Back in the day when I lived the single life, driving and riding in a sports car excited me. My husband (boyfriend at the time) used to pick me up in his navy blue 1986 Mazda RX7. I felt special getting into his car and stepping out of his car. Later he upgraded to a 1988 Mazda Anniversary RX7 which came in a Storm Trooper White. I remember driving it around thinking, Wow, this car is really fast! In college, we bought a two door convertible together. We lived in Los Angeles at the time and fell in love with the SoCal weather. Most days we just dropped the top and then drove along the coast. Those days were fun, but when I got pregnant, I traded my car in for an SUV for more space and practicality.  How long has it been? Almost ten years?

2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata convertible for a week. I must admit I was nervous and a little rusty shifting gears. I worried about my leg cramping up and embarrassing myself because I couldn’t get it out of first gear. None of that happened. In fact, I felt young again! Yes, our heads were bobbing as I shifted gears crossing the intersection, but my husband and I cracked up and I soon overcame it. Because it is a two-seater, my husband and I went on lunch dates almost every day while the kids were in school. We felt like teenagers again.

What I liked about the car was it felt luxurious and sporty. The seats were leather, the entertainment console was touchscreen, and it felt fast. (Taking off in it reminded me of Darren’s first RX7.) I also like the hands-free speaker phone feature because the seats had surround sound speakers built into it so I can hear perfectly clear when the top is down. There’s also a sensor that lights up and beeps when there’s a car in my blind spot. (Cool feature!) The manual top is super easy to take down and put back up. (I was able to do it with one hand.) You can watch how easy it is below!

More things you should know:

• This vehicle gets about 27/34 MPG. (city/hwy)
• There are three models: Sport, Club, and Grand Touring. (The one that I test drove was a Grand Touring Model).
• You can get it in either 6-Speed Manual or 6-Speed Automatic.
• Only seats two.
• Trunk space is small.

This makes a great weekender car. We have such nice weather in Southern California, that it’s nice to just put the top down. The only thing though is it only seats two so I can’t commute both kids at the same time, but we like to routinely separate each kid so we can spend one-on-one time together. I know the little one loved it when I picked him up in school with it. Well, thank you, Mazda! It was fun while it lasted. The Miata will definitely make you feel young again. For more information about the Mazda MX-5 Miata, please visit their website here: www.mazdausa.com. Happy Summer,

Mary