Small sports cars

I am currently looking to buy a small 2 seat convertible. I have key in on three models (2000-2003)

1. Mazda Miata
2. Toyota S2000
3. BMW Z-3

Does anyone have experience with these particular vehicles?

Thanks
W.

 

Yes

My MIL has a Miata and it has been exceptionally reliable. She loves it. However, it has a reputation as a "chick" car. The Bimmer was widely panned for its lack of aggressive styling and that is why it was rapidly replaced by the Z-4. The plus side is it can now be had for a good price. Of course, it's a Bimmer so it has exceptional quality. Know zip about the Toyota, but I have never known a Toyota that was of lousy quality. My sister drives hers for years and years before trade in...

 

What's that story about men who drive sports cars to make-up for shortcomings in...uhum...other areas.

 

If it ain't British, it ain't a REAL sports car! The worst car I ever owned was also the most fun, when it ran...my 1972 MG Midget!

 

Same here, but my car was a Triumph GT6+. It had more motor than car!

 

MG Midget

A roommate in the Army had an MG. For every hour he drove it seemed we would spend another hour working on it. I thnk he traded it for a Triumph TR7 (?). It ran better but still wasn't up to todays standards. What cars were in the 80's?

 

The Z3 got panned by reviewers on the grounds that whilst it was pretty in a sortof knowing pomo retro fashion, the performance absolutely stank. I'd go for the Z4 any day.

The Toyota and the Mazda do absolutely nothing for me. I used to work with a guy who had one of the early Mazdas and the plastic interior was the most offputting I'd ever seen.

Buy a secondhand TVR instead. Much more fun and from Blackpool to boot ;-)

Angela

 

I hear BMW owners complaining about rapid paint finish deterioration here in S. California.

 

Re: MG Midget

An ex-colleague's wife is infamous for calling his black MGT "The Black Hole" because of the amount of his salary that went in garage bills.

Ah yes. The TR7. The car that killed Triumph.

Your friend was lucky, he obviously got the only one in the world that wasn't held together with rust replacer and epoxy sealant.

Angela

 

The only car I ever owned that came close to being a sports car was a Corvair and it was literally a piece of junk!

I owned a few Yugos that were great little cars and surpassed the Corvair in dependability and reliability.

 

Maybe not

Maybe not, I was shipped out to Europe shortly after he got it so who knows what eventually happened to it. Funny 2 seater car story, I had a commander in Germany (circa 1980) that had a late 60's Porsche 911. He loved that car, had Porsche themed clothes and everything. One day it wouldn't start and he enlisted a couple of us to try to push start it. After several blocks we were beat and the car was still dead. I looked up and noticed he had a t-shirt on that said "Ask me about my Porsche". Believe me, I had a lot to say but he was so down I didn't have the heart.....

 

Mr.Engineer S2000 is by Honda not Toyota. I will go for Honda S2000.

 

Best car we ever had was the Morgan +4 whilst living in England. When we were moving back to the US, I wrote the Morgan company to see if they would be making one to US standards. Got a handwritten reply from Peter Morgan (himself) saying, "We make three cars a week. We are back-ordered for eight years. We will not be making a car to US standards, which would, among many other things, involve crash-testing at least two-thirds of one week's production."

 

And just to be clear, I would never buy another British car unless I was willing to dump lots of time and money into it.

 

Love my BMW 325i 5 speed. And you can put groceries in the back.

Best I ever had; MGBGT. Much fun.

 

With some of the modifications I have seen done to Miatia's I would own one, and i defenitely wouldn't call it a "chick car." I have never met A mazda I didn't like except for my B2300 truck, which was actually a Ford Ranger in disguise. I also like the way the s2000 looks, though I have never driven one. But if I was really going to get a convertable sports car, I would either get an 80's Mustang GT 5.0 or a Porchce 911 with a Targa top.

 

I'm not sure how many TVRs made it over here and how many would have survived. Great car though.

My choice would be the most beautiful sports car I ever saw was a 1948 Triumph that used to be parked outside my 'digs' in 1968 in South Kensington (off the Cromwell Road). My other choice would be for the Daimler SP250. Not beautiful (to some) but what a rocket!

Best wishes----Jim (Whose cousins from Aberdeen visited recently and laughed themselves silly by my sentimental desire to tour the Highlands in a Morris Minor convertible)

 

What an encouraging thread! I remember how, up until very early November, outsourcing of American jobs to other countries was a problem, the economy was so bad that stories of personal suffering were shared on this very board, and one political party was composed only of the poor and downtrodden. I am very glad that there has been such dramatic improvement. Perhaps we are entering an era of good feeling. That would be very nice.

 

I used to own a 00 Mustang GT convertible (red) - 5 spd. Funniest car I ever owned. Fast and flashy. Too bad it only got 18MPG on the highway.

If I was looking for a new convertible, I would go for the 05 Mini Cooper convertible. (best thing ever made in Brazil). If gas wasn't so expensive, I would consider the 06 Mustang GT Convertible when it is released next June or July.

But alas, I have to think about gas mileage. I am leaning towards the Miata as the quality is much higher than the BMW Z-3 (made in Spartenburg, South Carolina) and it actually has a small trunk unlike the Toyota.

 

Re: Re: Small sports cars

opps - I stand corrected. I meant the Toyota model that is simular to the Honda S2000.

Do you have the S2000?