In some households, the tradition of presents in the stocking is more important than what’s under the tree. We have all seen images of several large socks hanging over a fireplace without an extinguisher in sight. As car people, it can be difficult for our loved ones to find gifts that will fit in a stocking, as car parts take up a lot of space and cars take up even more space.
But there is one car your loved ones can buy that will fit easily into your stocking. That’s right, the Mazda Miata.
Obviously, we are talking specifically about the Gen 1 and Gen 2 Miata. The NC Miata is practically an aircraft carrier and subsequent generations are too expensive to be a stocking stuffer. But the NA and NB Miatas are both cheap, reliable, and able to be shoved politely into a large sock.
The Miata was released in 1990 as an affordable roadster reminiscent of British sports cars of that era. The first and second generation Miatas were only 13 feet in length and 6.5 feet wide. They were, by all classifications, tiny. A 1.6L inline-four powered the NA with 116bhp. However, the car only weighed 2,100 pounds. The NB Miata, which was released in 1998, came with either a 1.6L or 1.8L inline-four option putting out 109bhp and 138bhp respectively. That’s still not much power, but again that’s on a vehicle that only weighed 2,200 pounds.
The Miata is a special car because it took the fun of British motoring and made it more widely available and reliable. The interior, though small, is not too snug, although taller drivers will find that their heads stick out above the windscreen. But it is these quirks and dimensions that make the Mazda Miata the best stocking stuffer for your car enthusiast this year.
