Steve Parker Motoring / The Car Nut: MX-5 MAZDA MIATA HARDTOP POWER CONVERTIBLE ANNOUNCED!

EXCLUSIVE PHOTO ALBUM! 2009 GUMBALL RALLY 3000

See Steve's exclusive Gumball Rally video from NBC-TV's Whipnotic website (copy and paste): http://www.whipnotic.com/videos/viewvideo-558.html Over 120 gas-guzzling super-exotic sports cars, Hummers, Cadillac Escalade SUVs and an occasional interesting older car roared on May 2, 2009, from a California beach-side parking lot directly onto I-10, the Santa Monica Freeway, also known as the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway, for the start of this year's Gumball Rally. The world's most politically-incorrect automotive street event, the Gumball Rally 3000, left Santa Monica (CA) Pier on Saturday, May 2, 2009 and headed toward its ultimate destination of Miami, FL eight days later. Participants reportedly paid $44,000 per car/team to enter the event. Though the Gumball stresses the skills of its drivers (and their cars) there are only two race track "special section" stops scheduled for the 3,000-mile long event, which will be run on public roads with all entrants subject to all highway rules and regulations. All photos (c) 2009 by www.SteveParker.com

August 16, 2006

MX-5 MAZDA MIATA HARDTOP POWER CONVERTIBLE ANNOUNCED!

Well, Mazda has improved even more upon their wonderful li'l MX-5 (Miata to you folks in the USA ... Until this year, that is --- Now, worldwide it is 'MX-5') and the car makes the Saturn SKY and Pontiac Solstice even more of a waste of your dollars --- At least until (if) the turbocharged versions come out later this year ... or next ... With purportedly a 260 horsepower four-banger. MX-5, with its 170 horsepower four-cylinder engine, still could use some help in the hp department. But Mazda's strategy has worked well for them all the years since Miata came out (1990) --- Using a small-ish engine with only adequate power all packaged in a suspension system which allows for optimum fun, does not overly challenge anyone's insurance payments and keeps its price (generally) under $25,000.

Seems like the all-new Mazda hardtop power convertible makes Solstice/SKY near-obsolete on several levels. If the folks at Toyo Kogyo (Mazda's parent company, located in Hiroshima) can build a hardtop which power-folds and -slides into itself, still without taking-up trunk room, WHY CAN'T GENERAL MOTORS?

And any Miata with the optional non-power hardtop is still one of the best-looking sports cars around. What could be better than a hardtop coupe which looks like a Lotus and goes like a, well, like a Mazda?

AUTOBLOG reports that Dave Thomas over at KickingTires is reporting that the price will begin at a very reasonable $24,350, which makes this MX-5 the least expensive retractable hard top convertible on the market by far. The Pontiac G6 Convertible held that title for a short while with a base price of $28,490, but no more. Whereas the soft-top MX-5 starts at $20,435 for a Club Spec model, the MX-5 Power Retractable Hard Top begins as an upmarket Sport model with a six-speed manual or auto transmission and larger 17-inch wheels. DT did the math and since a soft-sport model starts at $22,935, that means the hard top only costs buyers an additional $1,415.