Yellow NA6 and NA8

[Nick3]

Greetings.

Can anyone advise how many early model MX5's were in yellow ?

I did believe that the early cars were only available in : white, red, blue, black and silver.

I have seen Juffa's car twice on the forum and note that it is called a Malibu. Was this a Limited Edition car / colour ?

I also noticed that he acquired his car from here in WA. Bugger !!!

I really like the colour. If it is rare, I guess that I may be waiting quite a while for one to pop-up.

Any information would be appreciated.

[StanTheMan]

limited edition in 1991
100 were brought in ( i think)
they were called malibu yellow.
they were not numbered to my knowlege
they came with a CD player

it was the only official yellow brought into Australia until this year. there is no Australian delivered NA8 or NB's

[StanTheMan]

juffa also aquired his Malibu quite some time ago......its not as though you just missed a sale.

[Nick3]

Thanks for the prompt reply, StanTheMan. Only 100 in Oz. Looks like I will be waiting a while for one to show.

I noted that Juffa had picked his up about 4 years ago, but it was a bummer that WA lost one of a limited few.

Regards.

[GS]

Im sure one of the Malibu-o-philes will jump in with the exact number, but i have a feeling they brought in less than 100. Maybe 55 or 65... something like that.

The earliest (89-90, 91) Aust delivered cars only came in red, white or blue. Black and silver were sold in other markets, so if you see one in Australia they will usually be a Eunos JDM import. Then they expanded the colour palete here with the limited edition dark green (BRG LE) and yellow (Malibu) models, and other colours later on.

[AJ]

according to Jules.......the Malibu guru........55 Sunburst Yellow MX-5's (AU colour designation) came to our sunny shores

jules is gunna kill me for the sunburst yellow bit, ain't he?

[trader]

You're right AG. There were 1500 world wide (sunburst yellow). Apparently limited because they required two paint coats because of inferior yellow paint in the early '90's so were painted in white first. From what I can gather most shipped in thru Brisbane, built in Nov 91 and sold Jan/Feb '92 . They seemed to have different features - some had the old beaver panel and others had stripes. Some publications say they had tan interior but I have never seen that. Still a few come up for sale - two last month.

[Juffa]

Ah, a subject dear to my (Yellow ) heart. Tweety is actually my 2nd Malibu. Stacey was my first. Tweety has owned me coming up on 5 years now

As AJ (a former Malibu owner) mentioned there were 55 imported into Aust. While we know the colour as Malibu Gold (HZ) it is known as Sunburst Yellow in the USA, and the California Model in the UK. Other than the colour our model came with the factory CD player, otherwise it is bog standard (don't tell her that I said that) Some, such Stacey had green and blue pin striping, while others had a red leather interior. As far as I lnow, the Aust imports were all built in Nov '91, both of mine were complied in Aust in early '92.

I was told a story sometime ago as to why there was only 55 imported. The Mazda Australia Managing Director at the time was not a big fan of yellow cars and did not want to import any at all. The PR/Marketing manager (a Mr Quist) managed to get 55 into the country by calling them Malibu Gold, rather than Sunburst Yellow. They did not sell too well, hence some dealers made changes such as the Red Leather interior, and possibly the pin stripes. Other regions have been lucky enough to have had later versions released in yellow, some using the same colour name, Sunburst Yellow, but the colour was not exactly the same....however Aust only ever received the one batch.

As mentioned previously they do come on the market every so often...as already noted I liked the sound of Tweety so much I flew to Perth to inspect her and then had her shipped back to Melb.

J
PS... If you are interested in how many examples of a particular model Mazda were available go to your local dealer. Some have a poster on the wall listing the details, such as year, colour and total number imported.

pps... A interesting note from the USA. They document the year of their cars differently to us. For them the Sunburst Yellow is a '92 model....with the exception of one car which in the USA is officially the only '91 Sunburst Yellow. It was recently bought as a collectors car...for a large pile of Green Backs
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=302550

[broady]

Wow, I didn't know there were only 1500 worldwide! Is that correct?

I might have to buy one then

[Juffa]

Wow, I didn't know there were only 1500 worldwide! Is that correct?

I might have to buy one then

No...there were 1519 worldwide, the extra 19 made all the difference

J

[trader]

Interstingly, Redbook identifies the malibu gold version with a separate price structure between the special edition and standard version.

[Hammer]

Colour is such a fickle thing.

When new people tend to shy away from loud colours. But it seems the older the model gets, the more popular the brighter colours get.

Speaking from personal experience, I didn't even consider red or white when I bought NB8B new in 2002. But if I had to buy one 2nd hand now, a red, velocity red or white are my preferred colours in the NB.

[jules]

Onya AJ...

Juffa pretty much nailed it.
There was however no 2nd beaver panel. Only the wider and later model panel which is now bloody impossible to get if you need one.
I am prepared to have a quiet wager on the 2nd beaver panel myth is if anyone is stupid enough to go down that road again (Craig?).

Yes, they do come up for sale occasionally, however I don't think Juffa's or mine will ever be for sale.

Jules

[StanTheMan]

believe it or not.....My rear bumper came from a malibu yellow.

[Uncle Arthur]

As AJ (a former Malibu owner) mentioned there were 55 imported into Aust.

AJ owned a Malibu???!!!??? So why did he sell the real MX5 and go buy the black commodore?