Meet The Cars That Helped Make The Mazda Miata So Very Great

The Miata may be Japanese, but it is actually a traditional British sports car through and through. Except, y'know, it runs most of the time. Now, here it is with the cars that influenced it, and it influenced.

The inspiration behind the Miata can really be traced to one car: the Lotus Elan. It shares basically every trait. Low weight, low power, tossable handling, bare basics interior. It's the muse for every Mazda engineer.

But there are other cars. Other fun cars. Like the Triumph Spitfire, the MGB, and even the Morgan Three Wheeler. Here's how they all feel about each other.