This is a slightly shorter article from the Miata Magazine than usual, but it spoke to me because it reminded me of a member of my former Miata Club. Substitute Edgefield, South Carolina for San Antonio, Texas and Masters Miata for Bluebonnet and this could be Stacey. My own personal Miata is in its own modified “Winter Mode” here in Oregon. The summer tires have been replaced by the all-season tires off the Mini and the battery tender is hooked up to the car. I will try and take it for a short drive at least once a week, but I don’t have a hardtop so any drive will be with the top in the up and locked position.

Winter Mode

– by Art Nisenfeild – Bluebonnet Chapter

Every year about this time. (November) I put my hardtop on and am constantly fielding questions about what purpose it serves. Well, maybe this will help everyone out there to understand the rest of us.

This weekend, my oldest son assisted me in mounting my hardtop on my “baby,” a white 1991 which I have owned since it was new. Each year about this time I have performed this ritual, even though in our southern climate of San Antonio, Texas, the soft top offers more than enough protection during the “winter.” (“Winter” here ends about the first week in February and the top will come back off and resume perching over the Miata in its factory sling.)

He asked me nonchalantly why I insisted on putting the hardtop on, especially since the “winter” had not yet arrived. He had no idea that he had hit a hot button, and I had no real answer for him at the time. So, the question stayed with me the rest of the night. After much contemplation, I have this to offer to my son and those of you who might also wonder.

For one thing. I love the way the car looks with the hardtop. The obvious change from a top down roadster to a sleek GT coup in less than an instant is a premium rarely found on any car, especially one which is driven for pure pleasure.

The feel of the car changes with the hardtop, and the differences between the two modes add to the overall pleasure and appreciation of each. The change back, when the hardtop comes off, magnifies the pleasure one gets when that first springtime drive hits the senses. It all adds to the appreciation of what a wonderful car Mazda created.

In San Antonio, I do pass up several days of top down weather during winter. I could pop the hardtop off to take advantage, but I prefer not to do this. I occasionally get some heat from my fellow Bluebonnet Chapter members when they see me in the hardtop version. Most of these people track their personal best cold weather drives with the top down. One has a 24 degree F. record he likes to brag about. It doesn’t do him any good to try and convince me to leave the top off, because I know the feeling of driving a “different” car in the colder months, and he can only imagine the pleasure.

So, my Miata is in winter mode for now. The next 2-1/2 months will be spent waiting in great anticipation, for the time when the top comes off, and that first top down drive is underway. Taking the top off, only serves to increase the pleasure of an already great car.

Copyright 1996, Miata Magazine. Reprinted without permission.