Six Lucky Japanese Mazda Fans Are Getting a Bright-Yellow Miata Roadster
tags:- Produced at the behest of four Japanese Mazda dealers, the FSW Ver.2 is the sunniest ND Miata yet.
- Only six will be made and you have to win a lottery to be allowed to buy one.
- It'll be produced by the people who build Mazda's concept cars.
Listing quibbles with Mazda's delightful little Miata is mostly an exercise in pretending to be annoyed. “Oh no, it doesn't have enough cupholders!” Tsk, tsk, it doesn't isolate you from the driving experience. Three demerits for making it too much fun to drive.
However, there is one genuine issue to be taken with both the roadster and hardtop RF variants of the MX-5, and it's the relative lack of color options. Sure, Mazda throws us a sop now and again with unique limited-edition anniversary models in interesting shades, but the standard lineup is borderline boring: black, white, dark blue, silver, and gray. What is this, an Audi configurator? At least Soul Red Crystal Metallic is a tremendously excellent color, but it's doing all the heavy lifting basically solo.
In Japan, a quartet of Mazda dealers have come up with a solution, and perhaps there's a lesson to be learned on this side of the Pacific. It's called the Mazda FSW Ver.2, and it's the sunniest little roadster this side of an original Sunburst Yellow NA Miata.
The official paint code here is A6Y (dubbed Sunflower Yellow in the Japanese market) and a match for Competition Yellow as offered briefly on U.S.-spec third-gen Miatas. Set off with some black aerodynamic accessories, it looks absolutely fantastic on the little ND MX-5, somewhere between a four-wheeled Pikachu and a honeybee with a convertible roof.
Want one? Well, maybe you can get your local vinyl-wrapping expert to color-match it. Even in Japan, getting your hands on this yellow MX-5 is going to be tough. Only six are being built, the added cost is the equivalent of $9400, and would-be buyers have to enter a lottery just to be allowed to purchase one.
In typically Japanese fashion, this MX-5 variant is not just a car, but also part of an event. The first weekend of October will see Mazda's annual Fan Fiesta held at Fuji Speedway, where the “winners” of this car will be announced during the event. That's where the FSW gets its name, by the way, Fuji SpeedWay.
The paint job isn't exactly factory, but it is done in-house. The cars will be painted by Mazda Engineering and Technology, a wholly Mazda-owned subsidiary that builds the company's concept cars. It's located in Hiroshima, and part of the FSW's purchase price is getting a two-day tour of Mazda's HQ, its museum, and the factory where this special MX-5 gets its paint job.
With Hiroshima being a real destination point for Japanese foodies, as well as being ringed with some amazing canyon roads (there's a reason why Mazdas are all pretty fun to drive), the extra expense here seems almost reasonable. It's rare, it's cheerful, and underneath it's one of the best driver's cars out there.
The question is, could some of the volume-selling U.S. Mazda dealers get together and pull off something similar? The FSW Ver.2 at least shows that there's some kind of a market for MX-5s in more vibrant and light-hearted colors, and having a bright-yellow roadster in the showroom might get a few more folks in the door to check out CX-30s and whatnot.
For now, six lucky Japanese folks are going to get the chance to own a properly festive MX-5, and also get to chow down on some excellent okonomiyaki—a Hiroshima specialty. C'mon Mazda USA, why not let your halo sports car play a little here comes the sun?
➡️ Skip the lot. Let Car and Driver help you find your next car.
Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki's half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.