The Final Seven...er, Twelve
Many Miata enthusiasts are aware of the plant fire that supposedly ended production of the NB Miatas (and the MSM in particular) in December 2004. However, further research indicates that is not the complete story.
There are seven MSMs with a build date of December 20, 2004, several days after the December 15th fire. The assumption has been that these cars were free of the paint shop where the fire occurred and were then completed afterwards. Further research has proven that NB production did actually continue in the Ujina No. 2 Plant for several months after the fire. In fact, there were over 400 units produced between January and April 2005 before the model changeover to the NC in May.
So let's take a look at the Final 7 in Build number sequence per the 2005 Mazda VIN list.
(Note: According to this list MSMs were NOT built in VIN sequence)
Build # Build Date VIN Color Model Comments
1422 2004-12-20*** JM1NB354X50414651 Titanium Grey STD initial registration Woodbridge, VA
1423 2004-12-20 JM1NB354150414649 Black Mica STD initial registration Seattle, WA
1424 2004-12-20 JM1NB354350414653 Titanium Grey STD Salvage - Santa Clara, CA
1425 2004-12-20 JM1NB354550414654 Black Mica STD highest serial number in Upland, CA 1426 2004-12-20 JM1NB354650414646 Velocity Red GT initial registration Belleville, IL
1427 2004-12-20 JM1NB354750414638 Titanium Grey STD for sale by dealer Westwood, MA
1428 2004-12-20 JM1NB354850414650 Velocity Red GT last MSM build number per Mazda records
*** I believe the correct Build date for Build # 1422 is actually 2004-12-15 (confirmation pending).
Build # 1425 The last MSM?
Interestingly enough this was NOT the final production of these vehicles worldwide as there were
5 Japanese Roadster Turbos produced near the end of NB production later in March 2005.
This 2005 Pure White model with black cloth interior was the last Roadster Turbo produced on March 16, 2005 signalling an end of an era. A Turbo Miata/MX-5 has not been factory produced by Mazda since.
Chassis # 400819 The last Roadster Turbo