1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata

Convertible

1.6L 4 Cylinder Gasoline Fuel

Automatic

jm1na351xl0120754

Rear Wheel Drive

Gasoline

Cloth Seats

Fun and easy to drive. Starts right up every time. Highly reliable. This Miata is unusual for its automatic transmission. It is also equipped with an overdrive-- just touch the button on the lever and it will shift into high gear. If you choose, you can shift through each of the gears manually, or just set it in "Drive" and let it shift itself. This little car also features power windows and power steering. It is mechanically excellent and visually great, considering it's 21 years old. When I got the car 3 or 4 years ago I crawled underneath it to inspect the body for rust and wear. What impressed me was that it was virtually rust-free. The rust I did see was just the surface sort you expect to see on control arms or other unpainted metal parts. I figured this car spent most of its time down south or in a garage. Typically, on this vintage Miata, you expect to see rust on the rocker panels behind the front wheels and in front of the rear wheels. As you can see from the photos there is only one little spot, otherwise the panels are solid. I purchased this car because I already had a Miata that I was converting but still wanted to drive a Miata, and my son just got one too (all three red 1990s). My son's Miata had about 79,000 miles. He removed the entire drive train and inserted a Chevy Corvette V8 on a special "V-8 Roadsters" frame. I took his relatively low mileage engine, trans and rear differential and installed it in my second Miata (the one being sold here in this auction). The engine, trans and rear differential that originally came with this car had many more miles. I also replaced the entire exhaust system, all the wheel bearings, the brake pads and the two front calipers and rotors (the rear calipers and rotors were fine). I'm selling this one because my first Miata is ready for the road again (I replaced the original engine with a 1 liter Mitsubishi diesel... I altered it for the very high fuel economy). My daily driver has mostly been a Chevy Tracker so the Miata up for sale has not been used that much (sat under a cover most of the winter [son's car and my other Miata in the garage]-- too much snow this past year, that's why my daily driver was a 4WD). There is a new ($112) battery. Spare tire, jack and lug wrench included. The tires are good. No cracks on any of the four windows (the convertible top has a glass rear window that you unzip before you put the top down). All the lights, instrumentation (tach, speedometer, etc.), wipers, fan/heater and electrical work as they are supposed to. There is a radio/CD player. There is no air conditioning. It was removed during the engine swap, as was the cruise-control mechanism (I had use for neither). The convertible top is in very good condition-- no leaks. The upholstery is fine, carpeting and all interior surfaces are very good-- except you can see from the photos that the horn button on the left of the steering wheel is gone and there is a crack and break on the left side of the radio bezel; minor sun damage behind passenger seat head rest. The paint looks fine from a distance but close up there are some blemishes (see photos-- right front fender, right and left sides just behind the doors). Also pictured are a few minor dings in the body, again, not bad for a 21-year-old car. The engine is strong (oil and filter recently changed). Idles like it is supposed to, has plenty of power through the gears, runs smooth at all speeds. We estimate the current mileage at about 115,000 (given the lower mileage drive train). The wheel bearings have about 35,000 miles. This will prove to be a solid, reliable and fun car for the new owner. Thanks for looking. Good luck bidding. PS- the vehicle report indicates that there had been a collision "with a curb" and "severe damage" to the rear of the car... when I got the car I replaced the trunk lid because it was damaged and I assumed that the rear decorative panel/license plate surround had been replaced since the rear sheet metal end of the trunk space was partly mis-shapen. As far as I could tell, the rear bumper had not been replaced. I figured that whoever got in the "accident" must have backed into something waist-high (hardly "severe"). As you can see from the photos, this is not an issue. Also, as I had surmised, this car had spent most of its years down south (South Carolina and Georgia), thus explaining why there was virtually no rust. When I decided to buy the car I didn't see it as necessary to pay for a vehicle report trusting instead my own observations. eBay features free vehicle reports with its auctions so it is helpful to see what the report contains and confirms my own judgment.