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It was impossible not to notice the Miata (or MX-5 as they’re now called) as it zoomed passed us on a country road just outside Folsom. It had a tow hitch. We began speculating on what precisely the beloved two-seater convertible might be powerful enough to safely tow. “A lemonade stand,” my passenger said. I was clearly more optimistic....


View full sizePhoto by James Gaffney/The Times-PicayuneMAKE VINE A MIATA: Originally styled after British roadsters of the 1960s, the Mazda MX-5, pictured above and below at Pontchartrain Vineyards in Folsom, has stayed true to its school bodyline-wise, still possess all the spunky, fun road manners of its Miata predecessors and clocks in with a budget-friendly MSRP of $20,000.

It was impossible not to notice the Miata (or MX-5 as they’re now called) as it zoomed passed us on a country road just outside Folsom. It had a tow hitch. We began speculating on what precisely the beloved two-seater convertible might be powerful enough to safely tow.



“A lemonade stand,” my passenger said.



I was clearly more optimistic. “A sit-down lawn mower,” I said.



Fact is, she and I tend to notice virtually all Miatas on the road — and not just because of the sports car’s head-turning bodylines or the fact that my test car for the week was a brand spanking new 2011 MX-5. The reasons are far more sentimental: We had purchased a Miata some years back to serve as a transition car between the old Porsche 911 I had sold to keep from spending myself into poverty from repairs, and a new-ish BMW Z3 I was planning to buy at some point in the not-too-distant future.



Weeks turned into months.



By the time my first anniversary with my Miata rolled around, I had forgotten all about the Z3.

View full sizePhoto by James Gaffney/The Times-Picayune

When Hurricane Katrina drowned my Miata in our back yard, like many people I turned my attention to a more practical future evacuation vehicle and bought a slightly used midsized SUV.



But my affection for the Miata never waned. So, getting to spend a week behind the wheel of a new MX-5 was a reunion of sorts — I couldn’t wait to see how my old flame had fared over the years.



Could there possibly be that same spark of infatuation?



Bugs in your teeth

For those who weren’t paying attention back in 1989 when Mazda first introduced the Miata at the Chicago Auto Show, it bears noting just how much hoopla this small roadster generated virtually from the get-go. All the result of an offhanded comment Motor Trend journalist Bob Hall had made to Mazda’s research and development team back in 1976: “I babbled … how the … simple, bugs-in-your-teeth, wind-in-the-hair, classically British sports car doesn’t exist anymore,” Hall recalls in Wikipedia. “I told [them] that somebody should build one … inexpensive roadster.”



Born bearing the bodylines and aesthetic of small British two-seaters from the 1960s, such as the Triumph Spitfire, Austin-Healey Sprite, MG Midget and Lotus Elan (except with a reliable electrical system), the Miata seemed to possess the same DNA of those romanticized roadsters, now relegated to memories and classic car shows, which have achieved that rarefied status of timeless glamour (all the more so when the likes of David Niven, Princess Grace or Cary Grant were photographed behind the wheel).

View full sizePhoto by James Gaffney/The Times-Picayune

Accolades should rain down on Mazda designers for resisting what for many automakers is the overwhelming compulsion to futz with success — even brilliant success at that. In lieu of over-tweaking the Miata’s classic design over the years to the point of near non-recognition (as could have easily been the case), designers instead opted to settle for minor updos and refreshes to maintain a contemporary edge while keeping true to the school of the MX-5’s philosophical roots.



In other words, designers never went to Stupidtown.



Along the way, the MX-5 became am

Tags: Mazda, is-featured

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SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY: A writer's reunion with Miata proves a walk in the clouds was originally published by New Orleans Auto Reviews: Mazda. Read the full story by clicking here.