It all started pretty innocently. I was progressing through the spring semester of my freshman year, and as an active member of Madison Motorsports, I decided that I wanted a “fun” car that also got better gas mileage than what I was driving at the time, Mom and Dad’s 2001 Ford Escape.
In my searching, I narrowed things down considerably. Some family friends had both a BMW Z3 and a Miata in their garage, and I learned to drive stick-shift on the Z3. They were nice enough to let me “babysit” the Z3 when they went out of town during my junior year of high school. Needless to say, it was a blast, and the convertible “bug” bit me.
Throughout the rest of junior and senior years, I was handed the keys to the Z3 here and there. One day, I asked to try the Miata instead. Permission was granted, and their 1991 Mariner Blue Miata was mine for the better part of a day.
Even though I just had it for a day, I drove all over. I picked up a friend and we went to the twisties (well, the curviest parts of Ashburn, at least), where the lack of power and sharp handling made things fun. Yes, the Z3 was a cool car, but the Miata also stuck out in my mind.
Back to the search. I eventually decided to look at Z3s and BMW E36 3-series convertibles. I figured my price limit was a reasonable $10k, and the E36 would definitely fit under that limit, with the Z3 being more of a stretch. I also had to make sure that the car would be reliable – it’s a college car, and it’s my only car. The BMWs, I discovered, are reliable enough, but routine maintenance gets pretty expensive. The search continued, then, for something more palatable.
In the back of my head, Mark & Karen’s Miata nagged. Sadly, it was totaled as he drove home from work one night. Some woman (on her cell phone!) in a Suburban nailed him, and he went nose-first into a concrete jersey wall. Fortunately, he was fine – just some bumps and bruises.
My aunt had also owned a Miata at one point. I remembered going for a ride in it, way back when, and loving it. Granted, I was roughly nine years old, so the convertible aspect was unquestionably cool. Still, after asking both the Rippes and my aunt about their ownership experiences, I knew that the Miata was what I wanted.