1990 Mazda Mx-5 Miata Sunkist Orange Factory-painted Color Test Car on 2040-cars

One in a Million:  1990 Mazda Miata Bright Orange Factory Color Test Car

Truly one of a kind!  To date, Mazda has produced approximately 960,000 Miata (MX5/Eunos) sports cars.  Of this nearly-a-million quantity, this car is the only bright orange first-series (“NA”) Miata produced and sold by the factory.  It’s one of the original Mazda Miata “Color Cars” that were selected by Mazda from the assembly line in 1990 to be painted alternate paint colors as full-scale marketing study for potential production. Viewing was held at the courtyard of Mazda North America HQ in southern California. There were six Miata color cars in all. The six colors were:

   • Raspberry Metallic
   • Medium Blue
   • Yellow Metallic
   • Teal Green Metallic
   • Light Green Metallic
   • Orange - The car in this auction.

The Light Green and Raspberry cars are now considered lost, so only the remaining four cars exist, and are all in long-term ownership. Two pictures from the original viewing of the Color Cars at Mazda in California are shown with this listing.  On the window sticker, in the block "Color of Your New Mazda" it says "Various Test Colors". All six color cars received an "X1" for the color code, and the special color status is also noted on the original window sticker (which I have, along with many other records).  These six special cars were removed from the assembly line and painted at the factory in Japan. The cars were painted completely so that the color is under the hood, inside the trunk and under the carpets.

The color cars were then returned to the assembly line for completion and shipped to the Mazda design studio in Irvine, California for viewing. Sunkist (the orange car) spent some 14 months at the Design Center and accumulated about 1,400 miles. When they were finished with the cars, the Design Center offered them for sale to employees, and most were bought by employees or their friends. The orange car is an A-package car (power steering, leather-wrapped steering wheel, AM-FM cassette radio) with air conditioning. The Sunkist-orange car is perhaps the most famous of the six Color Cars, The paint is highly distinctive: bright-orange and very close to Lamborghini Miura orange. One of the Miata’s designers owned a Miura in that color, which is how it happened. A full history of the Color Cars (as written by others) is included at the end of this description. 

Here’s a link to the full set of (at least) 138 photographs:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AYsm7dq0YsWLGig

(Interior photos in the linked set are not too good so far– after I vacuum, clean, and re-photograph the interior and seats, new pictures will be added to the Shutterfly set and will be available using the link above.  The interior’s actually in great original condition, with custom floor mats having the “Miata” logo stitched in orange)

General Notes:

• This car has an unbroken and documented chain of Miata-enthusiast owners from Mazda USA to present owner. My wife and I have owned and enjoyed it for nearly 9 years now, but will be focusing on British cars in our upcoming retirement.
• High-quality restoration and repaint (original color, of course) in mid-2000s following moderate-level front end crunch on the freeway in Los Angeles. All restoration work was photo-documented, of high level, and details of the work are available.  A California, Colorado, and Texas car all its life – so no rust ever!
• Current miles on the car are 44,377 – but this number will increase as time passes.  The car is driven every week, and runs and drives great. Completely dependable, and great fun on the twisty California rural roads where it now lives. Drive-anywhere condition.
• Everything works, with the possible exception of the cassette drive in the factory radio.  Haven’t tried a cassette in several years.  Radio itself works great and has had the “Jeff Anderson” mods. 
• Regular maintenance, as appropriate to the car’s age and miles.  Engine oil in our ownership has always been Mobil1 10W-30 full-synthetic oil, with either Mazda factory or NAPA “gold” oil filters.  Gearbox and diff services with Redline-brand oils.

Cool Stuff:

• Factory-original top, with even the original back window (clear!) that has the care instructions in Japanese on it (see photo set). Rare to find.
• Good Quality (Hard Dog) roll bar, which is a bolt-in and completely removeable.  Car can easily be returned to stock if desired. Parts for this go with the car, as well as a set of hardtop side latch plates in case you wish to add a hardtop at a later date.
• Car presently has a set of ’92-’93 Mazda-stock 14” BBS wheels with Michelin Pilot Exalto tires.  Also included is a set of excellent of Panasport 15x6 “Pro Rally” wheels, with the same type of tires.  Also included is a never-used set of Panasport wheel center caps, though the ones on the wheels are also excellent. The Panasports have the correct 45-mm wheel offset as used by Mazda – so they handle “stock” when on the car.
• Original blue Mazda factory car cover.
• Upgraded Racing Beat swaybars, front and rear, for well-poised and balanced handling.
• Flyin’ Miata engine compartment and Racing Beat under-transmission chassis braces.  Also comes with a new Cannon rear subframe brace, which was designed and developed by a previous owner of this car – so it’s a “natural”!
• Polished valve cover, and the original one comes with the car.
• Lightened flywheel for quicker engine revving, and also Mazda factory-upgraded shift lever for improved shifting action. A Mazda (Nardi) wood gearshift knob is on car at present, but have the original one that goes with the car.
• Documentation:  We have a lot of records and photos from the previous owner, factory owner’s and maintenance manuals with name of original buyer still in them, original Mazda window sticker which documents the unique status of this car and its VIN-provenance, etc. Even original ignition key, which has the now-unobtainable square-head style.

Why You Should Buy This Car:

• It really IS a one-in-a-million Miata, the only factory-produced bright orange NA ever, with a welcoming color that is instantly indentifiable and which brightly stands head-and-shoulders even above the other Color Cars.
• Because the first-generation (NA) Miatas will always be the purest in concept, lightest, and most fun to drive of all Miatas.
• Early Miatas are beginning to really hit their stride as collector cars and the 25-year mark will see greatly increased interest as the cars become eligible for judging in old-car clubs (such as the AACA).  As this unfolds, the NA Color Cars will always be the center of attention and welcome at car shows and events nationwide, as well as at Japanese-only shows such as the JCCS (Google-it).  In future years, you will always be surprised that this car could ever have been this inexpensive when compared to other high-profile collectible cars.
• Because this car has low miles, is rust-free, has been adult-owned, and not been buggered-up by children or racer-wannabes.
  
• And finally, because you can come look at the car most any weekend, when I can show you every nook and cranny of it, every bit of documentation and photo, and when you can take it for an appropriate test-drive up California Highway 1 toward Big Sur.
  

General Terms of Sale:

General Terms:  Sale of this car is strictly as is, where is – FOB our driveway in Cambria, California. It’s approximately 34 miles north of San Luis Obispo, at the southernmost end of the Big Sur Coast, and is an excellent place from which to either drive home or up the coast to Monterey/Laguna Seca and points north.

Domestic Buyers:  Following payment in full and transfer of the car to you, I’ll be happy to co-ordinate loading of the car with your car hauler if you prefer to ship by truck. An enclosed van is highly recommended to prevent damage or vandalism.  I can also deliver to Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, or the Northwest in exchange for delivery (gas/hotel/food) and return (air) expenses.  (NOTE: This can include delivery for “Car Week” [Barret-Jackson, etc.] in January, so you’ll have the car to use or re-sell). The extra set of wheels will probably need to be shipped separately if the car is driven to you, and that would be at your expense also.

Overseas Buyers:  Your purchase of the car is also welcomed. For overseas buyers, I will drive the car to your customs broker or point of embarkation at either Los Angeles or San Francisco. I can also deliver Sunkist to either Portland (OR) or Seattle if the return airline flight expenses and other expenses (gas/hotel/food) are prepaid. After the car is delivered to your shipping point, all further costs for brokerage, customs, insurance, and shipping are your responsibility.

Payment:  Following purchase, a non-refundable downpayment is to be made, using Paypal, within the time specified in this listing. The balance due for purchase of the car is to be paid within 14 calendar days of the close of the listing, and is to be paid by cash in hand, fully-cleared personal check, or by bank wire transfer. No cashier’s checks accepted, because of the potential for fraud – even if you actually are the Prince of Nigeria.  

Thanks very much for your interest – Here’s more background on the NA Color Cars:

THE RAREST MIATAS: THE 'COLOR CARS'

Compiled by John Emerson

Introduction

There were six Miata "color" cars produced in 1990. Three were “A package” cars and three had “B package”, all with air conditioning. The colors were:

• Raspberry Metallic
• Medium Blue
• Yellow Metallic
• Teal Green Metallic
• Light Green Metallic
• Orange ("Sunkist")

On the window sticker, in the block "Color of Your New Mazda" it says "Various Test Colors". All six cars have an "X" for the color code. The MSRP on Sunkist was $15,999.00 for an A package with air conditioning.

These six cars were removed from the assembly line and painted at the factory. The cars were painted completely so that the color is under the hood, inside the trunk and under the carpets. They were not painted some other color first. They were returned to the assembly line for completion and then shipped to the Mazda design studio in Irvine, California. The Irvine Design Center used them to evaluate new colors for future Miatas and MX-3s.

Sunkist (the orange car) spent some 14 months at the Design Center and accumulated about 1,400 miles. She was slightly damaged on the left rear fender; it was fixed and the fender repainted. Bob Hall and Mark Jordan recalled the damage but couldn't remember what caused it or how bad it was.

When they were finished with the cars, the Design Center offered them for sale to employees, and most were bought by employees or their friends.

Notes by Skip Cannon (2^nd owner):

The first private owner of Sunkist was Stu Schaller. He is a free-lance automotive researcher/journalist who already had owned a silver Miata. He was also one of the people who started an LA area Miata club called GLAMOR (Greater Los Angeles Miata Owners R***). I heard it was later absorbed into the SOCALM chapter.

Schaller advertised Sunkist for sale in The Recycler, an LA area classified newspaper. Not knowing about the color cars, I almost didn't call, thinking orange might be a bad color for a Miata. I also suspected that the car might have been wrecked and repainted.

Fortunately, I did call and he brought the car to JPL, where I worked, during my lunch hour. I checked the car out and he told me some of the history of the six color cars and showed me copies of Miata Club of America magazine articles to verify his story. I bought the car on the spot for $9,000, a real bargain at the time. Sunkist had 14,000 miles on her by then and she was incredibly dirty. His girlfriend had been using the Miata to haul hay to her horse down a long dirt road. The paint looked a little faded, but a cleaner and wax job brought it back.

An Insider's View of the Color Cars

What follows comes from an interview of Bob Hall, a member of the original Miata team at Mazda, by Miata enthusiast (and creator of the VOODOO shift knobs) Bob Krueger. Mas Kato, Bob Hall's brother-in-law, has owned one of the color cars, the teal Miata, almost since it was first sold by Mazda at Irvine (Bob and his wife, Mas' sister, owned it first for a short time). The following is a paraphrase of the 1997 interview of Bob Hall:

"NONE of the colors had a 'name'. per se. The closest thing to a name was the mix code for the color, and the only way that you'd know what that was would be to look at the tin of paint supplied with each car. Mas' teal car was 'named' H4143 (rolls off the tongue real easy, doesn't it?). Since I didn't see the other cars' cans of paint, I can't tell you the 'names'.

"Here's how we referred to the colors when we described them to people who'd never seen them. The orange car was referred to as 'orange' or, occasionally, 'Miura orange' (after the Lamborghini of the same name, because the color was close to the orange seen on early Miuras); the teal car as 'teal'; the dark metallic blue one we called 'electric blue'; the purple/magenta was referred to as 'raspberry'; the pale metallic green we all called 'ice green' (using the name of a similar color used on some 911s -- made it easier for people in the paint business to understand the shade -- like the orange); and the metallic pastel yellow we called 'pukey'. Well, aside from being referred to once or twice as 'metallic pus', we usually called it 'pale yellow metallic', mainly to avoid confusion with the limited edition yellow (1991 Sunburst Yellow prototype –ed.) that was being prepared at the same time.

"Regarding manufacture, I think they were all done in late 1990 or early 1991. There was the space of about three weeks between the first one and the last one, and the yellow car was repainted once before it was put on the boat (it arrived as a 'two-tone' - the front and rear bumpers had darkened noticeably by the time the cars arrived at MRA.)

"What's not widely known is that the six color Miatas were part of a larger color study that included some 323 hatchbacks in a few really bizarre shades...two or three that were even more 'out there' than the six color Miatas."