---
title: "Great Expectations: Hardtop Mazda Miata Coming to the New York Auto Show"
description: "Because the pigeon droppings here can eat through canvas like nobody's business."
date: "2016-03-15"
modified: "2016-03-15"
authors:
  - name: "Will Sabel Courtney"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/will-sabel-courtney"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/article/2567/great-expectations-hardtop-mazda-miata-coming-to-the-new-york-auto-show"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "compact"
  - "Convertible"
  - "mazda"
  - "miata"
  - "sports car"
---

# Great Expectations: Hardtop Mazda Miata Coming to the New York Auto Show

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/031516-miata-hardtop-hero.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

There are no guarantees in life, but this seems about as close to a sure thing as you can get in the automotive world: Mazda has declared they're bringing a new car to the 2016 New York Auto Show next week, and based on the teasing announcement they sent around, it seems pretty damn likely they'll be showing a hardtop MX-5 Miata.

"Help us blow the lid off at the New York Auto Show..." reads Mazda's promotional placard, [according to the folks at](<https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-new-york-motor-show/mazda-confirms-new-model-will-be-launched-new-york-show>) *[Autocar](<https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-new-york-motor-show/mazda-confirms-new-model-will-be-launched-new-york-show>)*. (Hey, Mazda, did ours get lost in the mail, or what?) Considering Mazda's traditional cheeky attitude towards press events—[these are the folks who offered up custom-branded Zoom-Zoom energy drinks at the Mazda2 launch back in 2009](<https://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/mazda-finds-another-use-for-zoom-zoom-tagline-an-energy-drink/?_r=0>)—they aren't the type to send out a curiously-worded announcement without burying a double meaning in it. Add in the fact that it's been about a year since the fourth-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata arrived, and that it showed up as a replacement for the third-generation Miata's popular hard top, and the time would seem ripe for the car maker to reveal a tin-top version of the beloved roadster. (Actually, if the previous car is any indication, it'll use a polycarbonate top, but that just doesn't roll off the tongue in the same way.)

[Mazda confirmed to *Autocar* last year](<https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/2015-mazda-mx-5-prices-pictures-engines-and-new-sport-recaro-edition>) that the hard top option would indeed be returning for the Miata's fourth-generation, but didn't specify exactly when that would occur. They did spill that the new hard top would be lighter and packaged more efficiently than the third-gen Miata's version; considering the old hard top made the car weigh a mere 79 pounds more than the soft top version, it'll be damn impressive if they can pull that off. Still, in spite of ever-increasing safety standards, [Mazda managed to make the new Miata more than 200 pounds lighter than the old one](<https://www.caranddriver.com/mazda/mx-5-miata>), so they clearly can bust out an engineering miracle when they need to.

## Author
Will is the former managing editor of *RIDES Magazine* and the former online editor for *0-60 Magazine*. He has worked for *Time Out New York* and *Rolling Stone*, and was the creator of *College Cars Online*, the first automotive blog specifically targeted at college students and young professionals.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/willsabelcourtney>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/willscourtney>)