https://www.youtube.com/embed/5po47SMpMUc
What was “the answer” before the Miata existed? Try the MGB. Like the Miata, it’s a lightweight, two-seat roadster that didn’t break the bank.
How do the two compare? We drove both back-to-back to find out. Presented by CRC Industries.
Good vid.
We have a lot of retirees where I live and the Miata ownership really does span generations. I love to see the drift kids out a ratty NA and then a few days later spot a guy in his 70's/80's (original owner?) in a pristine example headed out to brunch.
HAVING OWNED BOTH, I COULD NOT AGREE MORE....
However, if you just 'tweak' the MGB a bit......
British tech in the 60s and 70s, 3 MGBs and a MGB GT as daily drivers. An NA for 10 years and a NB for the last 8 years. They are both great at what they were designed to do and very comparable.
Good comparison and review between the Miata and MG. While in college, my car was a Datsun 510. After college, 1988, my first car was a Honda CRX-Si, a Triumph TR-6, then an e30 325is and got all the 3-series generations until 2015. Recently, bought an NC-Miata and made some bolt-on mods. Every time I drive it, I smile! It's simple, reliable, cheap, easy to modify and fun to drive.
I seem to recall that Mazda talked about the Lotus Elan as the spiritual inspiration for the Miata. A bit more obscure than the MGB or various Spitfires and Spridgets that were built in far larger numbers.
That's a good video
In reply to msterbeau :
The inspiration was basically "small convertible sports car". The fact that Bob Hall got Mazda to buy him an Elan for reference purposes was because Bob Hall liked the Elan, I think :)
personally, some of the fiddly bits of the Miata always reminded me of the Alfa Spider. The door handles, soft top, and even the gas cap flap all scream Alfa. Even the dashboard more reminds me of Alfa than MG. The Alfa also had the chain driven twin cam. The MG engine is agricultural at best.
outasite said:British tech in the 60s and 70s, 3 MGBs and a MGB GT as daily drivers. An NA for 10 years and a NB for the last 8 years. They are both great at what they were designed to do and very comparable.
MGB: You can rebuild the suspension with a hammer and a drift, you can retune the engine with a screwdriver and some small wrenches
Miata: You don't have to 
Disclaimer: I would love to have an MGB, preferably with a 4 speed + overdrive. But I carry no pretenses as to what I'd be getting into
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
But you can adjust the points on the side of the road with a matchbook! ;)
I count my self as extremely fortunate, I owned a 1964 Lotus Elan. I currently own a 1970 Datsun Roadster 1600 and a 1995 Miata.
The Elan was a great driving experience and was perfect for the area I lived in when I purchased the car. The minute I needed fifth gear or had to tune the car to run great at sea level or the 5600'feet, the altitude I next lived at, it became an issue. Selling that car was not something I regret. The time in the car was fantastic, as long I could enjoy it in the environments that suited what the car was truly built for.
I have never owned a MGB, but have driven a number of "A's,B's and GT's". The glaring difference between all of these and the Elan is the gear box. Until you get the opportunity to row around with a "rocket" box, you have not truly experienced automotive bliss. The Datsun 1600 is nothing more than a lighter drop top 510, both have a 4 speed. Both came stock with 96 horsepower. I can appreciate how well the Japanese could build a SU carburetor, that corrects for the altitude. The fact that their are 21 zerk fittings on the front end alone and dash pots to top off tells me I have enough fettling to take car of. They only built 40,000 of the "Fairlady" in all the years of production, they still make what is needed to keep them on the road. I am not saving any money on the cost of those parts, ouch.
But the Miata offerers few compromises. Or limits. I do have to keep up with the oil consumption of my car. Beyond that it just keeps on going. Mine might end up with 300,000 miles, it currently at 175,000. Thank goodness for that 5 speed. And the A/C. And a heater/defroster that work. And fuel injection. And electronic ignition. And a factory LSD. Yep, thank goodness they got it right on the "NA".
Great perspective! My first car was an early MGB that needed reviving from near death and I built it into my primary driver. Today I own an NB Miata that is also a version of British Racing Green. I love them both, and I have come to the conclusion that the Miata is what my MGB would have become if I had unlimited time and money to modify it. The Miata delivers that same purity of experience with a fraction of the commitment.
To me, it's curious that people are so intent on finding the "one" car that inspired the Miata.
Why can't it be all of them? Alfa, Apline, Fiat, Lotus, MG, Porsche, etc. It's not all that hard to figure out what of all of the convertibles make them each great, and try to incorporate that feature. Or even what feature of that car is easy to interpret and incorporate.
MGBs are mundane cars that are fun, but are also nowhere near as sophisticated as the Miatas. The Lotus Elan is a more apt comparison except for the reliability aspect.
There is one MG that matches better - the MGA Twin Cam, as it had a DOHC engine and 4 wheel disc brakes (I have a couple out in the garage) but I doubt that it was ever prominent enough in its time to inspire any other car.
Needs more B-roll... (lots of repeats of the same supporting shots)
....oh, the cars, yeah they are both cool in their own way. Weird to think of a Miata as a classic though.
Every time I drive a good 70's Fiat 124 spider I can't stop thinking of how much it reminds me of an NA Miata. I don't get that same feeling with MGBs or Alfas.
alfadriver said:To me, it's curious that people are so intent on finding the "one" car that inspired the Miata.
Why can't it be all of them? Alfa, Apline, Fiat, Lotus, MG, Porsche, etc. It's not all that hard to figure out what of all of the convertibles make them each great, and try to incorporate that feature. Or even what feature of that car is easy to interpret and incorporate.
Indeed. Mazda did redesign the DOHC valve cover from blocky design with a separate cambelt cover
to a more aesthetically pleasing design with an integrated cambelt cover
that looks reminiscient of a Twin Cam from an Elan
msterbeau said:I seem to recall that Mazda talked about the Lotus Elan as the spiritual inspiration for the Miata. A bit more obscure than the MGB or various Spitfires and Spridgets that were built in far larger numbers.
Yes I read the same thing back during its release.
jr02518 said:I count my self as extremely fortunate, I owned a 1964 Lotus Elan. I currently own a 1970 Datsun Roadster 1600 and a 1995 Miata.
...Selling [the Lotus] was not something I regret. The time in the car was fantastic, as long I could enjoy it in the environments that suited what the car was truly built for...
Hah, I had the same feeling when I sold my Datsun 2000 Roadster. It was the only car that used to get me so pissed off when working on it that I'd hurl parts across the yard, calm down, then pick them up again. It was as if they hadn't quite figured out how to make them serviceable. Great to drive, terrible to work on.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
And ironically, one of the cool things to do in the Miata world is to retrofit that blocky valve cover. Mostly because it wasn't stock.
aircooled said:Needs more B-roll... (lots of repeats of the same supporting shots)
....oh, the cars, yeah they are both cool in their own way. Weird to think of a Miata as a classic though.
In a world of 1 to 10, the vast majority are between 3 and 7, yet we tend to talk to each other like we are either 1 or 10
I believe the biggest thing preventing the Miata from being viewed as a classic is the fact that it's still in production. The original model ended a quarter century ago, but since there have always been new Miatas we forget that. If it had disappeared like the Mercury Capri, we'd view it differently.
I've got a 34 year old Miata in my garage!
Pete. (l33t FS) said:
This is so wrong it's right.
I bought a miata in 1989 and since everyone in VA has custom plates I got "JPNZ MGB". A guy pulled up next to my wife and asked "what does your plate mean?"
"Japanese MGB!"
"That's what I thought, but why Japanese?!"
You'll need to log in to post.
