In 1991, Mazda created a very special car that was to become know, in it’s production year of 1992, as Sunburst Yellow.  This one of a kind 91 was produced as a “B” package car while all but one of the 1519 1992 versions were “A” package.  This car, named Sunny by its original owner, was created to test the color, to use for press meetings and to serve as a road test car for a couple of magazine.

It was shown at most major Mazda events during 1991 and that is well documented by a complete photo history of the car.  It appears in Car & Driver and Road & Track magazines where it was test driven by Indy car driver Danny Sullivan.  Pictures of your car up on two wheels is  not the most inspiring information.  Danny heated the brakes up so badly that they and the rotors were replaced by Mazda under warranty.  Mazda, in an attempt to make the best showing possible during these road test, equipped the car with a factory blueprinted engine as verified by the model code on the original window sticker. 

The car was driven by a couple of Miata luminaries including Bob Hall (and his dog Nuffer) and Rod Bymaster.  It was sold in 1992 to Bonnie Lutz, a very active member of the Miata community.  She kept the car until October 2008 at which time I was fortunate enough to pass the adoption process and purchased the car for the original sticker price of $19,735.

It is  my goal to completely refresh this car to showroom condition.  It really doesn’t need a restoration as Bonnie kept the car in extremely nice condition with all maintenance being performed on time.  However, over its 77,000 miles of use, it did get the normal wear and tear.

In the pages that follow, I will be documenting the work that is done to the car.  Although it will not be anything as dramatic as the body being separated from the frames (difficult with a unibody car), it will involved a great deal of mechanical and detail work that some people may find interesting.

The picture below is Sunny’s first day home with me.  It was delivered via covered carrier, given a quick bath and then photographed.  It immediately went into my garage where the process has begun.  I hope you enjoy sharing this little bit of Miata history and check back often for updates on the process.

For those that care, my goal is to have all the work completed by the end of March where Sunny will be taken to the third annual Miatas at Myrtle Beach event.  Bonnie and her husband Dave are flying from California to Myrtle Beach for the event at to be at the east coast debut of her beloved little roadster.

The original windows sticker (note the model code - it indicates a "special" engine from Mazda Performance.