30th Anniversary Special - MX-5 Generation Game

“The MX-5 is a consistent Auto Express favourite, so we had to plan a special road trip for its 30th birthday”.

- James Batchelor

Much like in relationships, automotive anniversaries come and go. Sometimes there are special ones that require a party, other times a press release is all that marks the passing of a notable landmark. But with the Mazda MX-5, there’s always an occasion to celebrate.

The MX-5 ranks as one of the most celebrated cars in the world. It has won countless awards, has thousands of owners’ clubs dedicated to it, and many special editions. As of 2019, 52 exclusive versions of the two-seater sports car have been made to celebrate one thing or another – and that’s just in the UK.

There have been green ones, red ones, and multicoloured ones. There’s even one that, rather bizarrely, was named after a swanky hotel. Add in the versions produced solely for the US and in the car’s home market of Japan, and the MX-5 could lay claim to having the most special editions of any car in the world.

As the MX-5 has been a consistent Auto Express favourite over the past three decades, we had to celebrate it turning the grand old age of 30. And, considering special editions have been so important to the MX-5, we decided to mark that part of the car’s story, choosing four of our favourite editions and embarking on a UK road trip to visit places sharing the names of those special editions. And the car we chose for the trip? Well, it was obvious – the MX-5’s 52nd and most recent limited-run version: the 30th Anniversary Edition.

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