When it comes to buying a survivor, how important is getting every box checked to you? There are some cars that are rare enough or otherwise so difficult to find that you just have to take what you can get. When it comes to the NA-chassis Mazda Miata, it’s somewhere in the middle in terms of how much you should prepare to struggled in order to own one in near-perfect condition. This 1992 Mazda MX-5 Miata is in impressive condition especially for having over 73,000 miles. It comes with the factory hardtop and – wait for it – an automatic transmission. This Miata is listed here on eBay with bids to just over $5,000 and no reserve.

Like most convertibles, the Miata looks fantastic with a hardtop. The paint is quite nice in photos, and the factory alloy wheels present well. The NA Miata has become a bit of an item in recent years, which isn’t a surprise considering how loved it is by enthusiasts. Like many cars in this category, the prices spiked heavily in the 2020-pandemic era, and I feel bad for anyone who paid through the nose for a car like this at that crazy time in history. Today, reality has kicked in that there are plenty of NA Miatas around at a given time, and you don’t need to take out a second mortgage to buy a nice one.

The automatic is a real head-scratcher here. I don’t mean its actual existence; rather, is this really such a bad car to have an automatic transmission in? I can’t speak to its mechanical integrity (but, hey – it’s a 90s Miata, it’s probably fine), but rather how miserable it’d be to drive such a car with a slushbox. Unlike a mid-90s Honda product where everyone talks about how great the manuals are even in the most basic base model, I found the stick shift in a Miata simply adequate. It wasn’t mind blowingly good and it certainly wasn’t bad, and given how modest the horsepower rating is on these early Miatas, the manual didn’t likely translate to significantly faster performance times (Miata experts, feel free to correct me.) Regardless, as you can see, the cabin is as nicely preserved as the outside.

In 1992, a Miata pushed out 115 horsepower, which isn’t much – but that’s the magic of this roadster that did its best impression of a modern-day Lotus Elan. Light weight and quick reflexes made for a car that could hustle and use every one of those horses to its advantage. The seller notes its runs decent enough but that there’s a bit of a lag or stumble when you first hit the throttle. It seems likely that this Miata was someone’s summertime cruiser, so a proper tune-up makes sense once you get it home. Transmission choice aside, this one is selling cheaply for an example this clean and with a factory hardtop.