The Mazda Miata was conceived in 1976 by Kenichi Yamamoto, head of R&D at Mazda in , and by then Motor Trend journalist Bob Hall. Each saw it as a direct descendant of small, inexpensive British 2-door roadsters of the 1960s like the Triumph Spitfire, the MG Midget, the Lotus Elan and the Austin-Healy Sprite.