I saw a mazda mx5 and it wasn't a miata.

So I saw a car on the highway with old mazda mx5 tags on the back that was a mazda like car but was not what I would consider a miata. It was kind of like the design type of a protege or 636. The car was a from factory seamless hard top. I was so confused and cannot Google it because all I can find are miata. What am I missing? Did mazda make a car in the 90s that is like a cross between protege and mx5?