Hypothetically Speaking...

[nomad]

I think your greatest chance for success would be to leave the Spridget alone and buy an automatic Miata to park next to it.

You can get an M1 or M2 automatic Miata very reasonably and they are great cars.

My 5 speed (manual trans) M2 Miata is hands-down the best car I have ever owned.

Nial, I thought I saw you with a Lotus 7 somewhere.

I'm hoping my Elan surpasses the Miata. I'm on my second one and really prefer to feel the road in a lighter car. Don't really like power steering or cars that need it but I admit that in most cases we take the Miata.

Kurt.

 

[aeronca65t]

I drove a 1700 cc Elan with hot engine and 5 speed back-to-back against my 1.8 Miata.

I liked the Elan but it also pointed out how much we have learned over the years. Sentimentally, I preferred the Elan, but the pragmatist in me said the Miata was better.

The Elan is a great car but it suffers from 50 year old technology. The one place where the Elan is better is with its light weight. My Miata weighs a lot compared to an Elan, but it weighs the same as my MGB so a not real heavy pig.

I'm not sure I even consider my Super 7 a car! I drove it about 40 miles this morning. Other people react to it like it's a spaceship from another planet. It may be the best spaceship I've ever owned. layful:

 

[nomad]

Well I have to admit that wearing out reliable Japanese cars make's the most sense. A friend and fellow Brit car and Miata owner just pointed out to me though that when his Miata started to run lousy he had to have a mechanic analyze the engine while he can analyze and fix anything on his Brit car's.

Kurt.

 

[aeronca65t]

I just found a photo of my Elan vs. Miata test. Photo taken at least 12 years ago.