Ten Thousand Years

If you have been following the countdowns on the right-hand sidebar here LOB you will have noticed two changes in the last week. The first was last Sunday when Season 4 of Mad Men premiered and its counter dropped off the page. The second just happened tonight when the counter for the New Miata jumped from 123 to 484.

Miata #1, the 1990 Mariner Blue A Package, lasted 6 years before being traded in. Number two, a 1995 Laguna Blue B Package, stuck around for 8 years before being traded in. Miata #3, our current 2003 Garnet Red LS, was assumed to stay with us the average of the lengths of service of the first 2 cars, seven years, and be traded in on a 2010 model this November. That is now not going to happen, The Emperor will be with us for at least another year.

The main reason for this, we like to say publicly, is the car is not available in a suitable shade of blue. The first two Miatas were blue, and while we have grown to like the current red/maroon shade, we have our hearts set on blue car this time. The current Miatas do come in blue, something called Stormy Blue, but it is too dark, almost Navy Blue and not to our liking.

But the main reason is neither one of us like the new and “improved” third generation of the car. It is only a couple inches longer or wider, but appears relatively huge in comparison. I heard the style of the car in the first couple of years of the 3rd generation compared to an angry bar of soap and I had to agree. They tweaked the looks of front end last year and now it reminds me of a bar of soap with a Mr Potato Head mouth stuck on it. And it is not just the exterior, we both don’t care for the inside either. The doors are taller, so that leaning your arm on the window sill leaves your elbow pointing up. That, along with the taller seats placed lower in the car gives you the feeling of riding in a bathtub. As a “bonus” the new engine routed the exhaust header in such a manner that it intrudes on the passenger foot well and steals precious space for the navigator’s usual complement of tools.

The current rumors on the Miata.net forums call for the forth generation of the car, which is supposed to be smaller and lighter, to appear as 2012 model which means it might come to market in late 2011, so we wait. If worse comes to worse and a new model doesn’t appear next fall, maybe they will add a nice bright blue to the Miata’s paint palette on the last of the 3rd gen cars. Or maybe by then the oft rumored Volkswagen BlueSport will actually exist and it will be a worthy competitor to the Miata.

The post title alludes to an oriental saying that is a loosely translated English phrase used in several oriental countries as an expression used to wish long life to the Emperor.