Cars And Track Staff
We’ve all heard the cultists chanting it in the dark corners of a Cars & Coffee: “Miata Is Always The Answer.” Need a track car? Miata. Need a weekend cruiser? Miata. Need to feel the wind in your hair while your knees hit the steering wheel? Miata. But apparently, if the answer to the question is “How long can I avoid buying a sensible Toyota Camry?” the Miata’s response is: “Forever.”
Rumor has it there’s a 1990 NA Miata floating around the digital ether that clocked 869,000 miles. There is a well-known claim from a Reddit user (StormFinder01) who documented a 1990 Miata that reached 869,000 miles before being sold. For those of you doing the math at home, that is three trips to the moon and back, with enough left over to drive from Maine to California about 40 times to find a shop that actually stocks those tiny 14-inch tires.
Is it “original”? Hell no. By the time a car hits 800k, it’s basically “The Ship of Theseus” with pop-up headlights. It’s had more heart transplants than a billionaire, but the chassis? That’s still the same 34-year-old Japanese steel, likely held together by road grime and pure spite.
Ed’s Half-Million-Mile “Commuter”
Then there’s Ed. Ed has a white 1990 NA that crossed the 500,000-mile mark. The kicker? Most of those miles were done with a turbocharger attached. Usually, “Turbo” and “500,000 miles” only appear in the same sentence when describing how many miles a Volvo should have lasted before the electronics committed ritual suicide. The Miata pictured above is in the Mazda museum in Japan with 500,000 KM (310,686 in freedom units).
Yet, here is a car that looks like a happy little jellybean, outlasting every European luxury sedan built in the last decade.
Why Won’t They Just Die?
The Miata’s B-series engine wasn’t designed by a team of high-strung racing engineers. It was derived from a Mazda 323—a car built for people whose primary automotive concern was “will it start in a rainstorm?”
It is a simple, low-stress, overbuilt lump of iron that doesn’t know it’s supposed to be “sporty.” It thinks it’s a tractor. And like a tractor, you can treat it like absolute garbage, and it will still reward you by winking its headlights and asking for another lap.
The Verdict
The next time you see a “low mileage” Miata for $20k on Bring a Trailer, just laugh. These cars aren’t fragile collectibles; they are the automotive equivalent of a golden retriever—happy to be here, impossible to offend, and apparently, functionally immortal.
Keep your oil changed, your timing belt tight, and your expectations low. You might just be driving yours until the sun burns out.
