Mazda Miata 25th Anniversary w/ Bob Hall and Tom Matano @ New York Auto Show

Mazda celebrated the 25th anniversary of its Miata roadster at the New York Auto Show. On hand were the designers of the original Miata, Bob Hall and Tom Matano. Autobytel’s Editor in Chief, Michelle Naranjo, got a chance to talk to these designers, who were happy to reflect on the 1989 model year introduction of the Miata. Tom Matano said that he was first brought on board to Mazda by Bob Hall, after Bob worked on an initial sketch for the car on a chalkboard and recognized his limitations in designing the car. So Bob shifted his focus, and while Bob worked on product planning, Tom worked on the car’s design. When the car was ready, its only competition in the lightweight sports car market was from Italy. Though the Miata has evolved over the years, there is still a very strong resemblance between the first generation of the car and the current version. Changes from year to year have been carefully implemented, since it’s hard to improve on something so good, but the original Mazda’s designers are confident the newest generation will be the best design yet. This small, lightweight sports car has been popular with track-goers and daily drivers alike, helping the Mazda Miata become the best selling roadster of all time.