Driven less than 1,100 km, this Miata still earned its owner a $3,000 profit

© аукцион Cars and Bids

A car usually starts losing value the moment it rolls off the dealer lot. But the Mazda MX-5 Miata 35th Anniversary turned out to be a rare exception. The first owner bought this roadster new in July 2025 for $37,435 and, 10 months and about 1,100 km later, sold it for $40,500. The final price came in roughly $3,000 above the original sticker. For a mass-produced car that is almost unheard of, but the rarity of this version helped.

Mazda built just 2,000 examples of the MX-5 Miata 35th Anniversary worldwide. This particular car wears number 1882, putting it among the later units of the run. Only 300 of those roadsters were shipped to the US, and all of them found buyers quickly. Today the only way to get this Miata is on the used market, and it does not show up there often. The anniversary version comes in deep Artisan Red Metallic, with a tan soft top, matching interior and 17-inch wheels.

Under the hood sits a 2.0-liter naturally aspirated engine with 181 hp and 205 Nm of torque. The numbers do not look impressive next to today’s turbocharged rivals, but the MX-5 weighs only about 1,062 kg. That lightness lets the roadster hit 100 km/h in roughly 5.5 seconds, with a top speed of 224 km/h. The point here is not straight-line pace but the feel behind the wheel: a 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive, a limited-slip differential and Bilstein dampers.

The cabin features heated leather seats and a 9-speaker Bose audio system. The car spent its whole life with a single owner in Florida, so its condition is close to new. The buyer received two keys, the owner’s manual, the factory window sticker and the original floor mats.

The new owner clearly knows what he is buying. He already has a 1990 Mazda MX-5 NA and his own 30th Anniversary Edition, so the 35-year anniversary roadster has landed in the right collection. This Miata made money not through power or luxury, but through what Mazda has long done better than most: lightness, a manual gearbox and the right dose of rarity. Sometimes a simple roadster ends up more valuable than yet another expensive sports car with huge numbers on the spec sheet.