Car & Driver COmparison

[Pmarcuzzo]

For us NA guys Car & Driver did a nice comparison of the NA vs ND

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...-miata-feature

Excerpt:

The Miata, with its 116-hp, 1.6-liter four-cylinder borrowed sans turbo from the 323 GTX proto-rally car, was the exception to an industry-wide power surge. It was born from the same sensibilities that helped the Japanese ascend while Detroit declined.

A small and light roadster wasn’t an original thought, but it was a unique proposition in 1990. Championed by Bob Hall, an automotive-journalist-turned-product-planner for Mazda Motor of America, the MX-5 channeled a generation of bygone European sports cars that automakers had forgotten but enthusiasts hadn’t. At Mazda, Hall used a year-end budget surplus to purchase a vintage Lotus Elan for the “competitive fleet,” only to see his de facto personal car whisked away by research and development in Japan three months later.

The Elan’s influence is obvious in the concept, the packaging, and the styling of the original MX-5, and at the car’s launch, Mazda didn’t shy away from comparisons to 25-year-old cars. In fact, the manufacturer happily courted our wistfulness for sports cars loved but no longer available. Our September 1989 issue featured an advertisement on page 54 with a Porsche 356 Speedster clearly visible behind the car Mazda was introducing. “It not only gives you a glimpse of the ’90s . . . It takes you back, as well,” reads the ad.

[Ron Reefman]

Paul, that's a great article, thanks for posting it. I almost want to go buy one now.

The next issue of Grassroots Motorsports is going to do something similar. They will compare the CD to and NC. That should be good as well.

I have to admit, after a day at Sebring with my Miata, I sure do like the way they drive. I loved my 1st generation MR2, but my NC is better.

[SmileyFace]

Great write up, but I have a small issue with the writers definition of a sports car.