07/11/2026
MY DREAM MIATA
By Ed Fernandez
I didn’t expect a rental car to stay with me. It was a few years ago, on a trip to Zion National Park. I picked up a base‑trim Miata — nothing fancy, nothing upgraded, just the simplest version of Mazda’s simplest car. The seat felt a little too flat, and I sat lower than I wanted. I’m not a tall guy, and the Miata made me feel like I was sitting almost on the road itself.
But the moment I left the rental lot and the canyon walls began rising around me, something happened.
The Miata didn’t just drive.
It communicated.
Every curve, every rise, every shift in the road felt like a conversation — subtle, precise, alive.
I remember the way the steering felt in my hands: light but intentional. The way the car settled into each turn as if it had been waiting for that exact moment. The way the sky opened above the canyon and the Miata seemed to breathe with the landscape.
Even with the imperfect seat, even with the low position, I felt joy — uncomplicated, unfiltered joy. The kind that doesn’t need horsepower or luxury or technology. The kind that comes from a machine built with purpose.
That drive stayed with me.
The Hope That Grew From That Drive
Since then, I’ve followed Mazda’s quiet obsession with making combustion engines better — not more complicated, not hybridized, not electrified, but better. Their Skyactiv‑X engine caught my attention the moment I heard about it. A gasoline engine that uses compression ignition like a diesel. A design so efficient it can challenge hybrids without becoming one.
That speaks to me.
I’ve always preferred simplicity. I don’t want a car filled with systems that might fail or cost a fortune to repair. I want a machine that’s honest — one engine, one transmission, one purpose.
Skyactiv‑X feels like Mazda saying:
“We can make purity powerful.”
And that’s when my dream sharpened into something real.
The Miata I’m Hoping For
Mazda is working on the next Miata — the NE generation — and everything I’ve heard makes me hope in a way I haven’t hoped for a car in years.
A lighter, more efficient Skyactiv‑X engine.
More torque where I actually use it.
Better seats.
A slightly higher, more natural seating position.
Improved ergonomics for drivers who aren’t tall.
The same lightweight philosophy, but refined.
The same joy, but matured.
It feels like the car I drove in Zion is evolving into the car I’ve been waiting for.
A Miata that keeps its purity.
A Miata that stays simple.
A Miata that doesn’t need hybrid complexity to feel modern.
A Miata that feels like it was built for someone who values clarity, honesty, and the beauty of a well‑made thing.
A Miata that feels like it was built for me.
