Free: 1990 Mazda Miata (Need it gone)

I am looking for a worthy (or more appropriate, willing) party to accept a donation of a 1990 Mazda Miata.   A short history of the car is as follows:

Purchased by a friends mother back in 1990, new.

Given to my friend by his mother when the crank pulley keyway sheared.

My friend and I transplanted a junkyard engine into the car, and he proceeded to use the car in SCCA Solo I and II competitions, and various track events.

Friend moved to Germany a few years ago and gave the car to me.

I have decided that the condition of the car isn't good enough for me to invest time in it.

The car is old, and it shows:

Body surface rust in all the typical places (mostly underneath).   Rear left paint is peeling.  Front fenders have been replaced as they rotted away from the bottom,  but they are black.   Lower rocker panels are rusting at the rear, some of which has been poorly patched by myself with fiberglass so as to pass inspection.  Some of the repairs are starting to crack.    Engine starts on first crank and runs strong, slight tick at idle due to low oil pressure.   Anything over idle and oil pressure is minimum 30psi or better.   Underdrive pulley means that battery discharges at idle, and idle badly lopes anyway - so I heal-toe at stops to keep the voltage and oil pressure up.

Lack of some factory cooling shrouds means it starts to get hot during the summer when not moving.   As long as the [broken and zip-tied] rad switch stays connected, it hasn't overheated - but I've never had to sit more than 5 minutes in hot weather.   There is a terrible rattle at moderate throttle - was never able to track it down.    Brakes drag in reverse, but don't actually engage (just a terrible noise).

The tires are very old and dry, and coupled with the mazdaspeed suspension means that it's pretty dangerous to drive in anything but warm, dry conditions.    Having said that, with a new set of tires it would no doubt be very fun to drive.

The inspection is expired, and the registration expires on the 31st.

I need this car gone ASAP.   Email me at my username @ gmail.com for details (and more pictures).   Car is located in South East Pennsylvania (Schwenksville).

Where is it?!?

Where is it located?

In reply to Javelin and RustyVW:

Umm... looks like it’s in PA. 

Anything that is relevant to my interests is always at least 29 states away. 

Sending an email now, dibs most likely. Just gotta work something out...

Beeeeeeerk. If I wasn't moving to NY in June, I'd be driving your way already. I would LOVE a winter Miata again.

Seems like a good deal, email sent

8 hrs from me is probably too far, but I checked!  

I'll get in line, I could snag it a week from Monday night

I'm sure i'm too late.  But I've thought about getting an NA and playing with it for a year or two then reselling.  this would be perfect with little/no investment, then could turn around and give away myself...

Got storage approval for it. Hopefully grabbing this on Friday. 

Damn this wide-ass state.

Interested! Now to google how far it is from me. PA is a big state. 
 

Only 3 hours away. I'll take it if it's available. Could come this weekend. (I'm allowed to get myself a free car for my birthday right?)

Well, now that I'm done with work and reading comments, I see dan0 appears to be lined up for this. If it falls through for some reason, let me know. If not, good luck dan0, I'm jealous. ;)

Hi all.   I've got 3 people lined up for this car - and am expecting it to be picked up on Friday by the first dibs responder.

Dan has first dibs.

Followed by Andy N.   Then Andrew S.

I think 2 backup takers is probably enough to ensure the car is spoken for.   I will update this ad this weekend.

Thread closed.   Dan showed up and for little more than a 6 pack of beer, drove away with a Miata.

Good luck to Dan, have fun with the car.    I only wish that I hadn't neglected it as much.

Now that this has played out, let me share how I would have played it...  

The key phrase to me was, " the registration expires on the 31st."  This means it is registered and probably has a plate on it.  That plate is key for AAA towing....

I then searched the distance and it came up to be more than 200 miles so I was out.  But if it had been within 200 miles, I would have offered to buy the seller a AAA Platinum Plan for $150 (only $100 for the gold plan with 100 mile limit.)  I then would have had the "seller" buy himself the AAA plan and have his car shipped to my house.  

Paperwork later but I presume that I would not need to be present in PA to buy a car from PA.  There must be some provision for an out of state buyer.  

The Miata has landed at my house and just returned the rental U-Haul. 
 

Thank you so much for the car, I'm already loving it. 

In reply to dan0 :

Dan0, 

I'm the original owner (well, technically my mother was). Enjoy the car, its got a lot of sentimental value to me but I'm happy to see it going to another car enthusiast who will get some enjoyment out of it. 

FYI, I'm 45 and I learned to drive stick on that car at age 16-17. It's had a long and totally mediocre history of autox, hillclimb and track events. My only regret was never driving it cross country. 

Cheers from Germany (actually, Austrian Alps at the moment)

Tony 

In reply to John Welsh :

When I traded the 4 pack of beer for the escort GT we went to a notary to be sure, but it wasn't needed. You can gift to someone out of state without paperwork in PA. Also, being inspected and tagged isn't need for AAA towing. 

AAA does require current tags. I've WAY gotten my moneys wort from having it.  - Squirrel - I ran outa gas on various interstates, in various vehicles, so many times one year they didn't pay the last one! don't remember the limit, but I paid the last one gladly!

Anyway, they always ask on phone if it's tagged. Ive only had a few drivers actually check, but I wouldn't want to say yes on the phone, and the driver find no tags! They've never checked paperwork, but I guess they could. I haven't had AAA except since I left VA, so I ain't sure about inspection stickers.

In reply to TonyP :

I assume Army took ya to Germany? If so, thanks. Any of my Army friends that went to Germany, loved it.

In reply to TonyP :

Thanks for taking care of it all the years and Roy too. Spent a little time giving it a little cleaning. The hitch is great too. I'm at car capacity where I'm living now so thankfully I have a friend nearby that could store it for me.