This kind of weather means lots of things. Crocuses punch through soft soil to the warming sunlight, sap flows in trees about to sprout summer foliage, and, of course, cars that have been in storage for the winter come out of hibernation.
For today’s East Coaster, we decided to go to Halifax’s Point Pleasant Park’s lower parking lot and wait for the first convertible, top down, to surface. After all, chilly but sunny in Nova Scotia means top down… no matter what.
It wasn’t long before the sunshine-y 2000 Mazda Miata caught our eye. And what a beauty, with original interior, paint and all the trim.
Bruce Taylor, sporting a boyish grin, tells us he has had the Miata for about four years. There have only been two previous owners of the 21-year-old sporty roadster before him. Under the hood is a 1.8L four-cylinder engine to which Bruce has added a cold air intake.
Four years ago, Bruce wanted to buy a Harley but then decided a convertible would be wiser. The 2000 Mazda Miata won out over the BMW Z3 he’d had his eye on. He says it was the colour, Evolution Orange, that decided him. We don’t blame him.
Before we can take photos, Bruce sheepishly wipes rubber dust from the side rear quarter-panels, because he takes corners in, shall we say, a spirited manner.
The little car matches Bruce’s happy disposition perfectly and, as he says, it’s so much fun to drive he can’t help but drive it like he stole it! We figure we’ll be seeing a lot of the creamsicle-coloured convertible around HRM this summer.
