This Absurdly Nice $40,500 Miata Just Set A Bring A Trailer Record

How much would you pay for a pristine example of the people’s sports car, the original Mazda Miata? On the one hand, because of its egalitarian pricing and rabid aftermarket scene, few remained pristine. On the other hand, it’s a Miata, how expensive could it be? Well, you might want to sit down for this one. A 1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata just sold for $40,500 on Bring A Trailer, and well, holy crap.

For context, you could have almost any generation of Porsche Boxster you want for $40,500, or a Lotus Elise, or an older driver-condition Viper, or at least three mad decent Miatas. However, a mad decent Miata isn’t as nice as this particular Miata. In fact, few likely to trade hands privately are, for this one sports a mere 38 miles on its odometer. Not 38,000, not 3,800, 38.

As such, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that this is the most expensive stock NA Miata ever to sell on Bring A Trailer. The next-closest contender was sold during the height of the COVID collector car market for $35,000, considerably less than the $40,500 this one commanded. It’s a crazy figure, a ludicrous sum, and yet it almost makes sense because it comes with some things you just don’t normally see.

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Not only is the tombstone dash trim uncracked, it’s rocking a deep, satin finish you just don’t normally see because every other example of this part has seen some sun. All the lettering on all the controls is perfect, the hardtop still has its headliner, the shift knob and boot look new, and the differential drain and fill plugs still feature their quality control paint. This car even still wears its original Bridgestone SF-325 tires, and while I’m normally not a fan of that, this thing isn’t getting driven on the street anyway.

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This is as close to a brand-new NA Miata as you can possibly get. As such, this auction was a slugfest until the end, with bidders pushing it past the $30,000 mark, then the $35,000 mark, then finally past the $40,000 mark. This wasn’t just an ego battle between two determined individuals, this was an all-out brawl because this Miata isn’t a car anymore — it’s a cultural monument.

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On the one hand, some might see this 38-mile Miata as a bit of a sad tale. Someone bought it brand new, stuck it into storage, didn’t use it for 34 years, auctioned it off, and didn’t even beat inflation. When new, this example stickered for $18,648 including freight. Adjust that for decades of currency devaluation, and you end up with a grand sum of $44,736.37 adjusted for inflation. That’s $5,671.37 more than the most expensive new soft-top MX-5 you can buy, which speaks both to the value of the new car and to how broke we all are.

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On the other hand, someone knew exactly how special the rebooted roadster would be. Someone, against all odds, kept one pristine as a reference, a gold standard of exactly what this massively important car was like brand new. How many Miatas have all the stickers in the right locations, all the factory quality control markings on key bolts, and the right un-faded color on the stock daisy wheels? For anyone who wants to restore a Miata in the future, this one is a muse. It takes vision to preserve that.

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At the end of the day, truly concours-grade examples of common enthusiast cars only pop up once in a blue moon. Car enthusiasm takes all types, and while it can often be hard to understand those who don’t drive their machines, without them, we wouldn’t have cars like this. For now, just bask in its presence. All other Miatas are made for driving, but this one’s been set aside as future proof that the past was a blast.

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