Every year our San Diego Miata Club holiday party includes a fun and entertaining gift exchange. Participants each bring a wrapped Miata-related or other car-related gift valued at $25 or more.
I brought a metal wall plaque commemorating the 30th Anniversary of Mazda’s Miata. On it were images of four Miatas — one representing each generation (NA, NB, NC and ND). I liked this so much that I ordered a second one for myself.
After dinner, as our names were drawn, we either chose a wrapped gift to open in front of everyone, or we “stole” a previously opened gift from someone else. Each gift was subject to being “stolen” up to two times before it was frozen permanently.
I sat at a dinner table that was quite far from where the gifts were opened and displayed, and the room was quite noisy. I could not see or hear much about what was being revealed so, when my name was called, rather than spending a bunch of time walking around the room checking out the gifts and looking for one to “steal,” I just picked another wrapped gift from the table. Inside was a 1999 book about the second generation (NB) Mazda MX-5 Miata. No one tried to steal it from me, so it was mine to keep.
The book was co-authored by John Dinkel — co-founder and fellow member of the Motor Press Guild. I am looking forward to reading it because my first two (of four) Miatas were NBs: a 2004 Mazdaspeed MX-5 Miata (turbo) and a rare 2003 Club Sport model, of which only 100 were made: 50 soft-tops and 50 hardtops (with no retracting soft-top). Even though they were street-legal, they were primarily built for Sports Car Club of America road racing, so they included very few comfort-and-convenience features. After most of those cars were sold to SCCA racers, those that remained were offered for sale to the public, which was how I got mine.
Unlike every other Miata made, these 100 cars had no radio and no air conditioning. They were very light, which made them good for my goal of autocrossing mine. I thought that I would be okay without AC. However, I added an aftermarket Pioneer audio system, adjustable Koni shocks and a padded roll bar.
The NB Miata was roomy. It could carry all four of my autocross wheels and sticky competition tires (two in the trunk and two behind the seats), a floor jack, tire-changing tools and more to my autocrosses.
All was well until I drove to Las Vegas to compete in a Mazda-sponsored motorsports event. It was summer, and the weather was brutally hot. Without the benefit of air conditioning, I had two choices: bake in the sun with the soft-top down, or endure stifling heat with the black vinyl soft-top up.
I met someone who was removing non-essential parts from their street Miata, as part of its conversion to a race car. They offered to give me their AC for FREE, so I decided to get it installed back in San Diego. However, my excitement about that did not last for long. I learned that to have that free AC unit installed in a Miata that was not configured for air conditioning would have cost me thousands of dollars. Reluctantly, then, I decided to sell my 2003 Club Sport and replace it with a well-equipped 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata.
The buyer of my Club Sport flew to San Diego from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and then he drove it home. Unfortunately, soon afterwards the car was written off in a traffic accident. Thankfully he was not hurt. I wonder what that rare car would have been worth today?
My fourth (and current) Miata is an orange, 2019, fourth generation (ND), 30th Anniversary Edition soft-top. Unlike the Club Sport, it includes many Miata comfort and convenience options, but it has much less interior space. The opening to the small, odd-shaped trunk is narrow, and the footwell of the enger compartment is so short that, when occupied, the seat cannot be reclined.
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Copyright © 2023 by Jan Wagner – AutoMatters & More #819
