Somewhere in Hiroshima, a parade of nearly finished Miatas glides along a track waiting to receive their beating hearts, the powertrains that'll let them ply their road-carving talents the world over.

The 2020 Mazda MX-5 Miata arrived in a moment when sports cars were being buried under touchscreens, drive modes, and driver aids, yet it clung to a simple formula of light weight, rear-wheel drive, ...