The rarest Mazda MX-5 on the planet

The holy grail of Mazda's iconic roadster.


It’s arguably the rarest Mazda MX-5 on the planet. With just 179 ever produced, the oddly-named Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe belongs in the rarefied air breathed by some super- and hypercars, certainly in terms of production volume.

How it go there, is an interesting story.

Mazda had experimented with putting a roof on its popular MX-5 soft-top in the early 1990s, turning the original NA generation roadster into a hardtop with swooping roofline that owed much to its RX-7 sibling. But, it was purely a design exercise, and just three prototypes were ever made, mainly to demonstrate what an MX-5 Coupe could look like.

Fast forward to 2003, and this time Mazda is serious about adding a sloping hardtop roofline to its, by now iconic, soft-top. To achieve its aim, Mazda enlisted the help of subsidiary company, Mazda Engineering & Technology, which built the hardtop versions.

The Roadster Coupe was only ever intended for the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM), and started its life on the production line as a regular Roadster. Initially, only a few hundred were ever going to be made, all built to order.

As the orders came in, Roadsters were pulled from the production line to have their new upper section bonded in place. The result was a stiffer MX-5 that weighed just 10kg more than the soft-top.

Mazda built four versions of the Roadster Coupe, each with their own distinctive style. The base model and the Type S most closely resembled their soft-top donor car, sharing the same front end treatment. The base model came with Mazda’s regular 1.6-litre engine, making 93kW and matched to a five-speed manual transmission. The Type S scored a larger 1.8-litre unit with 118kW on tap and a six-speed manual ’box. Just three colours were available – Pure White, Sunlight Silver, and Classic Red.

Things get interesting with two special models, marketed by Mazda as Type A and Type E. Both models only came in Lightning Yellow or Velocity Red.

Type A variants were powered by Mazda’s 1.8-litre four-cylinder mated to a six speed manual transmission, the same powertrain making the same 118kW as found under the Type S.

It was far and away the sportiest of the special edition Roadster Coupes with unique body stylings including the front bumper, flared wheel arches, foglamps, side skirts and a front lip spoiler. The head- and tail-lights featured a bezel that gave the Type A a distinctive look on the road.

The Type E came fitted with a slightly less powerful 1.8-litre four, rated at 113kW, and married exclusively to a four-speed automatic transmission. It too received unique styling elements including a redesigned nose incorporating a large air intake, possibly inspired by the Jaguar E Type. Head- and tail-light bezels completed the look.

It was supposed to, according to Mazda, look “refined and elegant” but came off looking a little awkward.

The standout, certainly in kerb appeal, was the racing-inspired Type A, its swoopy profile and flared wheel arches cutting a menacing figure on the road.

But, sadly, despite a promised production run of 200 Type A and 150 Type E, Mazda came nowhere near meeting its targets. A total of 179, across all four variants, rolled off the Mazda line. Of those, it’s believed 53 examples were the base model fitted with the 1.6-litrte engine and five-speed gearbox. Around 63 were the Type S with the 1.8-litre engine while the Type A accounted for another 50 or so examples. That leaves the Type E in rarefied air, with some reports suggesting just 10 were ever produced.

But, for those with deep pockets (an internet search revealed even the Type S commands prices north of AUD$70,000 today), the prospect of owning one of just 179 Roadster Coupe MX-5s, a nameplate which passed the one million production mark in 2016, must be tantalising.

Today, of course, we have the Mazda MX-5 RF with its buttressed roofline and targa top offering the best of both worlds. But, it looks like a bit of a compromise, even slightly awkward in its proportions. One can only wonder how a modern interpretation of the original MX-5 Roadster Coupe might have looked.

What do you think? Is the NB Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe a looker? Yeah or nah? Let us know in the comments below.

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Rob Margeit

Rob Margeit is an award-winning Australian motoring journalist and editor who has been writing about cars and motorsport for over 25 years. A former editor of Australian Auto Action, Rob’s work has also appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Wheels, Motor Magazine, Street Machine and Top Gear Australia. Rob’s current rides include a 1996 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and a 2000 Honda HR-V Sport.

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