Hi All!
My name is Josh. I've always had an interest in cars, but my parents weren't really "car people" so I didn't have much encouragement growing up. My uncle and grandfather, however are and spent much of their working lives as mechanics.
I don't have the most involved car history, but figured I'd start by giving some background of family and friends before going much further :)
Parents: not into cars, they see them as an appliance mostly
Uncle, grandfather: life-long mechanics. My uncle ultimately taught me the first things I learned about cars - how to change rotors and pads
My now father-in-law: Original owner of a 1973 Dodge Dart Sport and reliably does the annual Power Tour. He also does all work on his cars himself
My dad, however, did buy a 1995 Miata 5-speed right around the time I began driving. This ended up being the car I learned on (straight to stick) and drove most often while on my learner's permit. My parents didn't think it was ultimately safe as my first car and they got me an Acura RSX.
Anyways, my car story really begins after meeting my wife (2005). At the time, I had a 2003 Acura RSX base model and not long after meeting her it needed a new starter. I didn't have the money to take it to a shop, so my father-in-law figured we'll pick a starter up at the parts store and replace it ourselves. To get to the starter in an RSX requires removing the intake manifold and, of course, the throttle body and intake. These were all firsts for me. Anyways we put the new starter in buttoned it all back together and it worked without issue. This got the gears turning in my head - "that wasn't so bad, so......what else can be replaced to improve performance"
I owned the car since new in 2003 and over the course of the years things would wear and I'd upgrade them with aftermarket parts and, occasionally, replace things "just because" to help improve it. By the time it was all said and done it was engine swapped (TSX motor - 2008 K24A2) with mounts, AEM EMS Series 2 ECU, full boltons, cams, straight cut PPG Gears (with plans for turbo, that never came to fruition), etc, etc and was making 232whp/184wtq on a dynojet. Very shortly after I began autocrossing it and it continued to be my one and only car.
Fast forward to 2012 and the RSX had an engine bay fire and very quickly after bought it back from insurance (while receiving a $3000 check) and purchased a friend's 2002 Acura RSX-S. Over the course of a week I swapped all of my old performance parts into the new RSX and sold off the old drivetrain from the 2002.
This RSX was my daily driver until 2015 when I took a job working from home and it sat in a garage only being driven occasionally for the sake of keeping the fluids moving and to put a grin on my face.
Early 2017 I started looking for a new toy as I didn't like seeing the RSX sitting around. Despite all the money and time I put into the RSX, my wife and I only have a 2 car garage and I refuse to leave one of our cars in the driveway so the RSX would have to go in place of the next toy. I got it through my head that I had to have something lightweight and RWD this time. So my first obvious options were a Miata or an MR2 (mid 90s). After some debating, the Miata became my choice because I learned to drive on one and because they are so widely used in racing. I began researching the nuances of the different generations and came to the conclusion I wanted an early year NB2 and narrowed it down further to a 2001 6-Speed with Torsen LSD.
After looking for several months I found "my" Miata, a 2001 Miata LS 6-Speed with Torsen LSD with 30k miles about 3 hours from my house. I talked with the seller, an older person, and had to have a look. I was like a kid in a candy store when I took it for a short drive. I'm a bit tall (just north of 6ft 1in) so it's cramped with the top up but still I had to have it.
Now the 2001 Miata LS 6-Speed sits in my garage, and is driven top down always except for highway driving or when it's raining while out.
It sits next to my wife's car, a 2008 Subaru Legacy GT Spec-B that was owned by my dad. He gave it to us when he realized my wife's previous car (2006 New Beetle) no longer fit our lifestyle change after having a baby as he felt it was much safer. He also wanted a new toy himself and purchased a 370Z :)
Anyways, sorry for the very long post, it ended up longer than I was planning on when I started it. I'm glad to be a part of this forum and look forward to reading about everyone else's stories!
