1991 Mazda MX-5 Miata – SOLD FOR $7,100
April 14, 2022 Update: The high bid of $7,100 came close enough to meeting the reserve price of $8,000 that the seller decided to sell the car to the high bidder. Congrats to both buyer and seller!
GuysWithRides.com is proud to offer this 74K original mile, 1991 Mazda MX-5 Miata as our latest “Reasonable Rides” offering. Reasonable rides are auctions on our website where the seller requested a reserve price under $10,000.
Bidding opened Wednesday, March 30, 2022, and continued for fourteen (14) consecutive days ending at 9:00 PM Eastern Time Wednesday, April 13, 2022.
This 1991 Mazda Miata currently resides in southern Oregon, just a few miles north of the California border.
To view a slideshow of this car’s key pictures, click on the photograph below and use the “<” and “>” arrows to navigate through all of them. More detailed pictures are provided at the very bottom of this listing.
Mazda rocked the automotive world at the Chicago Auto Show in February 1989 with its new MX-5 sports car featuring a base price of under $14,000. After a nearly ten-year gap left when British Leyland packed up MG and Triumph in 1980, Mazda took a gamble that consumers were still interested in two-seat classic sports cars as long as they came with better reliability, tops that sealed passengers from the elements, and a great driving experience. Mazda succeeded at all three and the first generation “NA” Mazda was a huge sales success. Thirty years on, the first generation Miata has proven to be a very reliable car, whether used on the street or the track. Consequently, it’s getting harder to find driver-quality examples such as the Crystal White example featured here at auction.
To help acquaint you with the original standard features and available options on the 1991 Mazda MX-5 Miata, you can click on the picture below to review the original U.S. sales brochure from that model year:
Bill, the fourth and current caretaker of this 74.4K original mile 1991 Mazda Miata, confirms his car is fully sorted and up to date on all maintenance. The seller notes he is responsible for approximately seven thousand of the total miles accrued during his eight years of ownership. He notes the most significant modification not easily visible was the installation of a marine-style battery box in the car’s trunk to facilitate the use of a standard-size battery (fun fact: first-generation Miatas use a special-size battery that tends to be very expensive with a shorter life than more common size offerings). Exterior modifications from stock include the chrome American Racing five-spoke aftermarket wheels (shod with sticky summer-only rubber) and a black anti-theft style radio antenna. Interior modifications are limited to an aluminum shift knob and an aftermarket stereo head unit.
The picture below is the link for the Complimentary CarFax® confirming this 1991 Mazda Miata has four owners and to date remains accident-free. To review the complete CarFax, please click on the picture below and press your browser window’s back button to return to this page when done:
Additionally, we’re providing at no charge a completed Lemon Squad Pre-Purchase Inspection (“PPI”), the results of which can be accessed by clicking the picture below. As you will see in the report, the inspector did not find any material defects during their inspection of this Miata. The only items they noted and documented with pictures are minor cosmetic wear consistent with a car of this vintage. To review the complete Lemon Squad PPI, please click on the picture below and press your browser window’s back button to return to this page when done:
As mentioned above, the seller agreed to a reserve price well under ten thousand dollars, making this car qualify as one of our “Reasonable Rides.” To help you make informed bids, we’re providing a link to Classic.com, the analytics and search engine for the Classic Car market, that provides an interactive graph of recent comparable sales in the past five years. As the graph highlights, Classic.com provides access to 37 previous 1991 Miata sales averaging $10,225 with prices ranging from a low of $3,800 to a high of $27,000. By clicking on the green dots, you can navigate to each comparable car sold as a way to help you make an educated bid on the car we are featuring for auction here:
If you have any questions about this 1991 Mazda MX-5 Miata auction, please leave a comment below or feel free to call Rudy directly at 877-468-6497. Thank you for looking and happy bidding!
Here’s the Exterior Photograph Gallery. Click on a desired picture to expand it and then navigate between all of the other pictures
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Here’s the Interior Photograph Gallery. Click on the desired picture to expand it and then navigate between all of the other pictures.
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Here’s the Underhood Photograph Gallery. Click on the desired picture to expand it and then navigate between all of the other pictures.
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Here’s the Tires, Wheels, and UnderCarriage Photograph Gallery. Click on the desired picture to expand it and then navigate between all of the other pictures.
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Here’s the Convertible Top & Windows Photograph Gallery. Click on the desired picture to expand it and then navigate between all of the other pictures.
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Here’s the Documentation Photograph Gallery. Click on the desired picture to expand it and then navigate between all of the other pictures.
24 Comments
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Can you tell me when and how much of the car was repainted?
I am not aware of when any painting took place. I suspect that the right front fender was replaced some time before I purchased the car in August 2013. The only visual evidence of that (to me) is at one of the attachment points of the fender to the body, at the top near the hood hinge. Feel free to ask any other questions you may have.
Hello! Just want to confirm that she turns over and drives?
Hi Jonelle, yes, the seller reports their Miata runs and drives well.
Sorry to be so long in replying. I am the owner – this car turns right over, and is very reliable – has never stranded me. It runs strong, and is very quick and agile. If you have ever driven a Miata, you know that you do not just drive it, you wear it. The seating and control placement was very well designed. It has a weight distribution of 51% front, 49% rear. I can not stress enough how well it handles – fun to drive does not do it justice. Ask any other questions you like.
Hi do you happen to know if this is an ‘A’, “B’, or Special edition package? Also does the car have anti-lock brakes?
To my knowledge, the car is not equipped with ABS. Additionally, I believe it is not a special edition. As for your reference to whether it is an A or B – it is an A as in NA, or first generation.
Is there any rust?
According to the seller, this is a western, rust-free Miata.
Where is the car located?
Please note the third paragraph and the “Deets” table at the top of the listing indicate where the car is located.
Does it have limited Slip Differential, a stand alone option if the car did not have it in a package (B I think).
Hi, I would like to see the car.
Hi Paul, we’re emailing you this as well, but if you’re serious about buying the car, you need to place a realistic bid on the car before we exchange your information with the seller. The fee will be refunded immediately if you decide not to buy the car.
Upon winning. How is transport handled?
The buyer is responsible for transporting or shipping the car (and the costs of it) from the seller’s residence to yours. We can recommend several carriers if you don’t plan to pick up the car yourself.
Has the soft top been replaced or is original?
Has the soft top been replaced or repaired? Or is still original?
Mike, I am the current owner. I have owned this Miata for 8 1/2 years (always garaged), and to my knowledge it is the original top. The rear “glass”, which I believe to actually be very thick vinyl, is in excellent condition, as is the top. There were two small tears in the top of less than 1/3″ in size, that have been successfully repaired with Permatex Vinyl and Leather Repair. On an unrelated note, I am pleased to mention that this Miata gets 35mpg.
Regarding image 72. Were the AC lines removed under your ownership and was all of the ac equipment forward of the firewall also taken out? Thanks.
I am the owner. I believe image 78 gives the best visual on what I understand to be the A/C plumbing, in the lower left part of the photo. I closely examined the A/C fittings on the firewall, and it appears that no hoses have ever been attached to them, nor is there any obvious evidence of an A/C compressor having been attached to the engine. I ran the VIN through 4 free decoders, and no mention is made of whether A/C was installed at the factory. As there is an A/C control button on the heater fan control switch, along with the presence of the plumbing, I suspect that Mazda built all these cars out to a standard where A/C could have been installed when built or later. Two of the decoders indicated that this Miata is a “Special Edition”, but I make no such claim.
Owner here again. When this page “refreshed” I now see where the reference to image 72 came from. I had looked at the images as shown in the Lemon Squad PDF, which referred to this image as number 78. Sorry for the confusion.
Thanks for the reply. I did a bit of digging on the matter. Here is a good reference that shows a few more photos:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1990-mazda-mx-5-miata-149-2/
It appears that a non AC model would have a few grommets on the firewall that cover the holes for the lack of ac fittings. They also have a different climate control unit with no ac button, only a turn style knob.
However, some of the later 1.8L na models have a plastic cap threaded over the exposed routing.
Good news is the routing is in place on your car so it can be converted to r134a if someone chooses to.
In addition to the seller’s thorough reply, we were able to source a copy of the 1991 Mazda Miata U.S. sales brochure, which we have posted towards the top of this listing. Backing up the seller’s research is the fact that air conditioning was not standard equipment for 1991, but could be ordered as either a factory or dealer-installed accessory.