Selling my low mileage 1992 Miata sunburst and the fear of regret that keeps me up at night.

I have a first world car problem.  Too many fun cars and not enough room to store them all.

Right now I have my MGA, Beetle and Miata crammed into a two car carport.  My Supra turbo is under a cover on the side and the daily sits out in the baking sun much to my wife's chagrin.

Once the carport gets converted into a garage in a few weeks the gap between the posts that I use to open the door on the MG will be gone and the ability to park all three cars in there and open a door to get in and out will be gone.  It will be a two car garage. The daily and the MGA will reside there and I will build a little shed on the side to store the Beetle in.

I've decided I just can't sell the MGA or my '63 Beetle.  Too many memories of being a little kid in my dad's beetle's and MG was my first sports car and the MGA was a holy grail car for me.

I've had first gen Miata's for twenty years and love them. I find them a wonderful escape from the really old car syndrome.  So much faster than the other two cars, so much more reliable  but dog slow to anything modern so I can drive the nuts off them.  I have never had any of my three Miata's leave me stranded.

I lucked out two years ago and scooped my '92 Canadian edition Sunburst(503 made for Canada) from the original owner.  Very low kms on it, all original, beautiful condition with full history.  I know that I will never find one like this ever again for what I paid.  I could sell it and make out like a bandit.   And keep the supra under the car cover and pay to store it somewhere over winter.  The paint is beat on it, but it runs great, it's a turbo 5 speed and such a different car to all of the others and there is a little freedom in having a bit of a beater fun car that doesn't  give me anxiety about being caught in the rain in it.   I fear the future car repair costs to that one, however as it's a much more complex vehicle compared to the others and not the easiest to get parts for.

Anyone else in a similar circumstance?

A couple of things; how much do you love the Supra and could you put a lift in the garage so that you could double stack the MGA and the Miata? 

I keep eyeballing G body 911s, 912s and Caymans but that means something would have to give. 

The Datsun has been with us for 37 years so it stays. 

The F500 is my happy spot (a single seat car that doesn't require constant care and feeding).

I've thought about upgrading my trailer but the current one fits perfectly on the side of the house, it's light so I don't need a bigger tow vehicle and it fits in my garage so I don't have to unload the car right away.

So back to your situation I'd sell the Supra before the Miata bit that's not a solution you'd likely want. I'd start looking for either a lift or a storage unit.

If not a lift what about wheel casters to pivot them sideways and stack 'em in?

7ft high ceiling in the carport so a lift is out.  I've measured every which way and if I was to put to of the small cars sideways in the carport I still wouldn't have enough room to pull the daily in.

I could knock a hole through the wall into the workshop and pull two of the cars in a line.  I would then lose 30% of my shop space and have to cover up cars so that they don't get damaged if I'm working in the shop.

The carport is 2ft deep, 19.5ft wide by 7ft high.  The MG, Miata and Beetle all measure about 13ft long and 5-5.5ft wide.  The Supra is about 14ft.

With an 18ft garage door I will lose a little for framing for the door so I will lose a little more width to pull cars in.

In reply to brownb :

Not sure exactly what you're doing with the car port but my wife and I raised the cieling in our kitchen by modifying the original trusses. Is that an option that would give you enough space for a storage lift?

What do you want to drive and take care of in 10 years?  In 20 years?

I have an NA Miata, and I think I can see myself driving it at 60, and at 70 . . . I'm not sure I'd say the same thing about an MGA or a Beetle.  Or a Turbo Supra.

A Miata asks for so little, and gives so much.

I know the feeling! I have my Beelte that I love, but due to dimwits on the road and a close call, I've been too afraid to drive.  I'd really like to get a track toy again, I think.

I can stack 4 cars in my 2 car garage, but it's tight.  2000 Focus ZX3 on casters, turned sideways across the rear left side. 77 Beetle on casters pushed all the way to the left.  2x4 goes down as a tire spacer.  13 Jetta gets backed in next to the bug, a 2x4 width away.  Then her 16 Focus gets carefully pulled in on an angle on the right side, then crank the wheels to the right and pull the nose way over so you can still get out of the door.   

Horrible as a work area, as there is none, but great as a winter storage solution

I, sold my '95 NA in a very similar conundrum a couple of years ago.  I had found the cleanest example I could find and used it.  It served it's purpose and I enjoyed it.  

The new owner paid my asking price and after about six months parked it. That was two years ago.  They are a great gate way car into the car world, in my observation.  As long as you do not have to spend too much time in traffic.  

Because the seats were made for smaller, less hefty drivers. You don't spend much time nit picking the car in the corners, but those side bolsters do not give. That and I was always looking for a hard top, why own a convertible when you are always looking for a way to make it a coupe?

My 1960 MGA Coupe, with a Miata transmission, might be the answer. Thank you Moss Motors.

Now, I will never find one like this again.  But it needs everything...

Here's an idea that just popped in my head:

Get a storage unit for 2 months, park the Miata in it for a month and see how often you drive it. Then park the Supra in it and see how often you drive it.

The one caveat is don't drive the Miata or the Supra over to storage unit to get the other car..................the idea is to see which one you'll actually go out of your way to drive. 

Sell whichever car you're not driving.

In reply to ZOO (Forum Supporter) :

I'm 60 now and still have no problems driving any of these cars and look forward to driving any of them until gas runs out or becomes cost prohibitive.

But yes, the Miata is the most low cost option to keep running.  Just brilliant!

As far as working on any of them this is why I'm having my carport turned into a garage.  I'll have a place to work on them in the winter and look forward to that.

In reply to Tom1200 :

That is an option.  I have a friend with a huge garage that I had them all stored at this past winter.  He would gladly let me park one in there anytime I want.  He will be selling that house next year so i do have one more winter's worth of storage there.

CrustyRedXpress said:

In reply to brownb :

Not sure exactly what you're doing with the car port but my wife and I raised the cieling in our kitchen by modifying the original trusses. Is that an option that would give you enough space for a storage lift?

Yes, I thought of this also. Maybe go up and out a little........if that's an option for you. I have the exact same issue, 5 vehicles and only a two car garage. It's a tough call and I spend a lot of time thinking about different and best solutions.

In reply to brownb :

I think the GRM answer would be to buy your friend's garage (oops, I mean house) when he moves in a year.

In reply to Feedyurhed :

Ya, way too much of an expense to do that.  The carport has several horizontal boxed in beams that would need to be removed.  At that point you might as well start from scratch.  And where we are now in retirement I can't justify the huge expense and the radical change it'll make to the look of the property.

.

In reply to brownb :

Park the Miata over at your buddy's shop and see if you go out of your way to drive it.  If not, sell it.

I recently gave up my vintage motocross bike I simply wasn't riding it and knew at best I'd ride it twice a year. I'll be 60 this year and really want to keep life simple.

I have the same problem (and have had it for years). I solved it for some time by renting a spot in the parking garage of apartment buildings - a client of mine had sublet a whole area and closed it off with wire link fencing just for car storage.

After I moved I had a two car garage and built a 2 car carport so I still have two cars outside and will have another one when the Jensen Interceptor comes home.  But if you like them, don't sell them!  My Solstice coupe has always been an outside car.

Like that MGA coupe!  This is mine (at the old house where congestion was even worse)