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Low-Mileage 1990 Mazda MX-5 Auction Outcome Baffles Everyone, Nobody Wins

This 32-year-old Mazda MX-5 seemed destined for greatness. We told you about it and promised to return with the proper news. Sadly, something went wrong. Here’s what happened.
1990 Mazda MX-5 NA 8 photos
Photo: cressi dalimo on Bring a Trailer
1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata
A little over a week ago we introduced you to a 1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata that presented itself on the web with just 1,600 miles (2,575 kilometers) on the odometer. Not only that, but before being offered on Bring a Trailer it also went through a thorough detailing session at a well-known New York facility.

As enthusiasts wished, it also came with a clean history and was unmodified. This particular Japanese roadster truly is a pristine example. We’re not the ones to play any guessing games, but there is a very high chance not many like it are available today. So, why didn’t it find a new owner?

Well, the obvious reason for that is the reserve set by the seller together with Bring a Trailer (BaT). As things currently stand, $25,000 wasn’t enough to let this Miata go to a new home.

However, the weirdest thing about this auction is that it started on the right foot. The first bid was $11,738. Others quickly followed with their offers. In a little under 24 hours and after only seven submissions, the best price for this car reached $25,000. At this point, eight days remained until the whole thing was going to end.

This made a lot of people think that a serious bidding contest will happen. To everyone’s surprise, that never happened. After that offer of $25,000 was registered, nobody tried to add their bid. Curiously enough, it wasn’t even that big of a gap between the last best price and the previous bid – only $2,600 separated them. But it looks like that was enough for anyone even remotely interested in the roadster.

Yes, eight days of auctioning were for nothing. The first 24 hours were enough to settle this car’s price.

Some auction watchers said they saw this Mazda on Facebook Marketplace. According to them, it was being offered for $35,000. We couldn’t verify these claims. However, the seller could have removed the ad from the social network prior to the listing on BaT.

Finally, even though the Miata didn’t sell on BaT, the current owner said he will attempt to work out a deal with the top bidder. At the time of writing, there is no feedback regarding this discussion.

This MX-5 will continue to live on as one of the lowest mileage NA Miatas out there. That is, of course, until someone decides to pull the trigger and will LS swap it. It might seem like a sacrilege, but the most expensive MX-5 ever to be sold on BaT had a price of $41,250. The transaction for the V8-powered and reinforced roadster happened in March 2021.
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About the author: Florin Amariei
Florin Amariei profile photo

Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one.
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