is there and easy way to distinguish the Mazda box from the ford. having owned (and still do own) several MX5s I agree the gearbox is usually delightful.
On mine, if I open the bonnet on the driver’s side and with a torch, peer down and back into the gearbox tunnel, to where the gear box is bolted to the back of the bell housing. There on the gear box casting, at an angle of about 45 degrees to the horizontal is a stick on label showing N7S together with a serial number and bar code. N7S is the Mazda designation.
