When Mazda introduced its game-changing roadster, it captured the hearts of enthusiasts worldwide by channeling the lightweight, back-to-basics spirit of classic British sports cars. Now, for the 1991 model year, the Japanese automaker has decided to lean even harder into that heritage with the Mazda MX-5 Miata Special Edition. Replete with classic British Racing Green paint, beige leather seats, matching beige carpets, and a beige tonneau cover, the vehicle initially looks like a dream come true for traditionalists. Unfortunately, peering closer reveals a glaring stylistic contradiction: the convertible top is distinctly, stubbornly black.

It is a glaring visual miscalculation. The wrong color scheme immediately catches the eye of anyone appreciating automotive design harmony, raising questions about how such an oversight made it past production approval. Making matters more frustrating for buyers, a matching beige soft top is simply not an option on the table for this particular trim level. While rumors suggest a beige top might eventually find its way into the Mazda lineup for 1992, it will not be offered on the MX-5 Special Edition Miata.

Looking past the curious exterior color coordination, the rest of the Special Edition package attempts to justify its existence with a variety of bespoke interior upgrades and standard amenities. Among these additions are stainless-steel door sill scuff plates, a subtle yet appealing styling cue directly borrowed from the legendary production halls at Browns Lane. Further enhancing the driving experience are standard power steering, a responsive limited-slip differential to put power down effectively, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.

Yet, even within these cabin upgrades, the color choices continue to baffle. Observers naturally would have preferred beige leather wrapping the steering wheel to tie the interior palette together rather than the stark black unit provided, though critics of the color scheme are quickly running out of breath trying to document every inconsistency. Both the handbrake grip and the shift knob are fashioned from highly polished wood, elevating the tactile feel of the interior controls. The exquisite Nardi shifter knob is cleverly surrounded by a quarter-inch strip of rubber, a thoughtful design flourish that ensures a driver’s right hand does not inadvertently slip during aggressive gear changes and slam into the radio controls. Aside from the seats, however, all of the beige surfaces adorning the cockpit are constructed from vinyl rather than authentic leather.

Stepping inside this limited-edition Miata—assuming a production run of 4,000 units can genuinely be classified as limited—reveals a level of modern amenity that the original Lotus Elan could never have possibly imagined. The cabin features cruise control, a questionable addition given the Miata’s notoriously skittish tracking characteristics when subjected to the monotonous straight lines of American Interstates. Audiophiles are treated to a CD player and a pair of stereo speakers cleverly mounted directly into the headrests, ensuring music can be enjoyed even with the top dropped at highway speeds.

The Special Edition package also includes a beige vinyl tonneau cover designed to entirely enclose the cockpit when the car is parked or driven solo. Installing this tight-fitting cover requires what feels like a ten-minute strenuous workout, and drivers run the very real risk of sacrificing a fingernail while attempting to hitch the fabric securely to the Tenax fasteners located at the base of the windshield. Once secured, however, the tonneau is undeniably taut. Its right-side leading edge is thoughtfully trimmed in black vinyl to eliminate glaring reflections in the windscreen.

That clever design touch practically encourages owners to operate the vehicle in what can be described as a split tonneau mode, keeping the passenger’s seat completely covered—an effective, if slightly humorous, way to transport a companion whose face might best remain unseen by passing neighbors. Because one of the primary tonneau fasteners is anchored right at the base of the passenger-side view mirror, occupants are physically unable to roll up the passenger-side window. The resulting aerodynamic buffeting beyond 60 miles per hour causes the taut tonneau fabric to flutter aggressively up and down, creating a noisy reminder of the weather-protection compromise.

For buyers customizing their vehicle, Mazda keeps the options list remarkably short. Only three factory options are available for the Special Edition: anti-lock brakes priced at $900, a removable hard top for $1,400, and a four-speed automatic transmission. Mazda seems to believe that checking the box for an automatic transmission transforms the car into an entirely separate machine—a theory underscored by the omission of the limited-slip differential on automatic variants—pushing the base price of such a model to $20,039. Such a configuration has driven critics to jokingly lobby for legislation that would classify installing an automatic transmission in a Miata as a federal crime.

The MX-5 Special Edition remains an alluring machine in many respects, but the psychological hurdle of a 20-thousand-dollar Miata makes driving enthusiasts noticeably nervous. The package’s substantial $4,949 tariff above a standard car might be far more bearable if the soft top were actually beige—a detail worth reiterating—or if Mazda had committed more deeply to the phrase special edition by commissioning a small run of Miatas featuring genuine performance upgrades, such as an extra 20 or 30 horsepower under the hood. Such mechanical enhancements would create a Miata genuinely worthy of future collector status, entirely independent of its debated color combinations.