It may sound hard to believe but it'll be 30 years this February since Mazda first unveiled the original MX-5 Miata. That was back in 1989 at the Chicago Auto Show and for this year's Windy City event, the Japanese automaker rightly wants to pay tribute to the little roadster that has changed the motoring world all for the better. For now, only a single teaser image has been released showing the briefest of glimpses of the MX-5 Miata 30th Anniversary Edition. It will have a unique badge, but aside from that its contents remain a mystery.

If you look very closely at the image, you'll notice what appears to be a hardtop red roof, instead of the traditional black fabric. It's also possible this special edition could be an RF variant.

Or, perhaps, it could be the hard top option currently available on the track-only MX-5 Global Cup race car. We'll just have to wait and see. "The iconic model has become a symbol of Mazda's car-making philosophy and tireless pursuit of driving pleasure" the official press release states.

"The 30th-anniversary special edition was created as an expression of appreciation for the customers all over the world who have supported the success of the model over the last 30 years."

Since it first went on sale for the 1990 model year, over one million examples of the small roadster have been built, all in Hiroshima, Japan.

Mazda first had the idea for a small sports car back in the early 1980s and spent the rest of the decade developing it. The idea was simple: a lightweight two-seater roadster with rear-wheel-drive, proper weight distribution, and a world-class suspension and chassis. Oh, and it had to be affordable. None of that has changed with the current fourth-generation. Despite a slowdown in sports car sales worldwide, the MX-5 Miata still remains popular and Mazda will soon celebrate this and more in early February.