Skip to footer

Top 10 cars for summer

10. Mazda MX-5 Miata

Courtesy of Mazda/File
The Mazda Miata, a perennial favorite among critics and owners, replicates the classic roadster aura with updated technology. But with not much more storage space than for a duffle bag, the Miata is strictly two-seater transportation.

  • By Andrew P. Collins Contributor

Although not as high-performing as the Nissan 370Z or dearly missed Honda S2000, the Mazda Miata is a perennial favorite among critics and owners alike. Replicating the “classic roadster” aura without the inconveniences of carburetors and oil leaks, the Miata makes a great summer toy with good economics.

Its diminutive size, however, relegates it to just that. Strictly a two-seater without much more space than a duffle bag, the Miata would be difficult to live with if you need to transport more than one other person.

But thanks to its popularity the Miata has undergone a host of refinements after over a decade in Mazda’s lineup, including a retractable hardtop option, making it usable year around for bachelors and bachelorettes who don’t have long distances to drive.

For owners who pine for more power after a few years of ownership, the Miata enjoys substantial aftermarket support. Hundreds of performance and style upgrades are readily available. Just wait until the warranty expires before you start bolting on the goodies.

10 of 10
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.