5k: Seller Submission: 1990 Mazda MX-5 Turbo
The Mazda MX-5 arrived on the US shores in 1989 as a 1990 model with the name Miata on its trunk lid. The MX-5 really was a world changer because for $14k USD you could buy a convertible sports car with cat-like reflexes, great build quality and a bullet-proof drive-train. Better still, the MX-5 in the used market continues to be a great starter vehicle for the Daily Turismist on a budget – a gateway drug for gear-heads. Find this 1990 Mazda MX-5 Turbo for sale in Emory, GA for $4,900 via craigslist. Seller submission from Boomer.
Sharp eyed viewers will recognize the name Boomer from a seller submission of a 500SEC Benz offered a few weeks ago. Boomer is helping an elderly friend (who owned/ran a performance auto shop while he worked on a doctorate in Psychiatry) sell both of these cars.
This MX-5 has a Bell Engineering turbo bolted onto the stock 1.6 liter inline-4 and is boosted to 195 horsepower or almost twice the original power. It should be quite a handful and a blast to drive fast.
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"…a doctorate in Psychiatry." Also known as an M.D.
He's right. I know, cause I'm seeing one to help me getting over my feelings of anonymity. We'll tackle the schizophrenia later.
Schools Offering Degree Programs for MD/PHD in Psychiatry & Behavioral Science
Never had a repaint? Did these come with racing stripes as an option? I don't remember seeing any like that from the factory.
Stripes were an option on '94-97 R Package models, these were added by an owner at some point. Looks like there's no standalone ECU, so this thing is "tuned" on a wing and a prayer…and a rising rate fuel pressure regulator. Pretty craptastic,but can be easily remedied with a MegaSquirt ECU. A 195whp Miata is not a handful unless you are a newb to RWD cars, but will be fun for sure.
Great fun! A close friend had the same year and color Miata but with a Jackson Racing supercharger. That was much faster than expected, but we eventually grew tired of that much power with skinny tires and moved on to LS1 swapped RX7's in our search for even higher speeds.