespoke Mazda Spirit decals, six-spoke 17-inch RAYS TE37 Saga SL alloy wheels, and full bucket seats.

While it won't be as rare as the Mazda Roadster Coupe, the MSR 12R will be a highly exclusive model representing one of the most hardcore variations of the Mazda MX-5 model.

Sources: Mazda