You pull into the Arcata High School parking lot on a regular block scheduled day. Almost all the parking spaces are taken as usual. Seeing the cars, one of them tends to stand out more than the others. It’s smaller than the other cars. The small but mighty Miata, but this time, it’s got some years on it. Junior Kai Sallin handling his pure white 1993 NA Miata. Yes, he has two Miatas, as you may remember from a previous Pepperbox issue’s Tiger Chariot, Kai, and his MX-5 Miata. This older Mazda project is a fuel-injected 1.6 liter, 16-valve four-cylinder that gives 116 horsepower, about average for many small sporty cars.
The best part of driving a car is the memories that you make with the car. It’s unremarkable to keep a memory attached to a car, especially if you’re a car enthusiast yourself. “A memory I’ve made with this car so far with owning it is when I first got it and getting used to the manual, just like rev-matching and learning that and getting a good one, especially for the first time, that was the best.” Rev matching is something that is usually done when racing. It’s the process of raising engine speed to match the lower gear into which you’re shifting. “I wasn’t able to get it out of first without jolting for the first week, and then after I’ve continued doing it, it kinda clicked.” This is a very difficult process. Sallin spent a while learning how to get it down.
All gears have a story, where you bought it especially. Traveling to get your choice of transportation is a common case, especially for catching a solid deal.
“I got it in Brookings, Oregon from the Mazda dealership up there,” Sallin said. “The car was owned by the manager of the dealership. He was able to detail it and make it look nice to be sold to me which felt special.”
This mighty Miata has 195K miles, but it sits on a rebuilt engine with 35k, so the miles are low, leaving Sallin with a long journey ahead of him. Every car owner has a detail that other cars might not have. Something that the Miata models have is headlights that pop open and close like a set of eyes. “I’d say my favorite detail is one hundred percent pop-up lights, one hundred percent,” Sallin said. Also recalling greeting other fellow Miata owners with the headlights, making being a part of the Miata culture “friendly.” On the other hand, Sallin claims, with a laugh of experience, is “it doesn’t go fast.”
