“AS ENGINEERING EDITOR,” I BEGAN, “I TAUGHT KIM REYNOLDS everything I knew about road testing. And, as Road Test Editor, he’s learned even more on his own.”
This and the following images from R&T, January 1994.
“But,” I continued, “every so often the kid exhibits some weird views on cars, despite my best avuncular efforts. Take this Civic del Sol. As Henny Youngman would say: Please.”
“With all due respect, Dennis,” Kim Reynolds responded (I had long eschewed “Sir”), “have I once heard you mention the del Sol without raising one or the other eyebrow (sometimes both) and blossoming a thoroughly ingenuous smile?”
What follows are tidbits of this editorial sparring, Kim representing the Honda del Sol and my representing the Mazda MX-5 Miata.
“I’m quite fond of the Miata,” said Kim. “but I happen to feel that the new del Sol VTEC is 1) a credible twisty-road alternative and 2) rich with so many practical features that your hostility toward it utterly escapes me.”
“Indifferent, maybe, to its sporting pretensions,” I said, “but not hostile.” (I forget which eyebrow I raised).
We were just getting warmed to our topic.
Is It a Sports Car? I reminded Kim of my definition of sports car: “It’s a car in which I can wear my neat stringback driving gloves without feeling foolish at the wheel. I wear these gloves in the Miata; I don’t wear them in the del Sol.”
Above, “I like the Miata’s driving position, its shift linkage, its dashboard. Wanna try on the gloves, Kim?” Below, “The del Sol’s is such a functional comfortable interior. And if you must have noise, just hang your head out the window.”
Styling. I said the Miata “simply doesn’t have a bad angle. And I admit the del Sol looks okay from the direct front or rear. But from front or rear three-quarters, it a regular gyoza (a Japanese dumpling to you, kid).”
Kim responded, “To the charge of uneven styling, I plead nolo contendere…. Miata, take your little pixy bow.”
“On the flip side,” Kim continued, “the del Sol’s looks improve considerably when viewed from the inside out. Not only is the cabin sportily styled, but also it’s wide enough for elbows-out cornering and long enough to stretch your legs on the Interstate.”
“The Miata,” Kim said, “cramps everything but my style.”
Trunk Space. Full Disclosure: Wife Dottie and I had bought R&T’s Long-Term Miata after its 50,000 miles, and thus had formulated exactly the size and shape of optimal traveling baggage. Take that, Kim!
Ah, but he had a variation on this theme: As long as the del Sol’s rigid roof panel remained in place, he could fit his luggage—and mine. “Stow the removable roof panel,” he said, “and even still, the del Sol can cart an extra grocery bag without winding up on your passenger’s lap.”
Open or Closed? I wrote, “So there we were: two perfectly rational adults parked at the side of the road, each working hard as hell to get the top up and down as quickly as possible, yet each trying his damnedest to appear nonchalant about the whole thing. My right arm ached for a week.”
“Twelve-point-six seconds,” I wrote. “I’m not even rushing (too much), and I don’t even have to leave the comfort of my seat.”
Handling Up a Twisty Mt. Palomar. Kim noted, “Diving into a corner, the Honda erupted in understeer, but also gripped with a determination that surprised even me, frankly. Open and close the throttle, and the del Sol adjusts its nose-out attitude in precise accord.”
“Accelerating away,” Kim continued, “I glance back at Dennis and notice that his determined face is now smaller in my mirror and that the Miata is slewing around. I believe I can make out driving gloves—three of them, it seems—darting across the Miata’s steering wheel. How amusing. I adjust my radio’s volume.”
I eventually got to the observatory and thought: “But, Lordy, didn’t that del Sol acquit itself nicely up the Mt. Palomar grade! Maybe Kim’ll swap keys on the way down. If so, I’ll have to remember to bring my stringbacks along with the Mantovani cassettes.”
Thirty years later, I still have that first-generation Miata (#348). Kim has an Austin-Healey Bugeye. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSay.com, 2024