I think most of the Miatas bought in '89-'90 were bought by the same type of people who went nuts over the New Beetle and other cute cheap cars later on. It was a cute, cheap convertible for the masses. Hence the hairdresser's car reputation. It wasn't a hit because of the pent up demand for a pure sports car. Otherwise they'd have all sold with torsens.
There's no way in hell it's going to have the same impact in the market. :(
integraguy wrote: Something tells me that Toyota (and maybe Subaru) have a low "break even" figure on how many of these must be sold per year. (Subaru isn't as market savvy as Toyota, that's why I suspect they don't have an actual "must sell XX,XXX units/year" figure.) That said, I think it's a bit crazy of Scion to have the tc and the FR-S in the same showroom. I realize they are different cars with different appeals to different markets...but still, this is a car from a company that sells "tons" of boringmobiles to folks who haven't a clue about driving enjoyment. With as few tc's as are sold in a year, I'll bet less than 1/2 as many FR-S's will be sold. It might have been smarter to let the tc "die" instead of give it a nearly undetectable "makeover". What will be interesting is seeing whether Subaru sells more BRZ's than Scion sells FR-S's.
I read that Scion demanded the FR-S be branded as theirs because of their severely diminishing market share. You've got a brand that is supposed to be geared towards teens and 20-somethings whose primary demographic is middle-aged secretaries named "Babs."
I would not be surprised to see the 2-door Corolla (sorry, I meant Scion tC) to disappear very soon.
I stopped by the subie dealer and they said every one coming in has a deposit on it. He is supposed to call me so I can at least LOOK at it in person. Doesn't matter anyways, I'll buy own preowned after the initial depreciation hit!
Although if my credit was in better order I would probably sell myself on one...
ppddppdd wrote: I think most of the Miatas bought in '89-'90 were bought by the same type of people who went nuts over the New Beetle and other cute cheap cars later on. It was a cute, cheap convertible for the masses. Hence the hairdresser's car reputation. It wasn't a hit because of the pent up demand for a pure sports car. Otherwise they'd have all sold with torsens. There's no way in hell it's going to have the same impact in the market. :(
It would have been hard to buy a torsen LSD Miata in '90... because the LSD's sold were all viscous until '94. 
But, I do sort of see your point. I think many of us here forget that there is a middle group between people that autoX, track, road race, etc. and the "secretary". There are lots of people that want something cool and sporty, but have no idea what a limited slip differential is. The overwhelming majority of the first owners of every sports car but the Elise/Exige are like this.
The fact is, 99% of FR-S's will never see a track or autocross just as 99% of FJ Cruisers will never go 4 wheeling.
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