# Is a Miata a chick car? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 1, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122 "2011-03-01T23:00:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/21 "2011-03-02T02:27:41Z")
It’s madeby a Japanese company but every aspect of it was painstakingly designed on the basis of evoking '60s style British sports cars. ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/22 "2011-03-02T02:30:15Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Every Miata I have ever seen was driven by a grey-haired man. Almost what I was about to post: grey-haired men and single young women. ---
**Author:** ![Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zany_Zeolite_Zipper)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/23 "2011-03-02T02:37:13Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > What’s up with calling the (girly) Miata a British roadster? It’s a Mazda. Japanese. If you went to France and asked for something tasteless to go with your wine, you would be handed a piece of American cheddar. If you go to Japan and ask for some eggs, mushrooms, tomato, and ham, you would get an English breakfast. It doesn’t matter who makes it, what matters is who came up with the idea. And with a small engine in the front, power at the back, and leather and weather in the middle, how can it be anything other than a manly British roadster? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/24 "2011-03-02T02:51:16Z")
Never even heard the stereotype. I guess I don’t hang around with enough people who think cars connect directly to their genitals or something? Public transportation will do that to you. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/25 "2011-03-02T03:04:43Z")
So for all of time, any small, front wheel drive convertible will be a British roadster, no matter where it’s made? No matter how reliable the electrical system is? I think not. Also, having just spent 4 years in Japan, good luck getting anything resembling an English breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/26 "2011-03-02T03:53:21Z")
Dude. Only a Volkswagen Cabriolet is more girly than a Miata. Oddly enough, a Triumph or one of the cars it’s based on, not so much. I think it’s because when you walked down sorority row in the 1990s, every other car was a Miata. ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/27 "2011-03-02T03:57:10Z")
My boyfriend used to drive one. Enough said. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/28 "2011-03-02T04:16:05Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > So for all of time, any small, front wheel drive convertible will be a British roadster, no matter where it’s made? No matter how reliable the electrical system is? > > I think not. Cheddar cheese is cheddar cheese no matter the distance between it place of manufacture and Somersetshire. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/29 "2011-03-02T04:23:02Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > It’s madeby a Japanese company but every aspect of it was painstakingly designed on the basis of evoking '60s style British sports cars. Specifically, the Lotus Elan. > [@Renee](#): > > So for all of time, any small, front wheel drive convertible will be a British roadster… Rear wheel drive. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/30 "2011-03-02T04:26:10Z")
> [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](#): > > The Miata is a great car, a masculine car, a car for people in the know. It’s one of those cars that tell you that its owner has breeding; one of the last, great British roadsters. I like the S2000 a little bit better, but you’ll never find a better fun to dollars ratio than in a Miata. In the last ten years, I went from a Miata, to an S2000, to a Lotus Elise. On the street, IMO, no contest, the Miata was the most fun. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/31 "2011-03-02T04:27:34Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > Rear wheel drive. Huh. Did not know that. That makes them more fun, now, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/32 "2011-03-02T05:59:58Z")
It’s a chick car if it’s your every day car. I have several friends who race them on the weekends, one who even races Spec Miata. They make great budget race cars. I’ve also seen engine swaps with a 5.0, LS1, and several other V8s. When I finally get my small roadster, it’s going to be a replica of a Shelby Cobra. ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/33 "2011-03-02T06:32:04Z")
I think it depends on the year. The early ones - late 90’s models had a definite chick vibe. They did a revamp around 2000/1 that added some power and other options to give it more cross-appeal. That generation and later, I haven’t heard the comments that I did on the originals. I always liked the hunter green version with wood paneling, circa 2001. Nothing girly on that one. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/34 "2011-03-02T07:03:20Z")
Performance/handling aside, I think that Miatas have always lacked the more aggressive styling cues that other contemporary roadsters/compact sports cars have had. And when Mazda’s designers finally add in some of the more assertive lines in the last refresh - the rakish headlights and fender bulges were cribbed straight off the RX-8, for example - they go and give it a big ol’ [idiot grin](http://www.carz.com/blog/car-news/files/2010/11/2011.mazda_.mx-5-miata.20345716-E.jpg). It looks like a friggin’ anime character or something. So, yeah, chick car. ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/35 "2011-03-02T08:18:03Z")
Not a chick car. It’s got that reputation, but I can’t work out why; ‘chick car’ conjures up images of something that values appearance over function, and insufficient power, and that’s just not an MX-5\*. True, it’s not high-powered - just under 160bhp - but the MX-5’s strength isn’t going fast in a straight line; it’s all about agility and fun. I’ve only owned mine (a 2009 hardtop) for a few months, but it \rocks\. From a standing start, I can accelerate hard enough to give you a headache from how hard your head hits the headrest, and I can go through the dogleg bend in our road at home at around 130kph without the slightest hint of roll. Like someone upthread said, most fun you can have under the speed limit 😃 \*They’re MX-5s in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/36 "2011-03-02T11:57:28Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > Dude. Only a Volkswagen Cabriolet is more girly than a Miata. > > Oddly enough, a Triumph or one of the cars it’s based on, not so much. > > I think it’s because when you walked down sorority row in the 1990s, every other car was a Miata. Because the Triumph is tainted by [Lucas, the Prince of Darkness.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_Industries) Nothing is more manly than undependability. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/37 "2011-03-02T12:39:27Z")
I have heard that it is - or that it is an effeminate car (or a car that effeminate men drive). That isn’t what would prevent me from buying one. What would prevent me from buying one is that if I wanted a sports car, I would probably go “all in” and get something from Porche or Mercedes. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/38 "2011-03-02T14:25:43Z")
Bwha? I’ve never seen a chick drive one: lots of Latin American dudes. To me it’s a car that says “when I win the lottery, I’ll upgrade to a real sports car! For now this is what I could afford… :(” ---
**Author:** ![BDoors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BDoors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDoors)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/39 "2011-03-02T14:48:23Z")
> [@tavalla](#): > > They’re MX-5s in Australia. I think the fact that they use the slightly more butch-sounding name “MX-5” in territories including Australia and Europe suggests that it is marketed as less of a chickmobile. That said, they still are mostly owned by women here (UK). But if you want a true girl’s car, it’s the Mini - they’re pretty common here but I can hardly recall seeing a man driving one. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122/40 "2011-03-02T14:59:26Z")
I have never, ever heard this stereotype. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-miata-a-chick-car/573122.md?page=3)