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18 wheels stouffville suntribune thursday nov 6 2003 sportscar of all time features unique to the se include special blue cloth seats and convertible top titanium grey metallic paint the normally dealerinstalled aero package spoil ers and slide skirts and a bose sound system rpm front page fittings and trim and the miata that started out so humbly 12 years ago is notimmune all miatas come standard with power windows and locks that would have driven sportscar purists of the 1950s to outrage never mind a convertible top with rear heated glass window the se as tested has air conditioning some thing undreamed of when i bought my first sportscar a 1961 sunbeam alpine the se also comes with sixspeed manual transmission limited slip differ ential the sports suspension with bilstein gas shocks an option on the other miatas beefy strut tower bar and special 16inch wheels and a sexy nardi threespoke steering wheel features unique to the se include special blue cloth seats and convertible top titanium grey metallic paint the nor mally dealerinstalled aero package spoilers and side skirts and a bose sound system which i confess i never turned oh preferring to listen to the music of the tuned exhaust j slipping into the miata is best done with the top down with the fixed steer- ing wheel odd theres no tilt in this day and age the best method is to swing the right teg over the seat and men plunk yourself down much as you would get- i guess there are people with hundreds of thousands of dif ferent reasons that combined have made the miata believe it or not the largest selling sportscar of all time ting on a western saddle a woman wearing a tight skirt might have even more of a challenge the three pedals are well positioned for heel and toe driving if youre so inclined and theres that perfectly placed shift lever just a hands reach from the steering wheel the sixspeed gearbox packs a lot of cogs and levers into not a lot of space ergo you should not speed shift i still find the fivespeed box only available on the base miata slicker to use however the advantage of sixth gear as ah overdrive is not to be sneezed at in ithese days of higher fuel costs and pre mium is recommended on the se i had a week of glorious fall sunshine iii which iand the little miata revelled one night when i couldnt sleep i went to the garage at about 2 am put the clever wind blocker up and the heater on low and went out for a drive with the waning moon above and traces of ground fog on the road i hummed along without noticing the time it was cozy in the cockpit but i could smell rain in the air all the more reason to keep going and find what the night was hiding over the next hill after about an hour reluctantly i turned around and headed home pausing to look around at the miata now snug in the garage and still making cooling down sounds i remembered back almost 40 years to my old sunbeam alpine when i did just the same thing then for the joy of nothing more than the feeling of being free and young ah yes you cant go back but its good for the soul to remember now and then i guess there are people with hun dreds of thousands of different reasons that combined have made the miata believe it or not the largest selling sportscar of all time and thats because the miata isnt just a sportscar for all seasons its also a sportscar for all reasons