Launched at the 1989 Chicago Motor Show, the Mazda MX-5 has always been the benchmark pure lightweight sports car with driver engagement at the center of its appeal. To date more than 1.2-million MX-5s have been produced at Mazda’s Ujina plant in Hiroshima. The four cars completing the 1,000-mile drive were from the Mazda UK Heritage Fleet: a 1990 1.6-liter Mk1 from the car’s launch year in the UK, a 10th Anniversary Mk2, a 25th Anniversary Mk3 and a 30th Anniversary Mk4.

Each generation Mazda MX-5 completed the journey using Sustain 100 RON E5, which is a second-generation biofuel from Coryton that contains zero fossil fuel and is manufactured from agricultural waste and by-products from crops which can’t be used for consumption. With no modifications to the cars required, the drop-in fuel utilizes carbon that already exists in the atmosphere, which the plants absorb as they grow, recycling it, rather than releasing additional CO2, as fossil fuels do.

The Land’s End to John O’ Groats drive is just one example of Mazda’s commitment to demonstrate the role sustainable fuel can play in de-carbonizing motoring. Since June 2023, the Mazda UK Heritage Fleet has been fueled by Sustain Classic 80 sustainable fuel, which is commercially available to the public. While in 2022, the Mazda MX-5 was the first-ever vehicle to drive 1,000 miles across the UK and lap a circuit in each home nation powered by sustainable fuel.