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Mazda launches 25th Anniversary Miata pre-order site, priced from $32,205

Mazda made a big celebration of the MX-5 Miata at the 2014 New York Auto Show with a bunch of classic models on display. It capped off the model's 25th birthday with the announcement of the 2015 MX-5 Miata 25th Anniversary Edition and showed off the much-anticipated, next-generation version's chassis.
While we are still at least year away from the new Miata hitting the road, the anniversary edition is on its way and is limited to just 100 copies for the United States. The special cars start at $32,205, compared to $23,970 for the 2015 softtop model and $28,665 for the 2015 retractable hardtop version. There is an additional $795 destination charge for all of them.
To make sure everyone gets a chance to own the ceremonial convertible, Mazda has a countdown on its website until 10:25 AM PDT, May 20, 2014. When the day comes, 250 people can to register for the car, and the first 100 to be verified as buyers get the rare Miata. Those with multiple entries will be disqualified.

Junkyard Gem: 1992 Mazda MX-3

Back in the early 1990s, American car shoppers could choose from an extravaganza of sporty-looking front-wheel-drive coupes. The Geo Storm GSi may have offered the most performance per dollar, but the early Mazda MX-3 made a lot of sense as a reasonably fun commuter car. The MX-3, based on the 323/Protege chassis (and thus a close cousin to the Ford Escort of the same era) could be purchased in the United States for the 1992 through 1996 model years, and junkyard examples have become very hard to find. Here's a '92 in a Colorado Springs yard. MX-3 buyers could get a 1.8-liter V6 with 130 horsepower in 1992, but this is the SOHC 1.6-liter four with just 88 horses. Dual-overhead-cam versions of this engine went into the Miata and most members of the 323/Escort family. With an automatic transmission, you had a sedate, sensible commuter appliance that looked fairly sharp in the business-park lot. With the DOHC 1.6-liter engine (available for the last few years of MX-3 sales here), these cars were quick. In the early days of the 24 Hours of Lemons, a team with a pair of MX-3s dominated the Southern races for several years. They didn't have much power, but reliability and predictable handling wins endurance races. Not very close to the magical 200,000-mile mark. Another in my series of Junkyard Car With Pikes Peak photographs. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Such an adventurous car. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The small-displacement V6 was a big selling point in Japan. Related Video:

2019 Toyota Corolla vs. compact hatchbacks: How they compare

So you've read what we thought about the 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback. Oh, you didn't? Well, click to your left, we'll still be here. Just made some coffee, we're good for a while. Welcome back! Wasn't that riveting? The blue paint sure is bright, eh? Well, now you must be wondering how that new 2019 Corolla stacks up with all the other hatchbacks. And, despite long thinking that hatchbacks were doomed, there are actually quite a lot of them these days. So many, in fact, that we couldn't fit them all in our space-limited comparison chart. So, with apologies to the Hyundai Elantra GT, Kia Forte and the dead-man-walking Ford Focus, these were the cars we chose based on sales and competitiveness: the Honda Civic Hatchback, Mazda3 5-Door, Volkswagen Golf, Chevrolet Cruze and Subaru Impreza. We also included the outgoing Corolla iM for reference. If you think we've left something of interest out, you can always create your own comparison. Performance and fuel economy There is but one king here, and its name is Civic. While the sedan and coupe come with a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter 158-horsepower four-cylinder that's less potent than the Corolla's, the hatchback comes standard with the 1.5-liter turbo that aces the segment in terms of both acceleration and fuel economy. The Golf's acceleration should be comparable, but as you can see, it trails on fuel economy (still not bad, though). The new Corolla ends up being better than the rest with its new 168-hp four-cylinder paired to novel transmissions: a six-speed manual with rev-matched downshifting (!) and a CVT that mimics the actions of a 10-speed automatic. The Corolla does weigh more than everything else, though, so that could hamper its acceleration. Fuel economy data also wasn't announced, but Toyota indicated it would be a bit better than the old Corolla iM. Something akin to the 2.0-liter Mazda 3's numbers seems likely. As for the Mazda, its top two trim levels actually come standard with its bigger engine. In any event, despite its ample power, testing has often showed that the Civic is still the quicker car from 0 to 60 mph. And finally, let's not leave out the two on the end. The Subaru is the only car in the segment that offers all-wheel drive (the Focus RS and Golf R don't count), but is also the segment weakling now that the Corolla iM has been discontinued.