Here in Australia it is a blokey mid life crisis car. I know several guys who have briefly owned one.
No one seems to regret growing out of one.
People who don’t know cars, think it’s a chick car. People who know cars, think it’s one of the best things on the road, especially for the price.
It’s a good little car that brought back the essence of a light weight, really fun little top-down sports car, which, because of it’s relative weaniness compared to other sports cars, has left it standing as a chick car.
It really shouldn’t be one, but it is. Contrast: The new VW bug is clearly one that is and should be.
It’s often considered one, but everyone I know who’s had one is very much a man.
When the Miata first came out (1989/1990 ish), my best friend had just started dating a young woman who thought it was just the neatest car ever made. So, in order to impress her, he decided to rent her one for the weekend. After considerable searching, he found a rental place that had Miatas in stock and would let him have one. So we go down there to rent the car – they wanted to place a $5000 hold on my friend’s credit card. Said friend was basically a grad student, and thus had no credit cards with such a high credit line. I, however, had a proper job in the aerospace business, and thus had enough credit to cover the hold.
So, my friend rents the car on one of my cards, a very new yellow Miata, and drives it down to his girlfriend’s house. Turns out she can’t drive it since it’s a manual and she never learned how to drive those. It wasn’t a total loss though – they’ve been married for 19 years and have three kids. 
The Porsche Boxster is also a chick car. The new one looks pretty good though…
Drove one for a week, loved it, want one. Yes, I’m getting grey.
Chick car? No such thing.
I read the title and said out loud “Of course it is”. I clicked the link and the first choice was…
Sorry. Chick car.
I’d say yes. It’s freaking adorable.
But it is a brilliant little roadster. My dad got one in the early 2000s, when I was in high school. It was an absolute blast to drive (when he let me). Definitely agree that it’s the “most fun under the speed limit” – keep driving at 55 down winding country roads where most cars have to slow down to 25 to make the turn. Then tap the breaks just slightly to make a sharp right.
My dad just got a new Mustang GT. I’ve had a few chances to drive it, and while it’s certainly fun I like the Miata more. The Mustang has a huge engine with absolutely ridiculous amounts of power (412 hp!). But there’s nowhere you can really take advantage of that, aside from flooring it at a light so you can reach the speed limit in two seconds. (Woo, drag-racing minivans). That’s fun but it gets old. It’s a huge car with a huge engine, a big clunky transmission, and it handles exactly like the hurtling mass of steel that it is.
It’s definitely a chick car.
I asked because my husband just bought one and a friend of ours told him it was a chick car. Not that he cared - he really likes it. He’s got a 2008 retractable hardtop in black, and he’s over 50 and greying…
In the 27 years we’ve been married, he’s had (in no particular order) a MG Midget, a Porsche 914, two 'Vettes, a Crossfire, and now the Miata. He loves the low-to-the-ground 2-seaters. I love minivans. We’ve managed to make it work. 
And he does agree with those who say it’s fun to drive. I have yet to ride in it, but I guess it’s inevitable.
Interesting. It’s pretty well-known as a “chick car” around here. Car Talk had a reader and listener poll of chick cars, and it finished #3, behind the VW Cabriolet and the VW Beetle, two other quintessential “chick cars.” Personally, I don’t care. It looks fine to me, and I’d love to drive one to see how it handles, but the reputation is definitely of “chick car.”
So, we’re in agreement. It’s an incredibly manly chick car.
A +1 for all of the above. I can’t think of a less expensive way to get into full racetrack (as opposed to autocrossing) racing, than via Miatas. The manual transmission is an absolute joy to use and I found the handling very benign, but pleasurable. I’ve not driven a Caterham 7 or an Ariel Atom but I think that’s what you’d have to go to for something more immediate and close to the road.
Wonderful car. But, yeah, a chick car if that’s your only one.
Definitely a chick car. A Z4 or 370Z would be a much better choice for a guy.
I’m a chick and I think it’s a chick car. My last car was a Mustang. I did a lot of stoplight racing other guys in other Mustangs, and can’t really picture similar scenarios if I was in a Miata.
Turbo Miatas can be pretty quick from a stoplight. They don’t have the presence of a Mustang leaving the line though.
That’s not NECESSARILY a bad thing to some people. (says the guy with the STI with no emblems, base spoiler, in white) Some folks what a hot, fun to drive, car that doesn’t scream LOOOK AT MEEEEEE!
I know people that like to keep their car a sleeper. Just from looking at mine, you wouldn’t think it was special, but you can hear the obvious blower whine when it’s running.
Mustangs are considered burly macho asphalt burners but the overwhelming majority of them are sold to women who like to be associated with that image.
Given the length of your marriage, I assume your husband is old enough not to worry about how others perceive his sexuality. Given his list of prior small sporty cars, he’s always been confident in it. Although the two Corvettes lend me to believe that he may have had a period of uneasiness, there wasn’t much available in the realm of two-seat sports cars for a stretch. He didn’t counter by getting a Porsche 911 to show how big his dick was.
My experience is that young girls love Miatas, and women over the age of sixteen complain about their hair getting messed up.
I saw a woman driving a car the other day. It wasn’t a Miata. Maybe she wasn’t a chick?