2011 Mazda MX-5 ’55 Le Mans’ Limited Edition

Back in 1991, Japanese automaker Mazda made history as the first Japanese automaker to win the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans. On the strength of the Mazda 787B No.55 and driven by the team of Johnny Herbert, Volker Weidler, and Bertrand Gachot, Mazda’s ’91 Le Mans victory served notice to the world that the Japanese are more than capable of being competitive in the world stage.

Twenty years after their remarkable victory, the Japanese automaker is releasing a limited edition MX-5 Miata, which they’ve appropriately billed as the ’55 Le Mans Edition’. Available only in Switzerland, the special edition MX-5 comes in four different exterior color finishes – red, gray, white, and black – with contrasting profile strips that run the length of the sides of the car. On top of that, Mazda also gave the car a new Bilstein sports suspension, a front strut bar, a limited slip differential (LSD), and a set of 10-spoke alloy wheels. Inside, Mazda dressed up the special edition MX-5 with bespoke ‘55 Le Mans’ logos to go with a numbered plaque to designate its production number.

No performance upgrades where given to the MX-5, which means that it comes with the same 2.0-liter engine that produces 160 horsepower mated to a six-speed manual transmission.

While it sucks that the ’55 Le Mans Edition’ MX-5 will only be available in Switzerland, we can still objectively say that even with a minimal dress-up, the Mazda MX-5 Miata still looks pretty damn good.