Mazda MX-5 Miata
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40 free Mazda MX-5 Miata trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The Mazda MX-5 Miata arrived in 1989, when small, affordable open sports cars had almost vanished from showrooms. It brought the idea back, sold in huge numbers and has stayed true to the same simple recipe through four generations: two seats, a folding roof, low weight and handling that flatters the driver. This quiz follows the whole story. There are questions on how the car was conceived and who championed it, on what the names and badges mean, and on the design choices that set each generation apart. Others cover anniversary and special editions, the sister car sold under another badge, the awards the car has collected, and the club and professional racing series built around it. It starts with easy questions any fan can enjoy and works up to details that will test long-time owners. That makes it a good fit for car-club quiz nights, owners' meets, road-trip games and anyone who simply likes a great driver's car. Every answer comes with a short explanation.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Miata, the Mazda MX-5's name in North America, comes from an Old High German word meaning what?
Reward
Reward is the meaning a Mazda product planner found in Webster's dictionary while hunting for a name; the word is a distant cousin of the rare English word meed.
Q 02Which feature of the original Mazda MX-5 was dropped in 1998 over stricter pedestrian safety tests?
Pop-up headlights
Pop-up headlights were unique to the first-generation car, which is why collectors can spot one at a glance; every MX-5 since has worn fixed lamps.
Q 03In Pixar's Cars, which twin sisters are Lightning McQueen's biggest fans, painted red to match him?
Mia and Tia
Mia and Tia are both first-generation Mazda Miatas covered in stickers of their hero's face, though they briefly switch sides when he goes missing.
Q 04What were fans invited to do to the one-millionth Mazda MX-5 as it toured several cities in 2016?
Sign it
Fans got to sign it at each stop, where the first 240 people to arrive could add their names before the car moved on.
Q 05Which 1960s sports car was the benchmark for the first Mazda MX-5, right down to its door handles?
Lotus Elan
Lotus Elan cues also shaped the tail lamps and grille opening, and Mazda evaluated two of the cars closely while designing its own.
Q 06In which Japanese city, where Mazda began in 1920, has every generation of the MX-5 been built?
Hiroshima
Hiroshima's Ujina plant has assembled every MX-5 since 1989, whatever badge the car wears: Miata in America or Roadster in Japan.
Q 07Which Italian brand sold the 124 Spider, a 2016 roadster Mazda built on the MX-5 platform?
Fiat
Fiat got the car only after its parent company ruled that an Alfa Romeo version, announced in 2012, could not be built outside Italy.
Q 08The 2020 100th Anniversary Mazda MX-5 marked a century since the company began as a maker of what?
Cork
Cork was the trade of Toyo Cork Kogyo, founded in 1920; the anniversary car's white paint and red leather echoed the firm's little R360 coupe.
Q 09What did the 2004 Mazdaspeed MX-5 offer that no other generation has had straight from the factory?
A turbocharger
A turbocharger lifted the 1.8-litre engine to 178 horsepower and cut the sprint to 60 mph to 6.7 seconds, on stiffer springs and larger 17-inch wheels.
Q 10A 1991 special-edition Mazda MX-5 sold in the UK wore the colours of the car that won which race?
Le Mans 24 Hours
Le Mans 24 Hours victory in 1991 made Mazda the first Japanese manufacturer to win the race, a feat no other managed until Toyota in 2018.
Q 11Under which upmarket Mazda sub-brand was the first MX-5 sold in Japan, badged simply as a Roadster?
Eunos
Eunos was one of several new marques Mazda was launching at home, in the spirit of Lexus, Acura and Infiniti, so the earliest Japanese cars carry no Mazda badge at all.
Q 12At which American city's auto show did Mazda unveil the MX-5 Miata to the world in February 1989?
Chicago
Chicago saw the wraps come off on 10 February 1989, and Mazda returned to the same show 30 years later to launch an anniversary edition.
Q 13Which layout did Mazda's California team propose for the MX-5, beating in-house rivals in 1984?
Front-engine, rear-wheel drive
Q 21Kenichi Yamamoto, the Mazda executive who backed the MX-5, was famed for developing which engine?
Wankel rotary
Wankel rotary development was Yamamoto's life's work: he led the 47 engineers, nicknamed the 47 Ronin, who turned the German design into a commercial engine.
Q 22What type of engine powered the original 1989 Mazda MX-5, making about 115 horsepower?
Inline-four
Inline-four power has been the rule for every generation since; the first 1.6-litre unit was designed specifically for the car, with a lightened crankshaft and flywheel.
Q 23What cut short the 2005 production run of the Mazdaspeed MX-5, leaving just 1,428 cars for the US?
A factory fire
Front-engine, rear-wheel drive won only at the second judging round, when full-scale clay models were shown; on paper the mid-engined rival had looked stronger.
Q 14Which Japanese phrase, meaning horse and rider as one, is the design credo behind the Mazda MX-5?
Jinba ittai
Jinba ittai was the guiding idea of programme head Toshihiko Hirai, whose team obsessed over details such as a gear lever with the shortest possible throw.
Q 15What was Bob Hall's job when he first urged Mazda's research chief to build a simple open sports car?
Motoring journalist
Motoring journalist Hall spoke fluent Japanese and made the pitch in person; he later joined Mazda USA as a product planner and got to chase the idea himself.
Q 16In which country was the first running prototype of the Mazda MX-5, codenamed V705, built in 1985?
England
England's International Automotive Design built it in Worthing with a fibreglass body, then it was shipped to California so Mazda could film the public's reaction.
Q 17Which award did the fourth-generation Mazda MX-5 win in 2016, along with its matching design prize?
World Car of the Year
World Car of the Year went to Mazda for only the second time, after the Mazda2 in 2008, and the MX-5 took World Car Design of the Year on the same day.
Q 18How did the 2015 fourth-generation Mazda MX-5 compare in length and weight with the car it replaced?
Shorter and lighter
Shorter and lighter: it lost about four inches and 100 kg, which put its weight close to that of the 1989 original at roughly 1,000 kg.
Q 19How is the standard fabric roof of the fourth-generation Mazda MX-5 opened and closed?
Manually, by hand
Manually, by hand, and within a few seconds; Mazda kept the simple fabric top even as it gave this generation electric power steering.
Q 20What do the letters RF stand for on the Mazda MX-5 RF, the hard-roofed version announced in 2016?
Retractable Fastback
Retractable Fastback describes the trick: the rear buttresses lift up and back so the roof panel can fold away behind the seats, then drop into place again.
A factory fire ended the run early, so the 2005 cars are far scarcer than the 4,000 built for the US the year before.
Q 24Why did Mazda offer to buy back 2001 MX-5 Miatas from their American owners?
Overstated horsepower
Overstated horsepower was the problem: early US catalogues quoted the figure for Japanese-market cars, and owners who kept theirs got an apology and free servicing.
Q 25Which Mazda sports car shared its new suspension layout with the MX-5 that arrived in 2005?
RX-8
RX-8 parts sharing gave the MX-5 a multilink rear end in place of the double wishbones used since 1989, and this generation also gained traction and stability control.
Q 26Spec Miata, a popular low-cost racing class in America, began in the late 1990s under which body?
SCCA
SCCA, the Sports Car Club of America, began it as a regional class and took it national in 2006; the cars are lightly modified early MX-5s.
Q 27Which California circuit, then named after Mazda, hosted the first national MX-5 Cup race in 2006?
Laguna Seca
Laguna Seca carried Mazda's name for 17 years, and 22 drivers started that first race, which Chip Herr won from pole position.
Q 28What service did Mazda begin offering Japanese owners of the first-generation MX-5 in 2018?
Factory restoration
Factory restoration can return a car to original specification at the plant that built it, and more than 600 owners applied when the scheme was announced.
Q 29Which Mazda technology name do the direct-injection engines of the fourth-generation MX-5 carry?
Skyactiv
Skyactiv engines came in 1.5- and 2.0-litre sizes, both naturally aspirated, and a 2018 update raised the larger one's redline to 7,500 rpm.
Q 30Which designer, who joined Mazda North America in 1983, helped shape the first MX-5 and an RX-7?
Tom Matano
Tom Matano had already worked for General Motors, Holden and BMW, and he later ran the industrial design school at San Francisco's Academy of Art University.