Miata Mailing List: April 1994, Message #134
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   From: Doug Hagerman 
Subject: Del Sol, etc.
   Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 13:02:06 -0400

I also delayed my purchase of the Miata until the Del Sol came out
because it seemed to be the "third option" between the Miata, the old
MR2, and a FF sports car. I looked at it at the Boston car show when it
first came out, and without even driving it it was obvious that it was
a different class of car. There's nothing wrong with it if that's what
you want, but the Miata is the best combination of features. I do like
the fancy valve timing Honda uses to get another 50 horses out of their
engines, and I also liked the supercharger in the old MR2. Neither is a
real convertible, though...

The new MR2 is in a completely different market: bigger, much faster,
20% more bucks.

Re batteries, I looked in a recent Pegasus racing car components
catalog and there are a couple of batteries that are similar to the one
in the Miata. None of them have the same dimensions, and they all have
non-standard connecting posts. Plus they all cost in the same ballpark
(or much more) than the Mazda battery. I bet there is a second source,
but I don't know where to look for it.

Re the R version of the Miata, it seems to me that there would be a
certain market for a truly stripped version. I don't think the current
R version goes far enough. What it would take to get me interested
would be a SIGNIFICANT move in the direction of performance, something
like the Alfa GTA vs. the GTV. I'm talking aluminum body panels, fixed
headlights, wide wheels, lowered, sidescreens, lower windshield, much
simpler door latches a la TR2, NO interior, real gauges, headers and a
pretty radical cam grind. Not sure that Mazda would go this far! Seems
like they would be able to sell a few hundred pretty easily.

But I'm not complaining: It's certainly possible to get to this point
with a suitable application of money to the current car. An aluminum
body version sure would be nice, though...how come there's no
aftermarket aluminum panels?

Who knows what happenned at Mazda in the late '80's, but they sure did
come out with a series of terrific sports cars: the old RX7s, the
Miata, and the new RX7. What's next? A remake of the old Jaguar sedans,
I hope. How about a performance version of the 626? Or a Lotus 11 copy?
I'm dreaming, of course...

Is there an internet address for the CEO of Mazda? Maybe we could all
send him our wish lists!

Doug.