1990 Mazda Mx-5 Miata Sunkist Orange Factory-painted Color Test Car on 2040-cars
Cambria, California, United States
One in a Million: 1990 Mazda Miata Bright Orange Factory Color Test Car Truly one of a kind! To date, Mazda has produced approximately 960,000 Miata (MX5/Eunos) sports cars. Of this nearly-a-million quantity, this car is the only bright orange first-series (“NA”) Miata produced and sold by the factory. It’s one of the original Mazda Miata “Color Cars” that were selected by Mazda from the assembly line in 1990 to be painted alternate paint colors as full-scale marketing study for potential production. Viewing was held at the courtyard of Mazda North America HQ in southern California. There were six Miata color cars in all. The six colors were: • Raspberry Metallic The Light Green and Raspberry cars are now considered lost, so only the remaining four cars exist, and are all in long-term ownership. Two pictures from the original viewing of the Color Cars at Mazda in California are shown with this listing. On the window sticker, in the block "Color of Your New Mazda" it says "Various Test Colors". All six color cars received an "X1" for the color code, and the special color status is also noted on the original window sticker (which I have, along with many other records). These six special cars were removed from the assembly line and painted at the factory in Japan. The cars were painted completely so that the color is under the hood, inside the trunk and under the carpets. The color cars were then returned to the assembly line for completion and shipped to the Mazda design studio in Irvine, California for viewing. Sunkist (the orange car) spent some 14 months at the Design Center and accumulated about 1,400 miles. When they were finished with the cars, the Design Center offered them for sale to employees, and most were bought by employees or their friends. The orange car is an A-package car (power steering, leather-wrapped steering wheel, AM-FM cassette radio) with air conditioning. The Sunkist-orange car is perhaps the most famous of the six Color Cars, The paint is highly distinctive: bright-orange and very close to Lamborghini Miura orange. One of the Miata’s designers owned a Miura in that color, which is how it happened. A full history of the Color Cars (as written by others) is included at the end of this description. Here’s a link to the full set of (at least) 138 photographs: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AYsm7dq0YsWLGig (Interior photos in the linked set are not too good so far– after I vacuum, clean, and re-photograph the interior and seats, new pictures will be added to the Shutterfly set and will be available using the link above. The interior’s actually in great original condition, with custom floor mats having the “Miata” logo stitched in orange) General Notes:
Cool Stuff:
Why You Should Buy This Car:
General Terms of Sale: General Terms: Sale of this car is strictly as is, where is – FOB our driveway in Cambria, California. It’s approximately 34 miles north of San Luis Obispo, at the southernmost end of the Big Sur Coast, and is an excellent place from which to either drive home or up the coast to Monterey/Laguna Seca and points north. Domestic Buyers: Following payment in full and transfer of the car to you, I’ll be happy to co-ordinate loading of the car with your car hauler if you prefer to ship by truck. An enclosed van is highly recommended to prevent damage or vandalism. I can also deliver to Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, or the Northwest in exchange for delivery (gas/hotel/food) and return (air) expenses. (NOTE: This can include delivery for “Car Week” [Barret-Jackson, etc.] in January, so you’ll have the car to use or re-sell). The extra set of wheels will probably need to be shipped separately if the car is driven to you, and that would be at your expense also. Overseas Buyers: Your purchase of the car is also welcomed. For overseas buyers, I will drive the car to your customs broker or point of embarkation at either Los Angeles or San Francisco. I can also deliver Sunkist to either Portland (OR) or Seattle if the return airline flight expenses and other expenses (gas/hotel/food) are prepaid. After the car is delivered to your shipping point, all further costs for brokerage, customs, insurance, and shipping are your responsibility. Payment: Following purchase, a non-refundable downpayment is to be made, using Paypal, within the time specified in this listing. The balance due for purchase of the car is to be paid within 14 calendar days of the close of the listing, and is to be paid by cash in hand, fully-cleared personal check, or by bank wire transfer. No cashier’s checks accepted, because of the potential for fraud – even if you actually are the Prince of Nigeria. Thanks very much for your interest – Here’s more background on the NA Color Cars:
THE RAREST MIATAS: THE 'COLOR CARS' Compiled by John Emerson IntroductionThere were six Miata "color" cars produced in 1990. Three were “A package” cars and three had “B package”, all with air conditioning. The colors were:
On the window sticker, in the block "Color of Your New Mazda" it says "Various Test Colors". All six cars have an "X" for the color code. The MSRP on Sunkist was $15,999.00 for an A package with air conditioning. These six cars were removed from the assembly line and painted at the factory. The cars were painted completely so that the color is under the hood, inside the trunk and under the carpets. They were not painted some other color first. They were returned to the assembly line for completion and then shipped to the Mazda design studio in Irvine, California. The Irvine Design Center used them to evaluate new colors for future Miatas and MX-3s. Sunkist (the orange car) spent some 14 months at the Design Center and accumulated about 1,400 miles. She was slightly damaged on the left rear fender; it was fixed and the fender repainted. Bob Hall and Mark Jordan recalled the damage but couldn't remember what caused it or how bad it was. When they were finished with the cars, the Design Center offered them for sale to employees, and most were bought by employees or their friends. Notes by Skip Cannon (2nd owner):The first private owner of Sunkist was Stu Schaller. He is a free-lance automotive researcher/journalist who already had owned a silver Miata. He was also one of the people who started an LA area Miata club called GLAMOR (Greater Los Angeles Miata Owners R***). I heard it was later absorbed into the SOCALM chapter. Schaller advertised Sunkist for sale in The Recycler, an LA area classified newspaper. Not knowing about the color cars, I almost didn't call, thinking orange might be a bad color for a Miata. I also suspected that the car might have been wrecked and repainted. Fortunately, I did call and he brought the car to JPL, where I worked, during my lunch hour. I checked the car out and he told me some of the history of the six color cars and showed me copies of Miata Club of America magazine articles to verify his story. I bought the car on the spot for $9,000, a real bargain at the time. Sunkist had 14,000 miles on her by then and she was incredibly dirty. His girlfriend had been using the Miata to haul hay to her horse down a long dirt road. The paint looked a little faded, but a cleaner and wax job brought it back. An Insider's View of the Color CarsWhat follows comes from an interview of Bob Hall, a member of the original Miata team at Mazda, by Miata enthusiast (and creator of the VOODOO shift knobs) Bob Krueger. Mas Kato, Bob Hall's brother-in-law, has owned one of the color cars, the teal Miata, almost since it was first sold by Mazda at Irvine (Bob and his wife, Mas' sister, owned it first for a short time). The following is a paraphrase of the 1997 interview of Bob Hall: "NONE of the colors had a 'name'. per se. The closest thing to a name was the mix code for the color, and the only way that you'd know what that was would be to look at the tin of paint supplied with each car. Mas' teal car was 'named' H4143 (rolls off the tongue real easy, doesn't it?). Since I didn't see the other cars' cans of paint, I can't tell you the 'names'. "Here's how we referred to the colors when we described them to people who'd never seen them. The orange car was referred to as 'orange' or, occasionally, 'Miura orange' (after the Lamborghini of the same name, because the color was close to the orange seen on early Miuras); the teal car as 'teal'; the dark metallic blue one we called 'electric blue'; the purple/magenta was referred to as 'raspberry'; the pale metallic green we all called 'ice green' (using the name of a similar color used on some 911s -- made it easier for people in the paint business to understand the shade -- like the orange); and the metallic pastel yellow we called 'pukey'. Well, aside from being referred to once or twice as 'metallic pus', we usually called it 'pale yellow metallic', mainly to avoid confusion with the limited edition yellow (1991 Sunburst Yellow prototype –ed.) that was being prepared at the same time. "Regarding manufacture, I think they were all done in late 1990 or early 1991. There was the space of about three weeks between the first one and the last one, and the yellow car was repainted once before it was put on the boat (it arrived as a 'two-tone' - the front and rear bumpers had darkened noticeably by the time the cars arrived at MRA.) "What's not widely known is that the six color Miatas were part of a larger color study that included some 323 hatchbacks in a few really bizarre shades...two or three that were even more 'out there' than the six color Miatas." |
Mazda MX-5 Miata for Sale
- Repo no reserve new roof roadster needs buyer s2000 z3 z4 tt mr2
- 47k one 1 owner miles 2007 mazda mx-5 miata convertible grand touring manual
- 1991 mazda miata base convertible 2-door 1.6l
- 13 white pearl 2l i4 manual:5-speed convertible sport *one owner *low miles *fl
- 2011 grand touring hardtop 6-speed bose audio leather(US $22,000.00)
- 1996 mazda mx-5 m-edition - low miles!!(US $3,995.00)
Auto Services in California
Zoll Inc ★★★★★
Zeller`s Auto Repair ★★★★★
Your Choice Car ★★★★★
Young`s Automotive ★★★★★
Xact Window Tinting ★★★★★
Whitaker Brake & Chassis Specialists ★★★★★
Auto blog
Mazda3 to showcase CNG, Hybrid versions in Tokyo
Tue, 22 Oct 2013Mazda has made huge gains in its competitive set with the introduction of its Skyactiv technologies, and the Japanese automaker appears to have no plans on slowing down. While we're still waiting for the Mazda6 Skyactiv-D diesel to go on sale in the US, Mazda announced that it will debut new Skyactiv-Hybrid and Skyactiv-CNG versions of the Mazda3 (standard US-spec model shown above) at next month's Tokyo Motor Show.
Matching up with what we heard earlier in the summer, the Mazda3 Skyactiv-Hybrid is intended for Japan only, but there are no details about this system regarding fuel economy, electric components or specs. Likewise, there are no details for the Mazda3 Skyactiv-CNG Concept, which is a bi-fuel version of the car running on both gasoline and compressed natural gas. As this car's name suggests, the CNG model is a concept vehicle, and there is no indication that Mazda plans offering such a model here in the US.
In addition to these two vehicles, Mazda will also have an Atenza (Mazda6) on display showing off some vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) safety systems, called the ASV-5 (Advanced Safety Vehicle). Scroll down for Mazda's official press release.
Mazda and Clemson collaborate on Deep Orange 3 concept
Wed, 07 Aug 2013There are school projects, and then there's the Mazda Deep Orange 3 Concept Car, a one-off built by Clemson University automotive engineering students and designed by Frederick Naaman from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Clemson students unveiled the chassis at the 2012 SEMA show in Las Vegas, although this is the first showing of the car fully clothed.
Sporting a unique hybrid powertrain that can automatically switch between front-, rear-, and all-wheel drive. A gas-powered engine handles the fronts, while the rears are powered by an electric motor and a battery pack. The Deep Orange 3 also has an unusual three-plus-three layout, making it a much cooler version of your parent's old Vista Cruiser. The exterior sheetmetal clearly follows Mazda's established design language, and looks like it could easily pass for a five-door version of the Shinari Concept. It really is a great looking vehicle.
The Deep Orange 3 was part of Clemson's graduate-level auto engineering program, and is a regular partnership between the east coast school and the Pasadena-based design college's students. Clemson, Art Center and Mazda will be showing the Deep Orange 3 at the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, MI, from August 5 to August 8. Click through for a press release from Clemson University.
R&T chases down a burglar in the million-mile Miata
Mon, 04 Aug 2014Is the answer always Mazda Miata? We discussed this in passing on the Autoblog Podcast earlier this week, and most assuredly the answer is "no." For example, the little MX-5 would be a terrible people carrier, and it'd be useless off road. You can't really tow anything of substance with it, either. Still, if push came to shove, it's satisfying to know that the diminutive roadster could eke out a career as a chase vehicle for the police.
That fact was proven when Road & Track editor Chris Cantle did something that he himself recognizes as "stupid." Upon returning home, Cantle discovered a "twenty-something" actively burgling his home. The resulting story is easily one of the more entertaining episodes to come out of the 1990 MX-5's service to the team at R&T and, we're guessing, will be one of the highlights of the Million-Mile Miata challenge.
Be sure to head over to Road & Track for a full retelling of the chase from Cantle, as well as a follow-up on the saga.