2018 Mazda Cx-5 Touring on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2019 Mazda MX-5 Miata 30th Anniversary Edition goes bold

For a car with a mischievous grin and penchant for fun, the MX-5 Miata's color palette is on the drab side, but thankfully the 30th Anniversary Edition gets a vivid hue called Racing Orange. Mazda says it "evokes the breaking dawn of an exciting new day," and that it's partly inspired by the bright yellow of the Miata Club Racer concept from 1989. That's all well and good, but it looks to us more like the orange from the 1991 Le Mans-winning Mazda 787B race car. Whatever the reason, we dig the color. It will be important that the new owners like it, too, because the color is everywhere. It's on the brake calipers, door sills, air vents, stitching and piping. Everything else is a black or charcoal color, including the gorgeous Rays forged aluminum wheels, exclusive to this model, and the Alcantara trim on the dash, doors and seats. All versions of the special Miata come with Recaro seats, Brembo brakes, Bose sound system and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The manual models add a limited-slip differential, Bilstein shocks and a front shock tower brace. Mazda isn't making many of these special Miatas, with just 3,000 of the soft top and RF combined for the world. The U.S. will get only 500. Customers can order one now at a special configuration website, and they had better bring plenty of cash. The manual soft top starts at $35,915, and the manual RF starts at $38,515. Adding an automatic ups the price by $499 on the soft top and $400 on the RF. Related Video:

Mitsuoka Rock Star is a Miata in a Chevy Corvette Sting Ray disguise

Mitsuoka is a famous (infamous?) Japanese custom car builder known for its absurd, and occasionally out-of-this-world vehicles. Its most iconic vehicle was the mid-engine Orochi, but its bread and butter are normal Japanese cars given front and rear styling from the past, usually sometime between the 1930s and 1950s. One of the more recent examples is the Mitsuoka Himiko, a Mazda Miata given a classic European roadster look. But the company has ventured a little further ahead in history with its latest model, the Mitsuoka Rock Star, which quite clearly is meant to be a C2 Chevy Corvette Sting Ray. The effect is actually pretty convincing, and as far as Mitusokas go, it looks smartly proportioned and a good fit for the base car. That base car is the current Mazda Miata, known as Roadster in Japan. It probably helps that the base Miata was designed with exaggerated fenders and creases from the get-go, so the even more exaggerated lines of the Corvette fit surprisingly well. Outside of the body, the car is pretty much identical to a regular Miata. It uses the same naturally aspirated 1.5-liter four-cylinder as all overseas examples. That means it makes just 129 horsepower and 111 pound-feet of torque, so this doesn't even come close to the fire-breathing power of real C2 Corvettes. Of course, that could be rectified with an LS V8 swap from Flyin' Miata. The engine is coupled to either a six-speed manual transmission or an automatic. The manual can also be had with a limited-slip differential. There are a number of available upgrades including custom colors for the body and the windshield surround. You can also add a custom leather interior with body-color coordinated panels. Mitsuoka will even provide retro-style wheels with white-letter BF Goodrich tires for the complete look. If you live in Japan and find this vehicle appealing, you'd better be ready to shell out plenty of cash. At current exchange rates, the base Rock Star starts at $41,636. The price goes up from there with options. In contrast, a base Mazda Miata here in the U.S. starts at $26,625, a little more than half that of the Mitsuoka. And of course, the U.S.-spec Miata is substantially more powerful. If you want the Mitsuoka, you'll also have to get in touch with the company quickly. There will only be 50 examples, and you have to apply for one. Related Video: News Source: MitsuokaImage Credit: Mitsuoka Mazda Convertible Performance mitsuoka

Goodwood Festival of Speed celebrating Mazda this year [w/video]

Mazda gets to wear the crown and sash as the doubly honored marque for the Goodwood Festival of Speed this year. The Japanese brand will be the focus of the Central Feature, the sculpture that sits outside Goodwood House, and its race cars will be the focus on the lawn, where there will be at least one representative from "every era of Mazda's motor sport achievement." The theme for this year's event is "Flat-out and fearless: racing on the edge." The showcase, of course, will be the 700-horsepower, rotary-engined 787B that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991. It will run up the 1.6-mile Hillclimb while a Mazda challenger from the World Rally Championship runs the Forest Rally Stage, joining Andros Trophy ice racing and sportscar racing Mazdas. The festival happens from June 25-28 this year, and there's a press release with more details down below the video recap from 2014 and Mazda 787B Le Mans lap. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Le Mans-winning 787B to headline fantastic Mazda line-up at FoS 2015 Feb 18, 2015 -- Mazda is the only Japanese manufacturer to have won the world's most prestigious motor race – the Le Mans 24 Hours – and the victorious rotary-engined 787B, with its distinctive sound, is certain to be a crowd favourite as it winds its way up Goodwood's iconic 1.16-mile Hillclimb at the Festival of Speed this year. The 787B is part of a fabulous collection of racing and road machines that will be brought to the Festival by Mazda, in the year in which the company is also being honoured by the iconic Central Feature outside Goodwood House. Further motor sport success has been achieved in touring cars, the World Rally Championship, Andros Trophy ice racing and sportscar competition in the USA – in which Mazda's pioneering SKYACTIV-D turbodiesel technology is breaking new ground currently. In fact, every era of Mazda's motor sport achievement will be marked by some incredible competition cars both on the Hillclimb and the Forest Rally Stage as we celebrate the FoS theme 'Flat-out and fearless; racing on the edge'. The Moving Motor Show on June 25, will also showcase many of the key models from Mazda's current range.