What's the news?
Mazda is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the MX-5 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. There's a special stand dedicated to the roadster combined with the launch of the Roadster Coupé 2.0-litre 25th Anniversary Limited Edition. Just 1,000 examples of the anniversary model will be produced with 750 of them destined for the UK and Ireland.
Each limited edition MX-5 is painted Soul Red metallic with a black folding hard top, windscreen pillars and door mirrors. Special exterior badges give each car its own number in the series. Inside there are plenty of reminders of the car's commemorative status; the head rests, sill plates and floor mats are all designed especially for the 25th anniversary model.
On the dedicated MX-5 stand, located on the Laundry Green space close to Goodwood House, cars spanning the history of the model will be on display; including examples of the 10th and 25th anniversary models. Cars that inspired the roadster, including the Lotus Elan and MG Midget, are also on display, along with the MX-5 GT4 racing car and the chassis of the all-new MX-5.
The MX-5 also features on the main Mazda stand, with two roadsters available for guests to have their photo taken as part of the Mazda Photomash 'Mazda Challenge'. With one person in each car the photos will be 'mashed' together to look like two people are in one MX-5. Visitors can be photographed with someone they know, a stranger, or even themselves and will receive a framed copy of the picture. Participants' names will be entered into a daily draw to win an MX-5 for a year.
Anything else?
On the Goodwood hill course a Mazda RX-7 rally car will be making several runs throughout the weekend.