I went to Lime Rock with the SCDA yesterday, and borrowed Henry’s Miata while my Miata awaits a coil-pack replacement. I was completely blown away by how solid and rewarding of a driving experience his old ratty car afforded.

Although Henry’s car started life with the original 1.6L engine, we did an engine swap on it last year and now it sports a second-generation 1.8L Miata engine. Make no mistake, it is still pretty slow with two people in it, though that is to be expected with any car in this power-to-weight range. What I was most impressed with was its extremely solid and confidence-inspiring demeanor on the track. The car would literally do exactly what you wanted it to do, and behave exactly as you’d expect it to. And all this with over 215,000 miles on just about every part of the car (suspension included).

For the $1200 Henry paid for this Miata, I cannot fathom a more suitable track car. It is not the fastest track car, but it does what is asked of it, which really the most important thing when driving around a track.