The First Generation 1.6L: 1990-1993 Miatas

From 1990 to 1993, Mazda manufactured their Miatas with a 1.6 litre engine and a single-wire oxygen sensor. Both the brakes and stock wheels are smaller than the later 1.8 models (from 1994 to 2002), sized at 9.1-9.25 inches and 14 inches respectively.

The 1990 Miata was the first year of manufacture, and there are still a few of them on the road. Note that any early model Miata with more than 160,000 miles on it will probably need to have its engine replaced soon or rebuilt (Note: New replacement engines are reasonably cheap nowadays so I recommend going that route).

If you insist on buying an used 1990 or 1991Miata without repair records, here are some items that you need to pay special attention to: Belts (especially timing belt), the shocks, suspension bushings (over 100,000 miles), clutch, ignition wires, and the roof.

Some of these repairs are fairly cheap and you can do them yourself, and some are not. It cannot be said enough times that if you want to buy a 1990 or 1991 Miata on Ebay, you MUST insist on repair records if the seller wants any kind of premium. You will probably notice that on Ebay, 1990 Miata with immaculate service records sells for $1000 more than Miata with no records whatsoever.