2014 Mazda MX-5 Miata Grand Touring PRHT: Around the Block - Automobile Magazine
“It’s a Miata” It’s hard to believe now, but people geeked out over the Miata when it debuted. Mark Schirmer, a former road test coordinator for this magazine and now a Ford PR man, recalls the near hysteria he inspired driving our Four Seasons Mazda Miata from Chicago. “I was nearly causing accidents on I-94. No one had seen anything like it. ” Like any retro design, the Miata's has proved somewhat challenging to update. Cruising side-by-side, the old and new Miata look like father and son. Yes, that added refinement costs more—our test car checks in at $32,285—but that’s actually not a whole lot more than a Miata cost in 1990. It started at $13,800, which is about $25,000 after inflation. Don’t get us wrong, we still love the simplicity of chucking a soft top behind us, but 2014’s fast-folding hard top has virtually no drawbacks. Unlike hard tops in more expensive cars like the Mercedes-Benz SLK and BMW Z4, Mazda’s takes up no trunk room. “It’s a little disappointing that some of the things that make my Miata impractical for long trips, like poorly placed cup holders and a hot transmission tunnel, haven’t much improved on the current car,” says associate web editor Jake Holmes, who... The first-generation Mazda Miata makes up some ground in the handling department. Source: www.automobilemag.com
