Spare a thought for the iconic Mazda MX-5. The World's Best Selling 2-seater sports car (as recognized by Guinness) is up against the ropes. Surmounting pressure to go green and employ NE (new energy) powertrains along with a global shift away from sedans and sports cars to SUVs has enthusiasts of the compact sports car worried.
We've seen the likes of the Mitsubishi Eclipse turned into a crossover and many other iconic nameplates converted into watered-down population-pleasing offerings, devoid of soul and character.
Related: The best Mazda MX-5 offers AutoTrader found advertised in 2021.
Locally, it was a similar tale for Mazda and the MX-5. Launched in November of 2015, the fourth generation of the little roadster didn't perform as well as Mazda SA would have liked and the model was discontinued locally after only two years on the market. In that time, they launched the retractable fastback version of the ND (fourth generation) known as the RF. Matters were not helped here either as Mazda SA only chose to import the MX-5 RF in automatic trim without the limited-slip differential, watering down what could have been an amazing product.
As neither the MX-5 Roadster nor MX-5 RF is available locally at present, you're forced to track down a used one instead. Below we've listed the various colours that the MX-5 and MX-5 RF were available in and then included some of the current, 2021 colours that overseas customers get to choose.
Mazda MX-5 Roadster
The MX-5 Roadster was offered in seven body colours including Soul Red Metallic, Ceramic Metallic, Arctic White, Crystal White Pearl Mica, Blue Reflex Mica, Meteor Grey Mica and Jet Black Mica. The most popular of these was the Soul Red, Arctic White, Crystal Pearl White and Blue Reflex Mica. The odd Meteor Grey exists as does the beautiful Ceramic Metallic. We're yet to spot a Jet Black though.
At the time of launching, the Roadster sold for R389 800.
Mazda MX-5 RF
With its folding targa top, the RF should have been the more appealing offering for safety-conscious South Africans that still wanted to enjoy open-top motoring. This model was offered in a slightly different range of seven colours with the biggest switch being the change from Meteor Grey to Machine Grey. The colours were: Soul Red Metallic, Ceramic Metallic, Arctic White, Crystal White Pearl, Blue Reflex, Machine Grey and Jet Black.
The Mazda MX-5 RF Roadster Coupe was also a little on the expensive side coming in at R532 800 when new.
