Calling All NA Miata Nerds, Can You Identify These Wheels?
Who’s going to be the one who can help solve the mystery of the unknown NA Miata wheels? I bought a 1994 Mazda Miata last week from an older lady in Southern New Jersey. She had owned the car for 20 years, and kept it in relatively good condition. When I went to look at the car two weeks ago, I had noticed that the wheels on it were different than anything I’d ever seen on a Mazda Miata before. The owner said those wheels had been on the car for the entire time she had owned the car. After making an offer on the car the same day, and working out the buying arrangements, I took to the internet to find out where these wheels came from.
Here’s what I found and here’s where I need your help!
- There are two threads on Miata.net (the place for all things Miata) about these wheels. One is my thread (read here), and another was started by a fellow Miata enthusiast a couple months back (read here). The second thread has more detailed pictures of the wheels off the car. Nobody on Miata.net could pin point these wheels to any specific Miata or Mazda car. But at this point, we know that there are two documented Miatas with these wheels on them. The center caps seems to be the 1991 Mazda logo.
- There’s a page on Miata.net that list all the wheels ever put on the 1990-1997 Miata, and the wheels that are on my car are not listed on that page. Who can solve this mystery?
It seems odd to me that no one on the largest Miata forum in the world can pinpoint where these wheels came from. That scares me a little, because maybe these are knock-off wheels that were put on after an accident. OR are they some super rare wheels that were put on a couple Miatas. I’m comforted by the fact that there is one other guy trying to figure out where the wheels came from, and has them on his car. I’m not comforted by the fact that the worlds largest Miata forum cannot pinpoint these wheels to any specific Mazda.
Who can help me solve this Miata wheel mystery?
These are my lingering questions:
- Can someone contact Mazda? Does Mazda have the answer?
- Anybody know someone with these wheels?
- Are they are super rare or super worthless?
Please share this post, so we can finally get an answer!
The logo on the center cap is VERY similar to Mazda’s infamous “toilet bowl” logo of the early 90s, but isn’t QUITE the same. Here’s the toilet bowl:
http://lieuxdits.free.fr/mazdalogo90.jpg
It’s more rounded and connected at the bottom, while the logo on your wheels is square and separate. I don’t recognize that logo as being from another manufacturer, since many other OEM wheels will fit on the Miata (I’ve used Saturn, Honda, and Sentra wheels on mine). All I can think of is that it’s some long gone aftermarket wheel manufacturer.
Good luck in your search!