On a typical binge of automotive YouTube content, I encountered Brian Makse’s video review of the ND2 Mazda MX-5. Watching the presenter row through the manual gears in that little red roadster made me incredibly nostalgic about my previously owned ND1 Miata. The fourth-generation MX-5 is indeed a brilliant sports car, offering fun at any speed. The prototypical front-mid engine, rear-wheel drive convertible is also tiny in size, making it the perfect runabout in dense urban cities, provided you don’t need to carry any cargo, of both the people and inanimate objects variety.
The moment of nostalgia really made me want an ND2. The revised roadster comes with an updated engine, with more horsepower and revs higher. The steering wheel now offers telescope adjustment, which for someone like me who barely fits into an ND, is a godsend to finding the perfect driving position. For about high $20,000s, the current Mazda Miata still represents the bargain, no compromise sports car, the default answer to every question of what fun car to buy.
New car financing rates sure are low these days…
Escaping back to reality, I remember that I already own a 911 GT3 – why on earth am I pining for the Miata, a car I sold to buy the Porsche? Funny how the human brain works: you can own one of the defining sports cars of a generation – the iconic 911, atmospheric motor that revs to 9,000 RPM, and a track-ready chassis – yet the thought of buying another sports car still remains as enticing an emotion as ever. It’s no wonder people with the means – and even some without – tend to have multiple cars in their stable.
I of course just have the one. The GT3 is expensive enough as it, and I currently don’t even have a space at home to park it, let alone adding another car to the situation. But hey, it’s nice to daydream about these kinds of things, and I truly do miss the driving experience of my old MX-5.
What isn’t so nice is the absolute quagmire the Bay Area these is in these recent months. The reason I didn’t write an update in GT3 dairies last month – aside from general laziness – is because there really wasn’t anything to talk about. I didn’t get opportunities to drive the car much at all, because the climate around these parts have been extraordinarily crappy.
First, there was the wildfires. Sparked by a weekend of atypical thunderstorms (but no rain, crucially), the dry tinder in the Bay Area mountains ignited into flames. It seems all of our favorite driving roads were encircled by the fires: from Highway 1 up north towards Point Reyes, Mines Road over east in the Livermore mountains, to my usual stomping grounds of Highway 35 and Highway 9 in the south. There was quite literally nowhere for me to go to take the 911 out for spin, because I did not want to be that asshole driving in an expensive sports car around the burning areas, even though some of the roads nearby remained decent.
I thought perhaps once the fires were contained it would be good to go out again. Wrong: I erroneously forgot that along with wildfires comes the accompanying smoke and ash that fill up the air. One weekend the mountains are on fire, and the following weekend the skies are too filled with smog to go out for a drive. Again, I did not want to be the asshole in my GT3 bombing around the mountain bends, while the air-quality is well into the unhealthy territory for outdoor activity, and it’s a Spare the Air day. The Bay Area had consecutive Spare the Air days for almost a whole month. It’s been that bad.
So we were trapped in our house that we’ve been stuck in since March due to the ongoing pandemic. It’s a perfect confluence of maladies, enough to cause cabin fever to even the best of solitude-loving introverts. That’s why I don’t fault some of my fellow car enthusiast brethren who actually did go out for drives, even though the mountains are burning, and the skies were darkened and orange. I understand deeply the meditative quality of aimless driving, but I can’t stand to needlessly add to the piss-poor air quality. Mental health notwithstanding, these sports cars are toys.
Superbly meaningful toys, but toys nonetheless.
You may have noticed that I speak of the burning mountains in the present tense, because that’s precisely what’s happening right now as I type these words. The wildfires of August may be extinguished (a hearty thank you and kudos to the firefighters), but a recent heatwave late in September have ignited yet another inferno, this time in wine country up in Napa. It seems we only had one week of normal, clean Bay Area air (that we pay so expensively for with our housing prices) this month, and then we’re right back into another round of heat and haze.
For me, as long as it’s a Spare the Air day, the GT3 remains stationary. If all of these particulates in the air isn’t healthy for human lungs, then it’s probably not that great for a car’s engine, either. The driving fun can and will have to wait. Here’s to hoping for a “normal” winter; I would much rather deal with the slippery intricacies of Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires in the rain, than the last two months of fires and smokiness.
Obviously, there isn’t much to report on the 911. Blessed with covered parking, I didn’t have to scramble like so many others to wash off the apocalyptic amount of wildfire ash dropped on the painted surfaces (I’ve never seen the lines at the local car wash stretch out onto the street until recently). Be that as it may, I still managed to give the exterior a proper wash for the first time in a long time. If this current COVID timeline holds, then I should be good on washing for another six months.
Readers of the GT3 diaries know I bought the 911 with intentions of driving it often, taking it on many road adventures. As we head into the month of October, the sad realization comes into view that this whole year of 2020 is a huge bust in that regard. I’m afraid to count, but I’m guessing the GT3 has yet to cross 2,000 miles cumulatively this year. Paying hefty insurance for the car to sit parked most of the time is not my ideal of 911 ownership. This is not a complaint, but rather a statement of the situation. God knows there’s many out there far less fortunate than me. To be able to fret over the lack of mileage on a sports car is a privilege, especially during these times.
Things will get better. For all of us.
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Date acquired: January 2019
Total mileage: 30,596
Mileage this month: 74
Costs this month: $283.55
MPG this month: 16.6 mpg
