► MX-5 production hits the 1mil mark
► 27 years in production since 1989
► One-millionth car to go on global tour
Time flies when you’re having fun, eh? The one-millionth Mazda MX-5 rolled off the line on 22 April 2016 last week, 27 years after the pocket-sized roadster originally entered production.
And it’s going on tour; the millionth Miata will be shown off at events around the world, starting with the Hiroshima Flower Festival before jetting around the world to dates including the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June.
The original MX-5 began manufacture in April 1989 at Mazda’s Ujina Plant No. 1 in Hiroshima. Since then it’s evolved from Lotus Elan tribute-act Mk1 to spiky, modern Mk4, and won legions of fans in the meantime. Click through the gallery above for a scrapbook of the MX-5 through the ages. Here’s to another 27 years!
Mazda MX-5: this is your life
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February 1989
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The original MX-5 makes its debut at the Chicago motor show
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October 1997
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Goodbye to the pop-up headlights: MX-5 Mk2 debuts at the Tokyo Motor Show
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December 1998
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Launch of 10th Anniversary Limited Edition MX-5
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May 2000
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MX-5 acknowledged by Guinness World Records as world’s best-selling two-seater sports car (531,890 units produced)
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January 2002
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Production reaches 600,000 units
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March 2005
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MX-5 Mk3 arrives at the Geneva motor show. Design overseen by Moray Callum (Ian’s brother)
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April 2005
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Production reaches 700,000 units
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July 2006
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Folding hardtop model introduced at the British motor show
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June 2007
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Production reaches 800,000 units
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July 2009
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Launch of 20th Anniversary Limited Edition MX-5
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February 2011
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Production reaches 900,000 units
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April 2014
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Launch of 25th Anniversary Edition MX-5
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September 2014
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MX-5 Mk4 is here, with radically different styling and a more compact design than ever
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March 2016
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Opinion-polarising Mazda MX-5 RF (for Retractable Fastback) unveiled at the New York motor show
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