Greatest Ever Sports Cars - No. 2 - Mazda Miata

" Next on our list, the sports car that literally saved the sports car business. Some of the sexiest names on the streets, like Mercedes and BMW are a huge debt to the modest little Mazda Miata, the biggest selling 2-seat convertible of all time."

" I think the Miata is the most influential sports car of its time. It actually brought back the idea of having a personal sports car when we were lost. We had nothing."

" Say cars today like, BMW Z4, Mercedes' okay, all owe their existence to the success of the Mazda Miata. "

" There is an example of a sports car that's not a high performance car out of the box, but it's absolutely perfect. You are down to the ground, it's still under 2500 pounds. The power-weight ratio is perfect. The balance is perfect. It's an absolute joy to drive."

" Because it was so light and evenly balanced front to back. The Miata handled superbly."

" It wasn't expensive. It handled brilliantly. It was cheap to run and it performed well, and lastly and most irritatingly, Japanese again. It was reliable."

" When they test the prototypes, they went out over to Santa Barbra and they were literally being pursued by joggers waving checkbooks and things like this, you know, what is this car? We wanna buy it, you know, this is-- this is great."

" Not exactly the most macho of sports car. The Miata is known more for its social clubs than setting speed records. It takes a sluggish 7 plus seconds to get from knot to 60."

" I normally use it for going to the grocery store and back. So I don't usually go over 40 miles an hour."

" I know every woman has a dream of being able to get on the race track and go fast and beat the guys."

" Hi Judy."

" Hi."

" Nice to meet you. You alright [unk]?"

" [unk] set up a day at the track with a former race car driver to see if Judy could learn to transform her mild mono-roadster into a genuine racer."

" Here we go."

" Okay, we're starting now."

" First, Judy's instructor puts her Miata through its paces."

" More at least, he gets it going over 40."

" [unk]"

" It's fun when you're driving."

" Though it gives people a watered-down version of owning a sports car, you know, for a limited budget."

" And it drives better than many much bigger, much more powerful, much more showy sports cars, but it doesn't have [unk]."

" It's a chick car. It's a girl car, you know, I see a guy driving that down the way and I just feel bad for him."

" Would I be seen in 1? Good lord, no. My friends would never speak to me again."

" Okay, so it's not a high-performance Ferrari, but these cars can touch 130 miles an hour. Of course, the driver has to be willing. Alas! A total transformation was not to be. On this day, the Miata stereotype of being essentially a girl's car, held true."

" Cool."

" Oh, that was fun."

" Still in a typical Miata fashion, they had fun."

" I can't believe I did that."

" [unk]."

" A number of people think that the Miata is a girl's car 'cause it only has a little 4-cyclinder engine, but I think that's missing the point. A great sports car is not just about the numbers. It's about, how it makes you feel when you're driving it along."

" And it is a man's sports car not just a woman's car."

" No, I wouldn't call it a girly car, no and I think it's also-- I would say it's a unisex car."

" It's a different feeling no less than a sports car, but just a different-- it is a lightness of being."

" Unbelievable. It was so much fun. I just think the Miata has everything in a car. It can do everything you ask it to do."

" Look, you're kiddin' right?"