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He has the ideal garage: a 1935 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental with gorgeous Gurney Nutting bodywork, a thoroughly modernised 1951 MG TD, this 1993 Miata, a Palio 1.6 GTX, an Innova turbodiesel, an Alto 1.1 and a 1986 Kinetic Honda. He sold his Super Four recently and we are sure it’s going to be replaced with something quite exciting. Amir Ali Jetha, a Mumbai-based businessman, obviously is a complete motoring freak. We were pretty impressed with his diligence in bringing his driving nostalgia to life. Though he’s still not finished with building his dream Miata, we thought it makes for a very special story... in his own words.
I’m smiling like an idiot as realisation finally hits me... I’m driving my very own Mazda Miata, right here in Mumbai. The familiar cockpit and controls bring back fond memories of driving my last Miata in the United States. The responsiveness of the engine and the feedback from the road is amazing. I snick through the gears using the wonderful short-throw gearshift, keeping the rev-happy engine above 5000 rpm as I approach the Mumbai-Pune Expressway with the top down and the wind in my face. I love the sensation. Lonavla arrives all too soon, but the twisties beckon and the car begs to be pushed harder. I run through a series of turns in second and third gears, holding the rpm between 5000 and 7000. My butt is inches off the ground and I power the car through the apexes, balancing understeer with rear-wheel push. The Miata remains completely poised and hugs the road, despite the abuse being inflicted upon it and seems to react just as well to my thoughts as it does to my inputs. I enjoy the car and road without fear of the American Highway Patrol pulling me over and bringing a premature end to my idea of pure unadulterated driving pleasure. Local road conditions in and around Mumbai leave much to be desired, and in a hard-sprung car like the Miata, make for a jarring ride. But if you know where to look around, there are roads with good surfaces, and on those, in a Miata, it’s a whole different game. I bet it will make a driving enthusiast out of anybody.
British Racing Green, tan top and interiors, 14-inch alloys, Nardi wheel, shift knob and e-brake lever, limited slip differential, stainless steel sill plates and speaker covers, and the sweetest sounding exhaust note I had ever heard. These are but a few of the details I recall from the first time I laid eyes on a Mazda Miata in the US way back in its first year of production in 1989. A test drive later, I was hooked!
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