I agree with you... In early '95, I picked up a mint repossessed '93 with just over 20K on it...buckskin leather interior, tan roof convertible roof and the detachable hardtop, top of the line pioneer stereo. I loved that little car :-)
My coworker is still driving around in her Miata that once belonged to Colleen Reed (Ken McDuff murder victim).
What do you think it was about the timing? It came out in '89, and in the wake of Reagan I think there were a lot of people with enough discretionary income for a "fun" car. It was certainly great value for the money, and I'm sure for some, there was an air of nostalgia for their Triumphs, MGs, etc. without all leaking oil and roofs...
Definitely had that nostalgia factor going for it. I had a 70 and a 72 Spitfire some years before the Miata hit the roads. I sure wanted one at the time but they quickly got branded as a "chic car." I think the newest model is far removed from that stigma.
I had a 92 Miata till I moved back from CA to someplace with a winter. It was a blast and had a bullet proof motor. Nothing fancy (it was a base model with roll-up windows even), but I could whip it around the twisty Bay Area roads in the hills with ease.
It certainly reminded me of my first car, a 69 Triumph TR6, except without the cowl shake, poor electronics, but also w/o any low-end grunt. That TR6 could pull stumps but ran out of breath pretty quickly. Sounded awesome though, which is something that first gen Miata didn’t have.