The first time you drove and bought a miata...

Oh yeah I remember my first Miata drive.

... late 2000, i'm at an autocross school in Seattle. My friend Jason and I are whoring my Neon as I recall. Jason drove an automatic at the time, and was having fun with this "both feet in" thing... it just wasn't quite clicking.

He goes out for a run, blows a corner, and HAMMERS the brakes. I see a big-ass cloud of smoke and just think "oh no".

He comes back in with six inches of cord flapping off the front tires, we mock him mercilessly and then realize that my day (and pretty much my season, since that was my only set of race rubber) was over.

One of the NWAX people volunteered me her 1.6l Miata for the afternoon. One run. It was all over. It was everything I ever figured a Miata to be, and as much as I loved (and still do) my Neon, I knew I'd own a Miata... and soon. I started doing research. Came to the conclusion that I wanted a 94 A package, as it seemed to be the way to get the best bracing, real oilpressure gauge, good engine, OBD1, light weight, and inexpensive cost.

I went and test drove a 99 Sport at one point though, and it was entertaining in it's own way... but not enough to sway me into an (at the time) 17,000 dollar car payment. That was my first long-term Miata experience though. Three hours, a tank of gas, and 100+MPH later, i brought it back, further convinced that although I would definately have one, it wasn't going to be one with 17" wheels, either.

Within 6 mo, I had my first Miata. Thirty days and a totalled Bronco II later, I had my current one. Never looked back.

Ahhh the memmories - I used to l o t h e Miatas and then starteed getting into british roadsters - and just happened to drive my first Miata back in 1994. It was a 1990 White and I just remember how tightly the dash wrapped around you - compared to my 1991 Pontiac Grand Prix. I searched and searched and found a cherry 1991 red that was pampered and came with all the Miata Club magazines - it was very cool. I just remember like you all said that feeling of oneness with the road - and now that I am a Miataholic, these cars are just so easy to maintain and to buy - it really is so simple.

I'll need to dig out pics of my 1st Miata - posted below

im one of those who was impressed with the miata since the day it was born.

it was 16 years before i owned one, but even when i was 10 years old i already had plans to have one at some point in life.

fast forward 16 years...i had just wrecked my 97 civic w/ h22a swap that i had spent the last year building. after settling outside of insurance, and selling what was left of the civic, i only had about 1800 to spend on a new used car.

i figured id either go with a 90/91 civic si, or an NA miata.

first drove a miata when i test drove the one i have now, and i was impressed to say the least with its handling/responsiveness/true sports car feel...

i also get a kick out of the whole convertable element in the deal.

everyone (family/friends that aren't auto enthusiasts) loved to give me their two cents about how the car would be way too small/useless/etc. now, everybody that gets to drive the thing for 5 minutes ends up wanting to buy one for themselves.

at this point, i don't think i could ever go back to a glorified fwd econobucket as my fun car, and i think it would involve a pretty hefty price tag to even match what this car has to offer.

and even if i could afford a lotus or something, it wouldn't be as fun because in the miata, i can flog the hell out of it and its no big deal if i mess it up. a fender bender? replace another fender or bumper, and move on. mess up an engine? pick up another used one for several hundred bucks locally.

the miata is here to stay.

my first drive in a miata--1997. i didn't even have a driver's license yet. i took it out on joy rides when my folks weren't home -- it was my dad's car

here's a super old pic--1994 r pkg--later stolen from AMC 1000 on van ness :twisted: thieves!

Great stories, looks like all it took was one drive.

NOW, how many felt awkward driving around with the top down at first? Sure, it felt great when you're ripping it up in the twisties or at the track, but how about driving in traffic? I admit it took a bit to get adjusted to driving in traffic knowing that EVERYONE is looking at you. And admit it, you ALWAYS look at the driver in a convertible when you're driving. It's like being on stage. I used to get so paranoid of what I'm doing ("Don't pick your nose or even look like you're picking your nose!"), ("****, I better turn down my radio, people might think I'm gay because I'm listening to Cold Play") I'm over it now, but it took some adjustment.

And anyone ever notice that when you're driving with the top down, cars never pull up beside you at a stoplight? They always stop half a car back. Which makes me kinda uneasy because i always feel like there's a black helicopter around. See if you notice it next time....or I'm just going nutz.

drove my 1st miata back in 02' when I was 14 or 15... learned how to drive manual transmission in an empty parking lot. Ended up doing alot of reading on roadsters, and just got hooked.. got my license and my uncle gave it to me as a gift.

Pic of the car back in 03'

[/img]

In '89 or '90, my dad was having one of those early mid-life crisis things. He tried as hard as he could to get the boss to select Miatas as the fleet vehicles for the company. Sadly for him, the plan never panned out.
In '92, one of my buddies in high school had a mom who was crazy enough to let him drive her new, red Miata. In turn, my friend was stupid enough to let me drive. I had a blast taking the turns, enjoying a little fishtail action in our neighborhood...and accidentally trenching someone's side yard. Oops! I got to drive that li'l red sled a few times that year before graduation and loved every minute of it! It was a huge step up from the Hyundai Excel base I had at the time.
My uncle still has his '91 Crystal White, which I got to drive for a couple of summers when I worked for him. Nepotism really does have some perks.
Fast forward a bit... '04 rolls around. I'd had bad luck with my previous two Cavaliers in some form or another and had just finished the initial build of my sleeper wagon. In order to finish up the wagon details, however, I needed something else I could drive in the meantime. I looked at the Nissan egg (2000NX), Sentra SE-R, Protege and a few other things...then I remembered how much fun I'd had with other people's Miatae in the past.
I started lurking on local and national bulletin boards to learn what I could and, of course, watch the classifieds/for sale sections. One car came up locally that had been owned by a local enthusiast, then sold to someone who just wanted to kill some space in his garage apparently. He'd had the car only six months and was ready to unload it. With a fresh coat of Classic Red and a new ragtop, I had to check it out. One drive and I asked if he had the title with him.
What was supposed to be a fun beater has turned into a minor obsession for me.
I plan to have this 'vert or one much like it around for a very long time!