[ Miata ]

This is my wife's 1990 Miata. (She also has a 1998 Toyota Tercel, this is Canada after all...)

We bought this car in the summer of 2001. She wanted a yellow Miata with an automatic transmission, but since Miatas were only made in yellow for one year (1992) it was a lot easier to find a good car with an autobox and just paint it yellow.

What else can you say about a Miata that hasn't already been said? It's basically everything a British roadster could have been but wasn't. You see a bit of Miata bashing out there, but rarely from anyone who has really driven one.

It's a British car you can take anywhere at any time, without a trailer full of parts and tools.

[ Miata ]   This is the ad we saw online. It was at http://www.trader.ca/ and the car was located in Brampton, Ontario, which meant for an emergency six hour drive and overnight stay to get paperwork in order to drive it back.
July 15th, 2001
[ Miata ]   As soon as we drove it back to Ottawa, we took it straight to the paint shop to get seriously yellow.
July, 2001
[ Miata ]   Every car we own seems to end up at Alex's at least once. Nifty hardtop.
July, 2001
[ Miata ]   It needed a few touchups in spots, but it was generally solid and responded well to a good scratch and spray. Thanks again, Alex.
July, 2001
[ Miata ]   Delivery day!
July, 2001
[ Miata ]   Standard insurance company shot #1.
July, 2001
[ Miata ]   Standard insurance company shot #2.
July, 2001
[ Miata ]   Standard insurance company shot #3. 1970 MGB #2 sneaks into this shot with a ratty top and a stickered bumper.
July, 2001
[ Miata ]   The timing belt was a little overdue, so that job was done before we did any serious miles. It's very straightforward, much easier than my other modern DOHC engines because the belt is in the front, not jammed against the strut tower.
July, 2001
[ Miata ]   This is the infamous short-nose crankshaft. It's usually fine, although occasionally it will self destruct in a few hundred miles after this bolt is disturbed. Current wisdom is to just leave it alone and ignore the scheduled crankshaft oil seal change unless it's leaking. Mine wasn't, so I let it be.
July, 2001