Another thing to remember about the Miata is that it was designed by a
couple of Americans who were looking to rebuild the old British
two-seaters, with few of the drawbacks. (And by that, we mean the
late-60s-to-70s TR/MG/Spridget sort of car.) They shopped the design around
to every US manufacturer, and were told that no one wanted to buy that sort
of car any more, grow up. Mazda took a chance on it. Good for them.
I think they're good cars. A friend of mine has one, and it's a lot of fun
to drive. When I moved to California, I almost bought one. I ended up with
the D90 most immediately. The reason was simply that neither of the two
dealers I went to would answer the simple question, "how much?" I got a big
"sign this and this and you can drive out now" runaround. I got severely
annoyed and walked out. My desire for a "fun car" led me to the Landie. The
same desire led me to the plus four. The process, though, was a little
different, I'll put that in a different note.
I have a lot of respect for the Miata. It acheived its goal -- to be the
rennaissance of the affordable sports car -- in spades. We all benefit from
that.
Jon
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