- This Mazda Miata MX-5 has remained in storage since 1990 with just 38 miles on the clock.
- Selling for $40,500, it set a record as the highest-selling stock NA Miata on Bring A Trailer.
- Despite the record price, the sale wasn’t able to beat inflation.
While there are many reasons to love the original-generation Mazda Miata, you’d have to be a mega-fan to spend $40,500 on one. And that’s exactly how much this Classic Red example sold for. Of course, there has to be a good reason it to fetch such a price, and in this case, there are 38 of them.
Yes, this 1990 Mazda Miata has only 38 miles (61 km) on the clock—a remarkable feat for a car that is now 34 years old. While the vehicle isn’t far off being eligible for a midlife crisis and buying itself, this could be the lowest-mileage example of the MX-5 we’ve ever seen.
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Unsurprisingly, it has set a record for Bring A Trailer, being the most expensive stock NA Miata to trade on the platform, surpassing the previous title holder by $5,500. For that, the lucky new owner will get an absolutely pristine car that fulfills every definition of the term timewarp.
It remained in the care of its original owner for all these years and features a lovely and desirable body-colored hardtop over the convertible soft-top. It has all the hallmarks of a car that was squirreled away but not neglected. The dashboard is uncracked, the seat fabric appears untouched, and the gear knob and steering wheel are just as the day the car left the factory. Even little things, like how bright and unfaded the stereo’s clock display is, show how untouched this car really is.
You could eat your dinner off the undersides of this Miata and not have to worry about a visit to your friendly gastroenterologist. The differential housing shows no signs of ever seeing road grime, nor does the engine have any spots of weeping oil.
That said, while this timewarp Miata is a record holder, as the folks over at The Autopian pointed out, it wasn’t even able to beat inflation. Having sold new for $18,648 when new (including freight), when adjusted for inflation, it would cost the equivalent of $44,736.37.
When looked at through that lens, perhaps it’s sad that one of the ultimate drivers, cars, a) hasn’t been driven and b) couldn’t even outperform the economy.
