We love sports cars. And we especially love when they keep true to form. Porsche 911, Corvette, yes, they’ve gotten larger over the years, but they keep pretty close to their ethos.

Of course, there’s one sports car that’s even more dedicated to a particular vision – the Mazda MX-5, or Miata to you and me! And the 2025 model year marks the MX-5’s 35^th birthday, so Mazda is giving enthusiasts a great present – the MX-5 35^th Anniversary edition. Let’s unwrap it and see what we get!

The 4^th generation of the MX-5 (known as the ND to those in the know) has been with us since 2016, and we have to say it still looks great – a sweet, flowing design that’s pure sports car. Over the years Mazda has continually updated the model, and enthusiasts call them ND1, ND2 and the now-current ND3. Last year saw a host of small changes mostly for enhancing the performance and a nicer looking info-tainment screen.

Bespoke Color Combo

The 35^th Anniversary edition will come in only one color – a gorgeous Artisan Red Metallic with contrasting beige soft top.  Since the 4^th gen MX-5 is in its 9^th year, the design remains familiar, still we were pleased that our tester still turned heads.

Up front, a large grille and LED headlamps create a friendly face that says, “Hey let’s play!”  The profile shows off the muscular lines, and when the top is up, it’s a rich contrast between red paint and light top. Adding to the look are uniquely-finished, 17-inch alloy wheels – we love the bright, eye catching, multi-spoke design– and a tasteful numbered badge behind the front door. While Mazda says only 300 will be sold in the US, ours was number 1,790. Go figure!

The rear is like the front, simple and sporty, with sporty afterburner-style taillights, simple badging and dual exhaust pipes poking out beneath the lower bumper. Overall, you’re aware that this is not a large car, but a true sports car, and with the fancy paint, wheels and light top, an upscale statement as well.

Also worth mentioning, the 35^th Anniversary model is only offered in the soft convertible – sorry RF retractable hard top fans. If you’ve never been in one, the soft top is a revelation, it’s a one-hand affair that you can raise or lower while remaining in the driver seat. No power motors needed here – it’s light, easy, and takes just seconds.

Rich Interior

The MX-5 interior remains a very cozy space for two, but the focus, as always, is on the driving.

Open the door, and you’re greeted with tan Nappa leather on the seats and a black and tan two-tone on the dash and door panels for an upscale and elegant look. Adding to the specialness, the 35^th Anniversary logo is embossed into the headrests, while trim around the AC vents and upper door panels are matched to the Artisan Red exterior for a bespoke look.

Getting in can be a challenge, especially for taller drivers when the top is up, but once you’re inside long seat travel helps taller drivers gets some leg space, and you notice all the key features like a leather-wrapped, 3-spoke steering wheel and chunky shift lever fall readily to hand.

The seats themselves are comfortable and well sized, but our personal tastes go for the Club model’s optional Recaro sport buckets that are even more supportive – especially when you’re driving enthusiastically. Still, outside of a racetrack, the 35^th AE seats are handsome and supportive. And a major plus for a drop-top, they’re heated as well.

We also love that Mazda continues to equip the MX-5 with an actual parking brake lever – it would have been more space efficient to have a small electronic switch, but there are times a driver may want to swing out the rear end with a judicious use of parking brake.

Gauges are crisp, clean and analog with a tachometer dead center –as it should be – with speedo and other gauges on the sides.

Info-tainment is handsome – last year the MX-5 got a new, lower and wider, 8.8-inch screen that looks tons more upscale, while Mazda’s familiar selector knob on the center console lets you dial up what you need. Tech is on board too, with standard Wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Alexa Built-in.

Also worth noting is the excellent Bose audio system, including speakers in the headrest. Mazda goes the distance to make it easy to enjoy your music or make calls with the top down. We also appreciate that Mazda includes a smaller second knob for volume control.

A nice advantage of the snug cabin – everything is nearby, including dedicated climate controls ahead of the shifter that are close at hand.

Everything looks to a high level of quality, and you do get the impression of money well spent, but we’d still caveat that this is a small car, and things are snug. Larger drivers (or passengers) may find it a little too snug.

That small interior also keeps storage limited, with no front glovebox and a very slender center console storage (maybe enough room for a skinny wallet). The major interior storage is on the rear bulkhead between the seats, and it’s a surprisingly deep little cubby to store a few items.

Trunk space is also limited, but some careful packing could mean two can take their MX-5 on a getaway weekend, and what a great time you could have doing just that!

Once Zoom Zoom, always Zoom Zoom

For many years Mazda had the tagline Zoom Zoom in all their advertising, pointing to the sheer, joy of driving that the company brings to all its products – and especially to the MX-5. And here the diminutive sportster continues to impress in a big way.

Under the hood is Mazda’s familiar 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder engine, producing 181 horsepower and 151 lb.-ft. of torque. While that doesn’t sound like a lot, in a lightweight sports car like an MX-5 that’s plenty to motivate you.

And it’s a powerplant that loves to rev all the way to its 7,000 rpm redline. That’s more than enough to accelerate our manual transmission model to 60 mph in under 6 seconds. We love the tuning, it revs easily, but as you pass 4,000 rpm it seriously lunges to the redline and really makes you small.

And in a small car, sitting low to the ground makes your acceleration feel even faster. We were also impressed with this engine’s refinement, but we think some may want a louder exhaust to enhance the driving experience.

Key to that experience is the delightful 6-speed manual gearbox. Slick, light and with sharply defined slots, this stick is great fun to row through the gears, while a light but feelsome clutch pedal makes for a perfect partner, whether you’re attacking your favorite twisty road, highway on-ramp or even slogging through the daily commute. While the Anniversary edition is only offered with manual transmission, an excellent automatic is also available on other trims – but we’d opt for the communication of the three-pedal model. Nice to have a choice though!

While the acceleration is quite good, it’s not the main reason most by an MX-5. It’s the handling that pastes a perm-a-grin on your face. That light weight means a tug on the steering wheel, and you turn NOW, and the steering feels incredibly precise.

Grip is quite good, you can zip around with plenty of control, and experienced drivers will be able to slip the rear-end around as needed.

The ride may also surprise some, it’s supple and composed and quite comfortable for a long drive – and what wouldn’t be better than a nice top-down cruise on your weekend?  And with a combined EPA rating of 29 mpg, efficiency is excellent as well.

Also impressive is the amount of safety equipment Mazda can stuff into a small vehicle, including Standard Auto Emergency Braking with Forward Collision Warning, Blind Spot Monitoring, Rear Cross Traffic Alert – even Traffic Sign Recognition. One note – Adaptive Cruise Control is not available on the Anniversary Edition, lower trims like our tester come with a more traditional cruise.  To us, it’s not a deal breaker – we loved the actual driving of the car, we never really used cruise control.

How Much for Mazda’s Birthday Present?

The Miata has a wide range of models to appeal to many budgets. You can get into true sports car goodness with the MX-5 Sport starting at $29,830. For the pure joy of top-down motoring in a modern package, it’s a great value.

Our MX-5 35^th Anniversary model will be limited to just 300 units and carries an MSRP of $36,250. With no options, and $1,185 for destination, we rang the bell at $37,435.

While there used to be plenty of affordable drop-top sports cars, there’s few left. If you need a convertible, you could also look at the BMW Z4, starting at $56,100. You could consider a Mini convertible, but to match the MX-5’s performance, you’ll need the high-end model, and at $48,175 it’s significantly more expensive. Both vehicles have a larger interior, and that may make a difference to some.

If you don’t need a convertible, the Subaru BRZ/ Toyota GR86 are great rear-wheel drive coupes, with a comparably equipped GR86 coming in at $37,560. The GR86 in particular is attracting its fair share of rumors due to a report saying the next generation model might use the MX-5’s platform. Space or sky – you decide!

The Mazda MX-5 is a special sports car, a joy to drive, and is even more so with the beautiful 2025 MX-5 35^th Anniversary edition.