*** MX-5 Miata Of the Month ***
December 2007Eddie Salonga
Congratulations to Eddie Salonga on the selection of his Miata as the MCP's Miata of the Month for December 2007. |
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December 2007Eddie Salonga
Congratulations to Eddie Salonga on the selection of his Miata as the MCP's Miata of the Month for December 2007. |
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This is going to be tough since I started my love affair with the Miata way back in 1996. Anyway, here’s my story. Hope it does not put you to zzzzzz.
I saw my first Miata at the April 1996 Trans Sport Show and made a downpayment of PHP 15,000.00 with a promise that I would get delivery of my car by July. July came, then August, then September, then October, then I gave up and just asked my deposit back. In December of the same year, I found my first Miata. A Mazda Speed prepared supercharged (Sebring/Eaton) with Type II spoiler, rear wing and side skirt, sports spring set, front and rear Mazda Speed shocks, 15” front tires with 16” for the rear. One of only two made for Columbian Motors designated to be their marketing cars. Mine was green while the other one was red. My Miata never went to do the marketing work since the former owner Mr. Sandy Syjuco was able to use his connection to get the car sold to him. After a month with the car, Mr. Syjuco realized that it was not the car for him. He came from a Mercedez Benz S500 and jumping on a sporty Miata...as different as apples and oranges. After looking for a unit in Mazda showrooms and various used car advertisements, we eventually found a low mileage stock 2nd hand unit from a guy who had to leave for England to study, He told me that if he comes back permanently, he would have to buy his Miata back. I laughed at him and told myself, over my dead body! It was Silver and it was the perfect gift! So on December of 1996, I was driving my first Miata from Alabang thru C5... a dream come true. What a Christmas present! After adding more tweaks...sway bars, body stiffeners, water mist to prevent predetonation due to the supercharger, etc. we had our first Miata track day at Subic International Raceway, December 1997. Of course, we should not forget that the Miata Club Philippines which was founded in August 1997 was getting stronger by end of 1997. From a meager group of six, we grew and grew and grew and grew....... The Miata is a great sports car to drive and own, the experience that it brings will surely be a very enjoyable one! From this Miata which I sold in June 2000, I was able to get another in 2002. After about 2 years of living a life without a Miata, I am now back on the road with a metallic blue, on our way to Baguio. This is an all stock Miata. Just some accessories but otherwise a plain Jane. It was such a big difference from my first one. No more scraping the front chin coming out of parking garages. No more problem going over speed bumps. No more worry....... I sold this car because I found my latest in 2004. Exactly what I wanted, original paint, silver, all original, NA, clean and low mileage. Not that clean but nothing that a lot of elbow grease would not fix. So after a lot of weekends, I have now my almost perfect Miata. Save for the repainted rear left fender, evrything was what I just wanted, a stock Miata. What’s my plan? I plan to return to my stock mags and maybe place Advan tires. Do some adjustments on the suspension and join the races next year. I need to see how she does on the track. Not as fast as my former but definitely as much fun as any Miata can be. That’s about the long and short of my life with a Miata, our club, and everything else. Eddie Salonga |
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