Rare Rides: A 2003 Mazda Roadster Coupe That's Not for Americans
Mazda has always been fond of making special edition trims of the MX-5 Miata. In 2003, the engineers in Hiroshima decided to put together something a bit more unique than the usual colored trim/new wheel design combo. Presenting the 2003 Roadster Coupe.
Mazda’s original Miata (NA) debuted to critical and customer acclaim for the 1990 model year. By 1995, Mazda had a second-generation offering in the works, fittingly known as the NB. The new, more curvy roadster debuted at the Tokyo Motor show in the fall of 1997, going on sale in early 1998.
Wider and more aerodynamic than the original, the NB MX-5 borrowed some of its styling from the more expensive third-generation RX-7 coupe. Power increased, and the characterful pop-up headlamps were replaced with flush units that took smaller chunks out of pedestrians.
Changes were few until 2001, when a facelift brought a sharper look to the front-end styling, new seats, and slight revisions to the instrument cluster. Rigidity increased as well, and North American MX-5s received a horsepower bump from 140 to 143.
That brings us to 2003, when the engineering and technology people at Mazda drew up a Roadster Coupe version of the MX-5. They designed a metal roof that was fixed in place. The new roof added additional side glass and a rear window, which required a redesign of the trunk lid. This resulted in a weight gain of 22 pounds, but the solid roof meant the chassis was now stiffer than any convertible version.
While Mazda offered 1.6- and 1.8-liter engines across four trims of the Roadster Coupe, only the base model had the 1.6. The top trim S version had the 1.8-liter engine with 158 horsepower — a bit more than the standard MX-5. Power traveled rearward via a six-speed manual.
Mazda made between 179 and 1,000 Roadster Coupes, depending on who you ask, and they were only sold in the Japanese marketplace. Today’s Rare Ride is one of just 63 S trims produced, making it a very rare version of Roadster Coupe. In excellent restored condition and located in Hong Kong, the red beauty asks $39,700. It is, of course, eligible for importation into Canada.
[Images: seller]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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What is a roadster coupe? Seems contradictory to me as it has no open top.
I have always judged car styling by the width of the C-pillar. Oh how I hated vinyl roofs. This Miata with its slim c-pillar has just shot to the top as my all time favorite Miata. Along that line I have serious doubts about the new Mazda 3 hatchback.