Mazda MX-5 Miata NA - 1st Gen

The NA Miata is the car that proved everyone wrong. By the late 1980s, the affordable two-seat roadster was effectively extinct, killed off by emissions rules, safety regulations, and the general assumption that nobody wanted one anymore. Mazda disagreed. Working from a brief that could be summarized as "make a modern Lotus Elan," a small team in Hiroshima built a front-engine, rear-drive convertible so light and so eagerly balanced that it single-handedly revived the entire category.

The early cars ran a 1.6-liter B6-ZE four-cylinder making 116 horsepower, which sounds modest until you consider the car weighed barely 2,100 pounds. In 1994, Mazda bumped displacement to 1.8 liters with the BP, eventually reaching 133 horsepower by 1996. Neither figure mattered as much as the throttle response, the willing rev, and the way the whole car communicated through your fingertips.

The NA is the only Miata with pop-up headlights, which alone has made it the most desirable generation for a certain kind of buyer. The 1991 Special Edition in British Racing Green with its tan leather and Nardi wood shift knob set the template for a long line of covetable limited runs. Clean, unmodified examples of any spec are climbing steadily. Rust is the enemy, especially in northern cars, so check the rockers and the frame rails before you fall in love with the color.