* that doesn't eat apex seals and doesn't die at 60,000 miles

I haz no LSD though :(

I really do wish I had the money for an S2000, but the Miata gets me a good portion of the way there!

My 40K 1995 NA is bone stock

Nothing, great car! The lines are more aggressive though, and they're not as common, and they're a lot more expensive. Having said that, the most powerful HP/Liter naturally-aspirated engine ever put in a production car is nothing to scoff at.

I have a buddy who bought an absolutely cherry S2000 recently. Can't say I disagree with his choice. However, it's getting harder and harder to find clean S2000s. My buddy paid dearly for his.

One day when I'm a rich old man, I'd love to have an Elan. Until then, my NA is going to have to suffice. Plus, my Miata doesn't hemorrhage oil.

This review is epic. I have a 1995, and I can vouch for all that.

Thank you so much for posting this! I couldn't figure out what song that was last night.

I get 28 mpg on the highway in my NA Miata. Can you really pull that off in a V6 ranger?

I get 22 in the city and 28 on the highway, and mine is the one with the (relatively) larger 1.8L, not the smaller 1.6L. I'd be surprised if you could pull that off in a V6 pickup from ten years ago. Plus, the Miata is fuel efficient for how fun it is.

Cops have nightsticks, which aren't designed to break windows. Thieves have things designed to just smash windows.

This checks all those boxes too...

Panther has got to be on this list. Replacement engines and transmissions are also dirt cheap, so I'm told.

The answer is always Miata.

What stadium is this?

I had a girlfriend whose dad worked in a body shop. He'd get cars that would have hit people...they weren't good stories.

It may be one of those things where you can't tell how bad the crash was for the driver based on the shape of the car after the fact. It is unibody construction too, so not as salvageable as body-on-frame. Then again, most smaller cars are unibody.

My Miata soft-top lets some water in if it really pours. I sprayed some of that water-repellent that you use for camping around the parts where the top meets the side windows, at it really did quite a good job of keeping some of the water out.

Good point, I could just un-zip the back window and crawl out - which assumes I've survived a crash in my Miata. I've actually seem some of the crash tests and, I have to admit, I'm very surprised by how well it did. The Miata has less mass, so it has less energy to get rid of in the event of a collision. I guess…