Holy-Grail Miata Coupe Costs Porsche Boxster Money

Ask any Mazda MX-5 Miata fan and you'll hear the same thing: this little roadster has earned its reputation as a genuinely fun sports car. Mazda has refined the recipe for more than 35 years, and the car still collects awards. In early 2025, Mazda revealed the most powerful MX-5 ever offered in Japan, the Spirit Racing Roadster 12R, with 200 metric horsepower and upgrades developed through Mazda's motorsport work.

Only 200 were built.

But there's an even rarer MX-5, and it skips the open-top experience entirely. The 2003 Mazda Roadster Coupe is the only factory-built Miata coupe. Just 179 examples were made, all for the Japanese domestic market. The fixed steel roof added only 22 pounds while improving body rigidity.

8-liter Type S with 158 hp, the race-inspired Type A, and the British-flavored Type E, the rarest of all, with just 23 built. Prices ranged from 2,350,000 yen to 3,100,000 yen.

Why so few were made is still a mystery. The car was built to order, and a December 2004 fire at the plant that produced the MX-5 may have played a role. For American collectors, the bigger hurdle is legal: the car cannot be imported for normal street use until 2028. A Show or Display exemption can push total landed cost to roughly $45,000, $60,000 or more, while limiting driving to 2,500 miles per year.

That is Porsche 718 Boxster territory, but for Miata enthusiasts, this rare coupe is truly special and likely to grow in value.