I Reinstalled The Soft Top On My Mazda Miata, And I’ve Never Been Happier

I own two nearly identical Mazdaspeed MX-5 Miatas: one red, one gray. This isn’t for any practical purpose; I just like Miatas, and when someone asks about my two-car garage, I enjoy the look on their face when I tell them I have four seats and zero cruise control. But for five years, my red Miata needed a slight tweak to live up to my dreams. 

My husband and I bought the red Miata in 2020. Because he sold his motorcycle to fund most of it, I let him make the big decisions. The car came with a soft and hard top, and he immediately bolted on the hard one. I tried to stop him, saying the point of a Miata was the ease of throwing the top back and feeling the open air. He argued that a hard top looked better. I allowed it.

Five years later, the soft top is back on — and I think I finally won him over. 

Our two Mazdaspeeds are the same kind of car, but very different examples. Mazda sold the Mazdaspeed Miata as a special edition in the mid-2000s during the second generation of the car, which is called the “NB.” It had 178 horsepower and a six-speed manual transmission, and 20 years later, it remains the only factory-turbocharged Miata. 

We bought the red car after it had been sitting on the street for years, undriven. The paint was five different shades of red and burned through on the clear coat, and after fixing some panels, we learned that parts of the car had been repainted elsewhere in the wrong shade. “Ah well,” we said. “Good enough.”

The red car has about 140,000 miles on it, and we’ve modified it with aftermarket wheels, Flyin’ Miata parts, and new suspension. 

We got the gray car as a family heirloom. My husband’s grandfather bought it new and perfectly maintained it, and we took ownership of the car a couple of years ago. It has 24,000 miles on it, and stepping into such a perfect example of a 2000s car takes you back in time. 

I’d accepted that our red car would be a hard top forever, because I knew my husband loved it. But a few months ago, our YouTube partner XPEL (who also supports the Autopian!) asked us to put the soft top back on.

Owning two examples of the same car gives us a perfect excuse to do science: We’re going to tint the windows on one car with XPEL, measure the interior temperatures in the sun, and see how big of a difference it makes. To do that, they both need to be soft tops. 

On Friday night, we went into our attic to retrieve the old soft top. We wrapped it in plastic five years ago, hoping to protect it from temperature swings and anything that could chew through the fabric. It came out of the plastic perfectly — just like I remembered it. 

The installation took about two hours. Because we only have one set of tools and couldn’t easily multi-task on a top installation, I acted as backup while my husband did the main work. I sat in the garage writing video scripts, helping line up the tops when needed, and taking photos.

My husband bolted and unbolted everything, popped off the interior carpet, reinstalled the rain rail for the soft top, and put all the hardtop parts in a designated location for when we need them again someday. He also wore his OSHA-certified work shoes the whole night, as he always does while working on cars. 

I didn’t expect any revelations after the installation. In my mind, this was for the tint test: We’d install the soft top, do the tint test, then come home and put the hard top back on. But when we finished the installation, my husband turned to me and said: “You know, there’s something very Miata about throwing the top back and feeling the open air. Let’s keep the soft top.”

My jaw dropped. 

“Excuse me?” I said. “Mr. Hard Top? Is that you?” 

“You know, I get it,” he responded. “I don’t love the look of a soft top, but I’m starting to realize it’s worth slightly less sporty looks to go out and enjoy a convertible.” 

This, for me, was like getting a doctor to agree that the joy of overindulging in cheese is worth the cholesterol. I never thought it would happen. I can’t decide if I finally won my husband over, or if we’re both getting old. First comes the soft top, then comes the golf bag and cargo shorts. Then, someday, the Corvette. It’s a slippery slope, I hear. 

We took the red car out for a maiden drive after its soft-top reinstallation, and I poked my face out the window. I waved my arms in the wind. I cheered, out loud: “We are so back, baby!” 

A Miata with the top down is what a Miata is supposed to be. For five years, the red car’s hard top made me feel isolated from this identity. But now it’s back, and I couldn’t be happier. Surprisingly, my husband feels the same way. 

I know who I am, and when it comes to Miatas, I’m a soft-top truther. My husband is on his way there, too. So the question I have for you is: What are you?