Go for a 1st or 2nd gen. Learn more about cars too. If you get an automatic will all laugh at you forever.

NA is first and foremost forever the GOAT because of pop-up headlamps, and was the truest to its original mission statement; to reinvent the 60s British sports car for the 1990s. NB is essentially the same car but without pop-ups, and is typically the one most people laugh at. The one that arguably earned it's reputation as a girl/faggot's car. Avoid NC at all costs. Heard nothing but bad things about them not to mention being the ugliest of the bunch by far. ND seems to be alright though they macho'd the fuck out of the exterior and seem to have based it on the old BMW Z4 for whatever reason.

>>13682 When I say I know nothing about cars I mean I don't know how to maintain and fix them. I know not to go for an automatic. >>13683 Think the NC is better looking than the NB personally. From a reliability standpoint though would the NC last longer than the NA and would replacement parts (if required) be cheaper for the NC than the NA?

>>13683 also what bad things have you heard about the NC?

To add to this: be wary of the NB if you are a taller guy. NA is totally doable for bigger dudes in either stock form or with the infamous seat foam mod and the ND was designed to be the most comfortable for tall dudes out of all 4 generations. The NB, however, has an EXTRA THICC interior giving you less room for your long legs. The NC is the Ratchet: Deadlocked of Miatas so its interior space is irrelevant :^)

I've been looking at these cars for months now. I find ones in fantastic shape are shit shape. I feel bad if I get one in fantastic shape since it will live outside and I will drive it everyday. I'd be taking something taken care of for 30 years and killing it. I love the NA so much though.

I forgot to add I've seen at least 3-4 "JDM" import NA's. Is it smart to avoid those all together? I feel like learning right hand drive would be more trouble than it's worth. I also don't want to do math to find out how many miles I'd have on the car.

>>13884 >avoid JDM Miata? Yes. I know they are a bitch to register after importing, and I don't know how much of that carries over to ownership transfers and registration renewal. They are dumb anyway. Unless it's one of the special editions they didn't import officially, it's exactly the same car you can buy normally but with the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car. It's silly.

Poor man's convertible.

>>13689 The NC is the Ratchet: Deadlocked of Miatas I have no idea what that means.

>>13892 Sorry, my nerd was showing. Basically its the least good one that is the least resembling of what people like about the MX-5 platform. People who like the NC are on par with people that think Burger King is the best fast food chain and eat their pizza with ranch dressing. They also tuck all their shirts into their pants regardless of if they are at work or not, thinking that it makes them look more gentlemanly than their peers when all it really makes them look like is a huge fucking dork that can only get laid by taking advantage of fat drunk cosplayers with low standards at anime conventions. If you buy an MX-5 NC then you are destined to become that one person in their 40's who refuses to watch any movies over a PG rating even if they don't have any actual children with them because you don't like "inappropriate things".

>>13885 N-nou… Miatas are qt tbh

I bought a '96 in great shape in May with the intention of learning to drive stick and learning car maintenance beyond oil changes. I plan on dailying it until snowfall, which is when I'll cover it up for winter and switch to the beater. Pic related is old, I've since installed a roll bar, but other than that the car looks the same. Still don't have a clue what wheels are on it, though. Things that I've come across working on, watching videos, and browsing forums: >oil filter can be a pain in the ass to get to >foamectomy didn't do shit but make the seat uncomfortable for me >street legal go-kart isn't just a meme >kinda noisy with the top up >dumb fucks love to jack these things up on the frame rails instead of the pinch welds resulting in bent to fuck rails >clutch slaves die just by looking at them >14 degree timing advance is a meme >exhaust mods don't do shit to add power >roll bars are a pain in the ass to install, but worth it >air bag computers go bad frequently in '96 models for some reason >steering wheel makes your knuckles hit your thighs unless you're skin and bones >almost every aftermarket wheel hub involves modification of the clockspring, mainly cutting some plastic off >visible rust along the rocker panel normally means the entire thing is fucked They're not too common in Appalachia so I get a lot of 'cute car' and 'what car is that' comments. I've dropped maybe $800 into it so far, $500 of that being a roll bar. Short term, I intend on ripping out the shitty catback that came with when I bought it, replacing the 20 year old stock shocks, and swapping the steering wheel with one that isn't falling apart. Long term, I'd like to prep for turbocharging.

>>14447 Sweet. Where are the license plates though? Do pop-ups still work? Is that dirt road an actual road or just a driveway to a house? Looks silky-smooth for a dirt road.

>>14449 No front license plates in Pennsylvania. Pop-ups work just fine. Dirt road is in a cemetery, if you can believe that. I took the pic in a spur of the moment just for kicks. Forgot to mention that the color isn't stock. The guy before me had it repainted to what I can only assume is the 96 M-edition's dark blue paint which is only a few shades darker. You'd never know unless you were looking for it, though.

>>14453 How do you rate the weather there for a car? Seems like mountainous area (according to quick search). Do you get a lot of snow? What will you do with a convertible in cold? Autumn is the best season to buy a convertible here in northern yurope. In fact, autumn is the best season to buy unfinished summer project cars.

>>14454 Weather is temperate, hot summers and cold winters. Not very mountainous where I am, more hilly than anything. Often lots of snow, and the roads are notoriously bad in PA because of it. If I can find a place to garage it I'll do that but otherwise I'll just get a good tarp or two and button it up til spring. The last few winters have been unseasonably warm with only one good snowstorm, so if this year is anything like that I may be driving it with the top down on Christmas.

>>14458 Aw shit son I'm in Philly nice miata my neighbor has one that looks just like yours.

>>14793 You are just his evil second personality

>>13681 get a 1st gen. 94+ 1.8l w torsen doff. 94s and 95s are the best years. put a turbo on it. go learn more at miataturbo.net. Have fun being in the miatagang :)

>>14849 *torsen diff lol.

>>14849 >oversized wheels/undersized tires I work at a tire shop and we all laugh at how retarded you are.

>>14853 lol drift car. less sidewall flex for running cheapest tires possible. go back to your MY ABS NEEDS THE STOCK TIRE FITMENT thread.

>>14859 >pop-up headlights that don't pop all the way up

>>14861 Looks like it's squinting.

>>14859 >less sidewall flex You can achieve that without stretching the fucking sidewall, idiot.

>>14859 jesus fucking christ that looks like shit if youre going to stretch your tires on your """drift""" car then at least lower it or put some good wheels on it pic related an NA with well-fitting wheels

Just got an NC with 82k miles, but autotragic. Got it for $7kUSD. Did I do good, and should I be DDing this thing? Because that's what I want it for. Engine is great, but needs tires.

>>13901 I think this is exaggerating it a bit too much. The NC is fine, it's just uglier, but I do fit inside of it without any modifications. I don't know, though, you might just be Eurofag, since they seem to have gotten the 1.8 instead of the 2.0.

Miata is for manchildren.

>>14794 Evil?

>>15098 Miata is not for insecure fagboys. Miats is da bes.

>>13883 Don't feel bad. Just take care of it. You can rebuild the engine as many times as you like, and if you keep up with maintenance, it will last longer than you can drive it.

OP here. Thanks for the help.

>>15925 Soon, I'll have one too

>>15925 nice find OP.

>>15098 Honestly? This. Problem with the MX-5 is the fags that drive them not the car. Everyone I've encountered who drives an MX-5 is a manlet manchild who uses a lot of hairgel.

>>15939 Let me guess: USA?

>>15925 Very nice! What year and how many miles/eurounits on the clock? >>15939 On the way to work I drive past a lady in a red NA when the forecast shows no rain, but other than her its almost all middle aged guys. Granted, I've seen less than 10 unique drivers in the year I've owned mine. I've only seen one guy who vaguely fits that description, and he just looked like a typical normalfag in his 20's.

>>15942 The only people I see in NAs are other 20 somethings. I see 40 to 50 year old woman in NCs and a mix of people in NBs

>>13683 >Avoid NC at all costs. NC is a fine car, just has a soft suspension because MX-5 owners were aging. It's the most powerful by far, and can be built to run if you want it to. Source: NC owner.

>>15961 You don't find the car painful to look at?

>>15962 Same guy, different location. Not at all. It's the least good-looking sister in a family of hot sisters. I'd still hit it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp1kuo6xkbE I want one. This is the BEST /o/utist youtube channel reviewing one.

>>16016 [NZ coastline] Welcome to RCR New Zealand. [Isaac waves at screen] We were hosted by Camshaft Software, [title screen for Automaton] makers of Automaton, a videogame [winga dinga car] for every gearhead who say [V12 engine in dyno test] “I can make a better car company”. Well, this is your chance to put up or shut up. [screenshot of cam profiling] From cam profiles to [screenshot of fleet marketing] fleet marketing, you do it all [Bryan and Nick walking] and thanks to them, [Nick making notes, Bryan playing with his camera and Andrew chilling] Regular Car Reviews [Ford Falcon XR6] made it to New Zealand, [Toyota Celica GT-Four] the planet’s bonus track. [NZ wave approaches] Sweet as.

>>16016 F U D G E M A N U D G E M A N

>>15942 1994 Eunos (So jap import) with 84,000 miles on the clock, so an average of 3,500 miles a year, which is nothing.

https://youtu.be/7hCPODjJO7s >>16016 >rabbinical car reviews >best /o/utist no.

>>16029 Great find then. Beats the piss out of mine with 149k and rust starting to form on the passenger rocker panel >>16034 Mr. regular always did look pretty oven-worthy with that vaguely nasally tone and size of a matzo loaf-sized nose. His brownish, mudblood buddy Roman makes it a point to bitch about guns and rednecks every chance he gets, too.

>>16038 Don't forget his obsession with potty humor. /pol/ is always right.

>>16034 >Roastbeefland >ruining two fine cars by doing retarded shit on them in the trash it goes

>>14861 I'm indifferent to them over the stock ones. They're much better then the fixed headlights Mazda put on later models. Though aftermarket fixed in ones for NA's are the best. >>15081 He's a stancefag, taste or what looks good is completely lost on him. >>16038 I'll always remember when he was starting out (and no doubt shilling 4/o/) and getting popular he (((Coincidentally))) crashed his old car (A Yaris) in the snow and started a go fund me or some shit to raise 5000 to buy a new car (A Honda Fit). That shit was too jewish for me and I dropped him soon after. Also I hate the roman songs about cars >>16040 The Mini was an utter pile of shit before that project started. The Celica was probably gathering dust and hey, why NOT try and stuff it into this rotted out mini we have. So only one maybe fine car and a trash heap that moved are getting massive amounts of engineering and fabrication done to them. Turning a trash heap into a quasi rally road car (they say in a Q&A it won't be legal for the rally events they attend) is pretty cool.

>>16052 Still roastbeef shit. Still destroying two cars that car lovers could have bought and restored for nothing (not usable for rally heh) and why not? Because why not do it with two piles of shit?

>>16052 Oh and replacing pop up headlights for regular headlight is a proof of your utter bad taste.

>>16052 >fixed lights on a NA

>>16055 >>16056 One of them is a race car. You don't think pop up headlights might be an aerodynamic disaster?

>>16057 Are these cars required to race at night?

>>16058 Maybe not, but it definetaly helps for part changeability. It's easier to strap on a new wing, bumper, hood and a static headlight, rather than messing around with pop-ups that are not used that often on track anyway.

>>16053 >>16055 Again, the Mini is almost a complete loss due to rust issues (Which they do fix and it's over 1000 Bong-bucks just in parts, lord knows how much work it took that they're clearly not charging themselves for. Not to mention just regular mechanical work it would have needed). And the GT4 kinda disappears, but they presumably just pulled the running gear which could be replaced for a running GT4 again. So it's a pile of shit with a donor drive train needing a lot of fabwork and planing to make work. Regarding the fixed headlights over pop ups Most pop ups are only required for a few cars to look right, and even then it's only when they're down. Otherwise they're just a needless complication and add weight in the form of motors to make them work.

>>16071 You… Have no sense of style. I mean none at all. You might be a mechanic or engeneer enthusiast, but you just see cars as rolling shit from point A to B.

>>16072 >You… Have no sense of style. Form. Follows. Function.

>>16073 So yeah, basically you're just a mechanics enthusiast. Cars in 1940's had a really valid design, yet we don't do car that look alike anymore, even with all our safety standards. Form follows function works better for tanks than cars.

>>16080 If you don't like pics related you're a mechanics enthusiast who has no taste.

>>16081 That or what you do to miatas, same shit tbh.

>>16016 THE BEST

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=get_Ln4bt40

>>16081 2nd image reminds me of Boltman

>>16081 Next time at least put some bait on the hook

>>14849 Whoever leaves their miata in the snow like that is a fucking monster

>>16726 nice I can post these again.

>>16742 you appear to be missing a panel on your lights old chap