Mazda has been proudly boasting that the new MX-5 more compact than its predecessor. Now the Japanese company has been forced to admit that the new car will be delayed because it is in fact ‘far too small’.
‘The design team for the fourth generation MX-5 were adamant that the new car must be smaller than the outgoing model,’ explained a Mazda insider. ‘Unfortunately, they seem to have got carried away and it’s basically about the size of a child’s shoe.’
Insiders at Mazda’s R&D centre say the problem was not spotted during testing as their development drivers never attempted to get into the car and put miles onto prototypes by simply ‘zooming them about the carpet with their hands’.
‘In many ways, we’re very happy with the car,’ said our Mazda mole. ‘It’s very easy to park back in its own box, it can do big jumps off the arm of a sofa, and it has class-leading crash safety when smashed into a skirting board. It’s just a shame it’s too small to accommodate a human being.’
‘I don’t know what the fuss is about,’ said F1 driver Felipe Massa. ‘It looks massive.’
