Mazda MX-5 25th Anniversary Edition & all new MX-5 previewed: New York Auto Show

The Mazda MX-5 25th Anniversary Edition has been revealed at the New York Auto Show, as has a preview of the all-new MX-5 chassis.

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Mazda is playing their best card at the New York Auto Show – the evergreen MX-5 – with a special edition to celebrate its 25th birthday – the Mazda MX-5 25th Anniversary Edition – and a preview of the chassis for the all-new MX-5.

The 25th Anniversary Edition of the MX-5 is based on the 2.0 litre Roadster Coupe with the 158bhp engine and can be had with either a manual or automatic gearbox, but just one colour – Soul Red Metallic.

Titivations include a black roof, door mirrors and A-Pillars, 17″ Dark Gunmetal alloys, Bilstein dampers, Piano Black trim and off-white leather seats with ’25th Anniversary’ logos embossed on the seats.

Also on show at the 2014 New York Auto Show is the first look at the all-new MX-5 – due in 2015 – with a bare SKYACTIV chassis (in the photo gallery above) teasing what’s to come from the most successful roadster ever built (940,000 sold, and counting).

The new chassis – to be shared with the new Alfa Romeo Spider – will see the engine positioned behind the front axle and closer to the car’s centre, it will stay rear-wheel-drive and have a lower centre of gravity.

Mazda’s Takashi Yamanouchi said:

The original concept behind the MX-5 was so simple; to offer the pure joy of a lightweight sportscar that moves precisely as the driver intends.

While responding to increasing safety and environmental requirements, over the 25 years since its launch we have had to continually reinvent the MX-5 – far beyond simple evolution – in order to stay true to that original ideal.

With body rigidity and crashworthiness improved – and 1–kh lighter – the new Mazda MX-5 promise to bring more of the same MX-5 goodness to the next generation.