Mazda MX-5 (ND)
Why 8.8: Cheap, slow on paper, driven everywhere: own money, high miles, zero speculation. The ND does what the badge cars can't — it gets used, which is the entire point of this index.
Layout
Natural habitat
Ride comfort
Sound
The 2.0 Skyactiv revs to 7,500 and the induction reaches you cleanly through the bulkhead with the roof down, which is most of the appeal. But it is a modest naturally aspirated four with no exhaust theatre, tuned to be light and tidy rather than memorable.
4-cylinder · naturally aspirated · 7,500 rpm redline · rated 5.6 / 10 for engine sound
Market value
Median asking price, good condition · €22k (2016) → €19k (2026), trending down · illustrative data
Child seats · ISOFIX
There aren't any — strict two-seater.
Euro NCAP's 2015 test confirms ISOFIX fitted as standard on the front passenger seat — unusual for a two-seat roadster, and there specifically so a rear-facing infant seat can go in the only seat available.
NCAP is explicit this is a driver-visible cutoff switch, not automatic sensing: "the front passenger airbag can be disabled... clear information is provided to the driver regarding the status of the airbag." Plain ISOFIX passed; i-Size certification specifically did not.
Euro NCAP Mazda MX-5 2015 test report
The long version
Owners commute in it during the week, autocross it on Sunday and drive it home afterwards, because there's no value to protect and nothing to prove; nobody has ever bought a Miata to be seen. Three decades after 'Miata is always the answer' became a cliché, the ownership pattern keeps proving it — honest miles in a class where most badges sleep, and a flip rate near zero on a car whose only job is the road under the tires. It helps that the recipe never changed: about a tonne, a redline worth using, a roof that folds with one arm, and running costs a normal salary can carry. Spec Miata made it the most-raced car on earth; the street cars live the same life at lower stakes.