True enough. I like the idea of pulling an off-roader behind my highway car. Also, I did run into some drunk italians in an RV at a campground on the Dalton Highway, in the Arctic Circle.

I can't even stand the thought of driving one of those. Maybe when I'm older, and less prone to darting down semi-paved side roads towards rumors of a waterfall.

and plenty of sound-deadening. I know we all love the roar of an engine, but for 20-hour stints at 70mph, a little peace and quiet is nice. My wife's DD is a 2001 coupe with a stick. Fantastic car.

Yours is more awesome, but the solution I've seen a few times is a pedestrian bridge. It's really a great solution for towns that don't have the cash for high-speed tunnels.

In other news, I heard Caterham is coming out with the actual next Lotus in 2015. The branding is just there to distract you.

1,000 miles after the service light came on.

emissions. Tiny little ports - IIRC, you could get a little oomph by swapping one of the swirl-pot heads from the early 80's. Really, the only answer to adding performance to that engine was that it was really easy to swap it for a rocket 350, or even a 455.

As one of the few people on campus who would answer a call at any hour, could drive stick, never drank, and only had a bicycle, I was pretty frequently hit up to pick up my friends and drive them home in their car. I did all my stupidest, most-dangerous driving freshman year, with a friend passed out in the back…

What? Why?

That's effing fantastic. If I had a few spare engines and a spare miata hanging around, I hope I would have the balls to do something this hilariously awesome.

My parents had an orange one - I remember sitting in the jumper seats. When the Baja came out, I had high hopes. Now, I just want a brat with better sheet metal.

Sometimes, on especially busy nights, I have to park in the free city parking lots across the street, instead of street parking on the square. It's a rough life.

Yeah, mine is from OK and rust-free, which is more than I can say about the ones I see here on the east coast. The tops are not too bad to replace, but if you can find a hardtop, that's always a fine choice. I wish the Spec guys didn't buy them all up.

Ah, missed the back doors. Close enough!

How to not be murdered:

2-door? American? Insane surface area?

Also, the first two generations have tops that have probably disintegrated by now. Beyond that, they are almost all manual, and almost all are leaking at least one fluid from at least one place. They are super-reliable, but also damn near impossible to hunt down every tiny problem.

LFOT has a picture of him standing inside the car, and it looks like the doors clear his 6'2" frame. So, no, they won't hit you in the eye (unless you're a giant), but they might run into your garage door if you don't close the garage before you try to get out.

44 highway still doesn't make up for the higher price and lower availability of diesel in the US. I'd love to buy a diesel, but the numbers just don't add up. Maybe Mazda's new setup will make it worth the jump.

If those numbers are anywhere close to right, why would I possibly buy this over any of the piles of 40mpg gas-burners coming to market?