The little red Mazda, beat to crap, basically pink, was my first car. This is the goodbye picture - it sits next to the silver tC that replaced it. It is 17 years old in this picture. The FR-S I just ordered will replace the tC... a car I like but do not love the way I did the MX-3.
As I said, the MX-3 was my first car. Like the FR-S, it wasn't really fast. The 4cyl engine barely eked out 88hp. It had huge blind spots. It looked like a space shuttle. But it was low, sleek, and handled very well. When I drove it, I felt like it was a part of me, an extension of me - not like I was sitting in a room.
It took me a long time to give it up. It was repaired several times. After a collision with a deer, USAA wanted to total it, but I begged them to spare it - and they did, grudgingly. I drove it another five years after that. In the end, it came to the point that I was spending more than it was worth every year to keep it running. At well over 100k miles, it was time to let it go.
I wanted to replace it with the same sort of car. You can imagine my dismay when I realized that no such car existed. I looked at everything. Minis, Mazda 3, Civics, the Genesis coupe, etc. I quickly realized that no four-door car would satisfy. That narrowed the field considerably. Ultimately I was able to get over the fact that the tC didn't come in red (boo!) and chose it based on price and features. I'd still recommend it, of course. It's a nice car.
But it didn't ever call to me like the MX-3 did... and the way the FR-S does now. It is exactly what I want.
So yes, I've been in love with this car from the moment I laid eyes on it.
-Mark