I hope it hurt
Last month, I convinced the wife to trade in her car on a nice shiney new Mazdaspeed MX-5. For me of course. She can’t drive it, since it’s a 6-speed and all. Mine is “look at me” red, as it was only available in two colors and they only had red in stock.
Anyway, I was able to enjoy about 1000 turbocharged miles before I made the mistake of parking it downtown while attending the Martin Short concert with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. When I returned, some @sswipe had determined it would be in their best interest to punch and then apparently kick in the door.
At least they didn’t slash the top.
So now I’m stuck with a rental while the whole side of the car gets repainted. Sure, it was bright red and new and sort of stands out in the crowd, but why would anyone intentionally inflict this kind of damage on an innocent parked vehicle? There weren’t even any political stickers on it.
And urban activists wonder why nobody comes downtown…
All I can say is, I hope it hurt. Note to self: Next time, rent the Three Amigos instead.
As an aside, if you’re looking for one heckuva great little performing sports car (and don’t have children, as my peers are quick to point out), this Mazdaspeed MX-5 is one sweet little car. The Mazdaspeed engineers took a stock Miata and completely overhauled it, stiffening and lowering the suspension, reworking the motor and tranny, adding a turbo, popping on a limited slip and 17″ wheels, and many other mods (that are covered by warranty), making this definitely NOT your sister’s Miata. I chose this over the Audi TT, BMW Z3, and Honda S2000. Uncle likes his guns. I like my cars.
October 20th, 2004 at 9:09 pm
I had my car vandalized in downtown Cincinnati. There was no apparent reason for it. I feel your pain.
October 20th, 2004 at 9:26 pm
I had a convertible. Then i had a baby. now i have a four door truck. I do like the truck but miss the convertible.
October 20th, 2004 at 11:52 pm
That sucks, but congratulations on having an amazing car.
I have a friend in Seattle with an older Miata that he put a turbo in himself. My parents have a ’99 that I am toying with the idea of buying from them down the road and dumping a turbo into. It would be a lot of fun.
Also, welcome to the wonderful world of blogging. Good to see another carhead. I had rumblings about starting up an automotive blog along with a few other people, but I’ve been too busy to get it going. Maybe one of these days..
October 21st, 2004 at 7:13 am
Why can’t your wife drive a 6-speed straight shift? I think it might be time to learn. One of the great things about driving a small sports car that handles well (Nissan Z, never driven a Mazda Miata, just assuming) is using the gears to navigate the curves, and of course, using them well.
October 21st, 2004 at 7:33 am
She’s just never had much of an opportunity to work with a straight drive. We’ve already been buzzing around in a parking lot, and she managed to get cozy with changing gears in motion while driving in ovals (35-40mph ovals, thanks to the car’s handling!), but hasn’t mastered the start-off yet. She inherited my Acura and she’s supposed to be to practicing with the sport shift.
Chris, I thought about starting a car blog myself, but doubted I’d have enough content to fill it. The content is already pretty broad on this blog though, so I can ramble on about that and other things too.