Why the World Car? Because it's an Italian roadster, sold by an American company (FCA), manufactured by a Japanese company (Mazda) with an Italian engine, and is an evolution of the classic British roadster.
Almost four years ago my wife and I read a copy of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. The concept of being debt free really struck a chord with us and we started getting drastic. Part of this was selling my 2014 Mazda6 (excellent car, highly recommended, especially with the manual transmission) and the $10,000 in debt associated with it. I used some of the equity from selling it to buy a 2002 Dodge Neon R/T. Both pictured here when I bought the Neon.
The goal with the Neon was for it to be cheap and reliable while we paid off debt and then started saving for it's replacement. And it has succeeded at that. In the past 4 years we paid off all of our debt, including the mortgage, and saved up just under 10x Challenge budget to buy my next car. And just in time too. When I jacked up the Neon to swap to the summer wheels last week the jack and the pinch weld went up, but the car didn't. 
Rust was talking over. You can see it peeking out below the R/T rocker panels and the rear wheel well in this picture I took today.
Goodbye Neon. You were cheap, mostly reliable, tiny, occasionally sporty, and overall merely sufficient at being a car. On to your replacement.
After much research, and thinking, a few test drives, and at least one Excel spreadsheet, I had figured out what I wanted:
- 2017 or newer Fiat 124 Spider
- Manual transmission
- Lusso trim level for the 17" wheels and heated seats
- All three option packages (Convenience Group, Navigation & Sound Group, and Visibility Group). I needed the blind spot monitors from the first, wanted the Bose stereo from the second, and really wanted the upgraded lights from the third.
- Not painted black or red
Yeah. Talk about a very narrow market. Nationally there are perhaps 8 available, compared to the 30-40 similarly equipped Mazda MX-5. I was perfectly ok with doing a fly-n-drive or drive-n-drive to go get the car, but I got lucky. Six weeks ago I found what I wanted just 100 miles from home. It was even slightly under budget and painted an interesting Titanium Bronze Metallic. I contacted the dealer, but they had already voluntarily shut their doors even before the mandatory shelter-in-place orders came out. Gah.
Then last week while browsing cars dot com and Autotrader for other 124s I noticed that the lead picture for that car had been updated:
"Open for online sales" you say? Well, I'm on a computer and online.... Less than an hour later I had contacted a salesperson, negotiated a price, and scheduled an appointment for a test drive and inspection. That was today.
The car looked good. The color wasn't as brown as I expected. It had a small collection of used car bumps and bruises from 20,000 miles of use. But man is it fun to drive. And the turbo noises! (Those need to be a bit louder. There is an exhaust in this car's future.) I handed over a large cashier's check, signed some papers, called my insurance, and exchanged keys.
Now for the only part of the transaction that I was worried about; would the two-piece RaceRamp that I brought to look under the car fit in the trunk?
Just barely. 
Plans for this car? Capable daily driver and autocrosser. Disinfect and clean it. Screw down the rocker panels that apparently fall off when you hit a cone. Pneumatic hood struts from Flyin Miata. Maybe repainting the silver accents around the car in copper. And as money allows: wheels and tires, an exhaust, shocks and lowering springs, sway bars, and maybe some engine parts for more power. We'll see.
I know one thing for sure. This is going to be fun!
