THIEVES care not for the law of diminishing returns. And nor does design.

With the Mazda MX-5 Retractable Fastback and its highly stylised steel overhead, pesky criminals will not be able to slash a knife through the roof as they potentially could with the soft-top MX-5 Roadster. Tales of roof stabbings are not as rare as they should be in our cities.

However, having fabric overhead and without electronic motors to swivel and stow the roof, all saves weight. Given the MX-5 was designed first as a Roadster, the RF had to conform around its dimensions and that meant there was not room for its three-piece steel roof behind the front seats.

The RF then had to be highly stylised with its ‘flying buttress’ design because the rear piece of the hard-top needed to remain in place – there was simply no room for it to go. So, is the MX-5 RF’s compromise in weight and cost really worth the pursuit for increased security and style?

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