The updated 2021 Mazda Miata inexplicably dropped its red leather option for a white interior look, added a new blue paint job and bumped up the base price. I’m beginning to wonder if Mazda is pushing the car too far into luxury, but I’m too distracted by how mad I am that I reportedly can’t pair the white interior with a white exterior.
Mazda’s updates for the 2021 Mazda Miata are fairly light, with just some trim shuffling and an update to the options list. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now standard on every trim and now wireless on the top Grand Touring model. The other big change is the loss of the red Nappa and tan Nappa leather interior trim options. Only black or a new white Nappa option are available. The new leather option is a $300 upcharge if you can swing it.
So get this: You can buy a white-colored 2021 Mazda Miata. You can get a 2021 Miata with a white interior (only on the Grand Touring trim). Yet Mazda has specifically forbidden us all from getting a white Miata with a white interior, at least from the factory. You can not option the $395 Snowflake White Pearl Mica and the new white Nappa from the factory, according to Autoblog, and I’ve reached out to Mazda to confirm.
Yes, it is very 1970s to pair white leather with a white-painted car, like a minimalist coke dealer’s Lamborghini. The fear of having a 22-year-old man with two remaining high school friends who pays taxes but can’t make a doctor appointment driving around in a white-on-white roadster is just too powerful an image for Mazda to witness, apparently. I would like to see it.
The 2021 Mazda Miata also gets a new Deep Crystal Blue exterior paint job, which replaces the previous Eternal Blue offered on this generation of MX-5. The optional red soft top of the Anniversary edition from last year is gone, but you can still option a grey soft top choice for an extra $200 if you don’t like the black.
The only real changes that actually matter to any of us are likely with the Miata’s price. Sadly, the price of the six-speed manual base model has gone up by $250 over last year, now starting at $27,775 including destination fees, or $29,125 for the six-speed automatic transmission.
However, it’s better news if you want the Grand Touring top trim model, which dropped its base price by $100 to start at $32,715. Pricing for the “Retractable Fastback” folding-hardtop Miata has not changed, starting at $33,990, and the Miata Club package featuring BBS wheels, Recaro seating and Brembo brakes is still optioned at $4,470 on the soft top.
The 2021 Mazda Miata gets no performance changes this year, but that’s not a bad thing! It’s a great driving car as it sits. All Miatas come with a Skyactiv-G 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine producing 181 horsepower and 151 lb-ft. of torque, with the total package weighing under 2,500 pounds and managing an even 50-50 weight distribution between the front and rear of the car.
The 2021 Mazda Miata is expected to arrive in showrooms this month.