The MX-5 Miata of the Month from

March 2001

Tina Csomo and Cinderella

tinabee3@yahoo.com

Congratulations to Tina on the selection of Cinderella as our
Miata of the Month!

"You're not going to buy a FIVE SPEED....are you????"

I come from a very practical-minded Hungarian family. If a car was to be bought and owned, it had to have four seats, a usable trunk, preferably four doors, and an automatic transmission. Previously, I had owned one car that ate alternators and batteries like they were going out of style. I hated the car so much, I am loathe to mention the make and model. The second car I owned was a Mazda Protege with all of the toys. I actually liked it, somewhat, and, when my folks were having problems with their car, it was the family vehicle there, for a bit.

However, I had saved my hard-earned cash, and there was no way in heaven I was going to settle for a car I was less than 100% satisfied with. When I informed my family that I wanted.....gasp!....a two-seater convertible, they all thought that I'd bought a one-way ticket to the looney bin. Lots of research, auto-review reading, and tons of website prodding on the internet later, I made the phone call of fate to the dealership, and left there without the trusty services of my Protege, but with a White '95 that only had 5585 miles on the ticker.

Getting home was an experience unto itself. Not, at the time, being an experienced stick shift driver, every stoplight turned into a major challenge. Somehow, I managed to get home in one piece, with my ever-so-practical Dad grinning in the driveway asking for the keys. Apparently, his practical side collided violently with his fun side, and the fun side knocked the former unconscious.

I could end it all here, and say that I *just* own a car, but that would be a complete and total lie. Never being much of a joiner of sorts, I ended up a member of the Miata Club of SW Florida. Just before that, I also subscribed to the Miata.net Big List, and it unexpectedly revived my writing hobby, which had been lying dormant for some time. That little white two-seater opened me up to a world I never knew existed.

All kinds of things have happened since. I've dressed as a tacky tourist, washed and waxed my car in hotel parking lots, been interviewed by a shark puppet, went on a wild goose chase looking for a spotted cow mailbox at a road rally, and drove solo seven hours in horrible weather just to attend a club gathering.

However, being on the Big List has also educated me on the finer points of Miata ownership. When I have to go to get my car serviced, the techs can't believe this short little blonde hairdresser knows, certainly not everything, but quite a bit about the inner workings of a vehicle. Other ladies I am friends with can't relate to my fascination with cars, and still look at me like I am half-baked, sometimes.

I guess I, in many ways look like the total antithesis of a gearhead in training, but I'm having a heck of a lot of sunny weather, and top-down fun doing it!

Previous Miata of the Month Winners

Will you be next?