The rare British roadster that inspired the Mazda Miata – Jalopnik

The Mazda Miata. It has now become a model that is so iconic that it feels strange to imagine the automotive landscape without it. In 2025, it will pretty much stand alone as an affordable two-seat drop-top option for drivers who just want a sports car with minimal frills that they can enjoy on the commute as well as on the weekends. We think everyone should drive a Miata at least once, and while there aren’t many comparable options on sale today, turning back the clock a few more decades shows that – about 20 to 40 years before the Miata’s arrival – these types of cars were much more common.

However, they did not come from Japan. In fact, there were very few cars from Japan during this time. Instead, it was the British who brought small and affordable sports cars to the market, and they did it well. Triumph TRs, the MG B and C, Jensens and even bigger, more powerful things like Jags and Astons were in production for years. However, it was a much more delicate model that would later serve as the main inspiration for Mazda’s world-dominating Miata.

That sports car was the Lotus Elan. It was small, very small, small enough to make you think twice about fitting in. That shouldn’t be a surprise, as Colin Chapman’s Lotus was all about keeping the weight down, and the Elan’s diminutive proportions certainly did a good job in that regard – tipping the scales at just 1,290 pounds.

The original Miata is unusual in that it emerged from the imagination of just one man: Bob Hall. Hall, an American automotive journalist, was fascinated by the Japanese automotive world, and in the late 1970s he entered into a dialogue with Mazda’s then head of research and design, Kenichi Yamamoto. When Yamamoto asked which cars Hall thought Hall should focus on in the future, Hall took the opportunity to explain his love for true old-school British sports cars, and how the then-shrinking segment really should be given another chance.

Fast forward to the 1980s and Hall was given the opportunity to explore this possibility with Mazda, and work on creating what would eventually become the Miata began. Plenty of historic photos of Miata test mules exist, sitting alongside British classics like the Triumph Spitfire and MG Midget, but the Miata’s design team – made up of key names like Masao Yagi and Tom Matano – would settle for a design that more closely matched the lines of the modest Elan.

A smiling mouth on the original Miata added character to the front fascia, and is a feature that still exists to this day, some 36 years after the first generation of the roadster debuted. An iconic feature from years gone by, the pop-up headlights were also present, just like those on the Elan. The rear design was also similar. These cars didn’t just look alike either; the details under the skin were just as closely related. Both took their motivation from an inline-four engine, sent it through a manual gearbox and placed it on the asphalt via the rear wheels. Inside there were two seats, a steering wheel and not much else; with the Miata the focus was always on the driving.

When buying a car it’s very easy to think that more is better. We always want more power, more space inside, more technology to play with. Whatever the amenity, we want more of it. In creating these respective sports cars, both Mazda and Lotus made a conscious decision to focus on the idea that less is more. Sure, this approach probably wouldn’t work with a modern three-row SUV – where we want more space, grunt and technology – but when it comes to a cheerful little sports car for the weekend, the approach was brilliant.

Lotus already took this approach in the 1960s when it debuted the agile Elan. Many may assume that power produces the perfect sports car, but Colin Chapman proved them wrong by equipping the then-new sports car with just 105 horsepower, thanks to a 1.6-liter inline four-cylinder twin-cam engine. The combination of that small but playful engine, a balanced chassis and the all-important low curb weight was the perfect recipe for the perfect sports car. Don’t just take our word for it either: both Gordon Murray and ex-McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt are notable Lotus Elan fans, and those two clearly know a thing or two about what a decent British sports car is.

Mazda and Bob Hall saw a gap in the American market for a sporty and affordable drop-top experience. And instead of trying to make something bigger, better and more powerful than the little Lotus that inspired them, they simply mirrored the approach and translated it into a car fit for the modern age.