Sports cars: 1960's British -transforms to- 1990's Japanese.

Back in the mid 60's things from Great Britain were all the rage. The British music invasion had begun and was in full swing (think The Beatles) and British sports cars were a hot commodity. MG, Triumph, Sunbeam, Austin Healey, and if you had the bucks Lotus and Jaguar. The Brit cars were fun and had lots going for them; looks, performance, handling (and braking), fuel economy, ....... and provided many with the thrill of top down motoring. However for all their pluses, there were many faults. The two biggest; they chronically leaked oil, and the (Lucas) electrical systems were crap. For all their fun, they were unreliable.

Sometime during the 80's Japanese engineers undertook the task of re-creating the classic sports car. As is common knowledge now, the Japanese excel at refining existing ideas into great products. As a result, in mid 1989, the Mazda Miata was released to the market. The Miata was roughly the size of the MGB, Triumph TR-250 (later the TR-6) or Sunbeam Alpine. The exterior had a strong resemblance to the Lotus Elan. The Miata had everything the British sports cars had, and more................. it was rock solid and reliable.

Back in 1988-89 I noticed the stories in all the car magazines about Mazda's plans on producing a sports car. As I read more, then saw the pictures of the car's design, I really began to lust after one. My girlfriend (now my wife) must have picked up on my enthusiasm, and announced " I'm going to buy one of those". The problem was, even before the car ever hit the dealers, there was so much interest that people were placing orders, and the dealers..... savvy to what was happening..... were charging well above sticker price. Somewhere around $3000 to $6000 above was about the average. I began to lose interest. She persevered. (Special note: in the ensuing 20 years this aspect of our relationship hasn't changed, I seem to come up with the ideas, she seems to find a way to make them reality)

Somehow she managed to find a deal on a new Miata. Relatively speaking of course, a "deal" amounted to paying sticker price. Still, it was better than what most folks were able to get at the time. So, in July 1989 we took delivery of a brand new 1990 package B Miata. Red, removable hardtop, alloy wheels, A/C , power windows, cruise control, about everything you could get at the time. The car attracted an incredible amount of interest in those first 6 months. You absolutely could not go anywhere without attracting a crowd. It was sometimes embarrassing. Nevertheless, the car was a blast. It was all the good things the Brit cars were , and none of the headaches. Just get in, drive, and enjoy!

Not too many years went by, and as scads more Miatas were imported (mostly in Red) my wife got a bit tired of "passing herself" on the road. So it appeared a new purchase was in the works.
She wanted a black one, but black ended up not being a very exciting color for a small sports car.
On one of our many trips between Maryland and Ohio, we spotted a 1992 bright Sunburst Yellow Miata at a dealership off I-79 in Pennsylvania. Long story short, we bought it. For nearly a year and a half, we had two Miatas. However with a new family in the works, and the need for a better pickup truck, we sold the 1990. We still have the 1992, and at this point probably always will. The Sunburst Yellow car is a bit unique in that Mazda only produced 1500. (even though it's not listed as a limited edition car) So the problem of my wife "passing herself" is pretty much non existent now.

The following are some images of the 60's British cars, followed by our 1992 Miata.

MGB Triumph TR-250

AustinHealey 3000

Jaguar XKE

Sunbeam Alpine


Lotus Elan

1992 Mazda Miata

One other note. In the 60's with the success of Carroll Shelby's Cobra (a British AC "Ace" roadster stuffed with a Ford V-8 engine) many manufacturers scrambled to come up with a high performance version of their car. One of my favorites is the Sunbeam Tiger, which was basically a Sunbeam Alpine that was modified by Shelby to accept a Ford V-8. More on that later.......