THE 1999 IS FINALLY BORN AND INTRODUCED TO THE WORLD!!!

Thank Heavens it’s all over! She made her Debut! The "BIG DAY" arrived and has gone by! Waiting for the unveiling of the1999 Miata was like giving birth to a child! When we finally got to check her out, the comments were almost the same as viewing a newborn baby! (And I don’t care what anyone says, newborns are NOT all pretty at first glance!) The comments I heard were like: Do I like the new curves? Is the new face cute? She doesn’t look like any other member of the family! Look at the big butt!

Then the next phase was, do I like the changes? Do I want to take it home? (I know, a newborn "human" baby you HAVE to take home!). Can I trade-in my beloved classic? This adorable ’91 Silver (first convertible for me) that has been with me for 7 wonderful years—CAN I actually give her up? Before I go any farther, the answer to that question is—NO! I kept my ’91 silver classic!!

Back in 1992 there weren’t many of us and she was quite an eyecatcher. And lo’ and behold, 7 years later, she is STILL getting attention from "Non-Miataphiles". The woman in the parking lot at the grocery store, holding her 18 month old daughter says, "Mommy would like to have one of those". My comment was, "When you are finished with that (pointing to her little girl), you can have one of these (pointing to the Miata)! And then did you ever notice that when an older couple (and I’m beginning to wonder just WHAT is "an older couple"?) pulls up beside you and gives you the eye, you can see that they have a gleam in their eye and a smile on their face? Speaking of age-Ugh!- one gal wrote me and said that her 43^rd birthday was coming up. She wanted some information about the Miata. I handed her over to Miata.net and a fellow expert on Miatas in our club (I have NO idea what’s under the hood). Two weeks later she wrote back with the news of her "new" ‘95 Red and the comments were—"I feel born again and now the upcoming birthday will roll in with some class". There is something to say about feeling younger when one gets behind the wheel, with the top down and the wind blowing in your hair! I don’t even mind that I ALWAYS have BAD hair days!!

I’m afraid to look at the ’99 toooo long and hard. I did sit in one, I didn’t want to drive it I said (yeah right)! Don’t you love the smell of a new car!! I think the ‘99’s are beautiful. I know that it’s really hard for one to accept change, especially to change what we think is absolutely perfect. If most people were honest, we would like to have one and be able to keep our "classics" too! I know I would. But unfortunately I wasn’t born rich! Although, one couple from St. Louis liked it so much they bought 2 ‘99’s!! His and hers! Lucky! Another classic fan told me that when he feels "a bit of the green" (envy) comes over him when he sees a ’99, all he has to do is downshift (his classic) and he’s fine.

A couple in our club leased a red Miata and liked it so much they bought a ’99 silver. Silver seems to be the favorite color according to all the letters I received. We now have 4 ‘99’s in our club (1 red, 1 silver, & 2 green). I think that says something for the new Miata. So let’s give our "newborn sibling" a chance in this new world, because she WILL grow to be as beautiful as the rest of her family!!

Happy Motoring!!

Patty Eckels
PACE Miata Club