Mazda MX-5
Image: Helge Jepsen
The summer of 2022 is a thing of the past. We defy the cool autumn and find that the small Mazda is also fun to drive when closed. For relatively little money.
Convertibles have a hard time on the German car market. Demand has more than halved in the past 15 years. In 2007 almost 140,000 new open-top cars hit the streets, now it’s less than 60,000 a year. At the same time, many open models disappeared from the scene, and some brands no longer have a single one in their range. Psychologists say many people no longer want to show themselves openly, they prefer to hide, which is why hoodies are popular.
Boris Schmidt
Editor in the “Technology and Engine” department.
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Be that as it may, the small Mazda MX-5 is one of the open classics on the market. It is the only Japanese car with a certain cult character, as it triggered the roadster boom of the time when it appeared in the early 1990s. BMW Z3 and Mercedes-Benz SLK followed. In 1992, driving was still allowed to be fun and not constantly questioned. We do not do that in this text either. Such a small, only 3.92 meters long Mazda is a true commitment to the joy of the car. Also because it is anything but practical. Only two people can sit, the trunk is tiny with a volume of 130 liters. In principle, you can’t take much more with you than on a fat motorcycle with a tank bag and two saddlebags, as long as you don’t mount a luggage rack on the trunk lid of the MX-5. But that looks nice.