Mazda Miata - A Race Car in Street Car's Clothing

IRVINE, Calif., May 12, 2003 -- Wanna race? That's the question today posed to auto enthusiasts across the U.S. by officials at Mazda North American Operations. Today, Mazda announced that supplies of the intended- for-racing-only Mazda Miata Club Sport are nearly diminished, and that they will be offering a $2,000 customer cash incentive to buyers of all new 2003 Miata Club Sport models, in addition to any other current retail incentives, excluding APR and lease programs.

"With 10 SCCA Showroom Stock National Championships and countless local and national autocross wins, the Miata has always proven itself to be a race winner," said Robert Davis, vice president of product development for Mazda North American Operations, and a noted SCCA Miata racer himself. "With the additional incentive we're offering Club Sport buyers, Mazda hopes to offset some of the costs of preparation for racing. On any given weekend, there are more Mazdas racing on tracks and autocross courses across the country than any other brand of car -- we hope to see just a few more now."

The Miata Club Sports package, production of which was capped at only 50 units -- 25 soft-top and 25 hard-top models -- was developed for the hardcore club-racing enthusiast. Starting with a base Miata, the special performance package-equipped models receive further suspension fine-tuning and are lightened by removing the power steering, modular audio system, power antenna and air conditioning.

Mazda expects racers who participate in SCCA Solo I, Solo II or ProSolo will choose the soft-top model, while hard-top Club Sport cars are designed to be competitive in SCCA Showroom Stock racing, once a rollbar and required safety equipment are installed.

Mazda North American Operations is responsible for the sales and marketing, customer parts and service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., MNAO has more than 700 dealerships nationwide.