Who buys the MX-5 NA?

Almost everyone (except those who are against it) appreciates a Mazda MX-5. Especially if it is the “old” NA, the original version, with retractable headlights born in 1989, that is, almost 32 years ago…

The original probably won't be the best of the MX-5s, but it's the one that most easily wins hearts, firstly because it's older, because of its “rounded” lines and because it looks more friendly than aggressive.

For a few years, the NA was also the most affordable of all MX-5s, which made it more attractive. Today, that is no longer the case. There are many MX-5 NAs at a good price, but a connoisseur will quickly find, in most of them, parts from different generations and versions, too much poor quality aftermarket material, signs of a lot of abuse and, worse than that, serious corrosion. .

The fact that the model has maintained a low price for decades and is cheap to use has meant that many have been neglected or abused, meaning that units in good condition are scarce. This means that the average price of MX-5 NAs has grown 7% since 2019, an increase greater than inflation.

By studying the variation in the price of the small Mazda, the insurance company Hagerty also ended up determining the age distribution of buyers of the MX-5 NA (or Miata in the American version). The results are truly surprising and say a lot about the model and its wide range of virtues.

Hagerty concluded that the population of MX-5 NA owners is very evenly distributed across different age groups:

4% Pre-boomers: 1925 to 1945
26% Baby-boomers: 1945 to 1964
20% Generation X: 1965 to 1976
23% "Millenials" or Generation Y: 1977 to mid-90s
27% Generation Z: born since the mid-90s

It is not surprising that the Japanese roadster has only 4% of owners born before 45, especially since the demographic weight of this generation is already low in terms of active drivers.

It is also not surprising that the generation that witnessed the emergence of the popularity of traditional roadsters - from MG to Triumph, without forgetting the Alfa Romeo or Fiat Spider - is seduced by a model that evokes that era, but with other scrolls of reliability. and ease of use.

And if it is natural that the generation After all, they were children when this model emerged and began to become common on the roads and become part of popular culture.

More surprising is the fact that young people under 30, who grew up in an era of powerful, ultra-fast and much more sophisticated cars, are still sensitive to the charms of a model that, in its most powerful version, only has 130 hp and in its most weak, 90 hp! Obviously, the cost of maintenance weighs heavily on this popularity, but if we consider that many of these owners are younger than the car they chose to have, this gives an optimistic perspective about the future of the cult of classic cars.

The big conclusion to be drawn from this statistic is that, regardless of each person's reasons, the validity of the phrase popularized by millions of enthusiasts of the model is increasingly confirmed: "Miata is always the answer".