Opinions & Editorials
What Do I Know? - Miata Vandals!
By by: A.J. Teixeira
Jun 15, 2005, 12:51

One fine Sunday morning this spring, I walked out towards my Miata, to pick up the newspaper, only to find broken glass scattered all around and inside my beloved car.

A closer inspection finds a rock the size of my fist in the passenger seat, along with hundreds of shards of glass, the cup holder broken in to seven pieces, and dings in the shifter boot and knob. To make matters worse, it’s a relatively new top - a Robbins soft top that I had upgraded with a glass rear window instead of the stock plastic one.

A call to the police yields little help, without a lead to follow they’ll file a report but won’t even send someone out to my house to inspect the damage. A rock is porous and they can’t even get prints from it. They concluded it was probably some high school teens on a joy ride and rampage on a Saturday night.



A second call, to my insurance company, was a little more helpful. They put me in touch with an appraiser to tally up the damages, which ended up in the neighborhood of $1200. Ouch.

I’m no saint, but what is it with kids these days?

Back when I was in high school, which I’d like to think was not that long ago, the worst thing we ever did was TP (toilet paper) a tree in someone’s front yard. Nothing permanent, just a temporary prank that would wash away come the first rain.

So where is all this anger coming from? And why take it out on a bone-stock Miata that never did harm to anyone? Perhaps the most frustrating part of this whole experience is not having any answers.

Not one to be kept from top-down driving during a mild spring, a quick search on TripleZoom forums and the web yielded several sources for Robbins tops. A few clicks and a new top was on its way.

I decided to try their new Robbins Zipperless Top, still with a glass window, but minus the work of having to unzip each time you lower the top, not to mention zipping it back up when you seal the top again.

It took me one day to remove the old top, another day to install the new one. I took my time and didn’t have a helper. The rain rail is a bear to get on, and the B-pillar bracket is nearly impossible to access. If you ever attempt this job, find an assistant with very small hands.

The new top works like the NB (’99 and later) Miata’s, folding in one step without any zippers to fuss with. It’s a smooth process and quicker overall than the stock NA (’90 to ‘97) top.



So there’s a happy ending after all. I ended up with a slightly more convenient top, plus the knowledge and experience gained by doing the install myself.

The next day, I woke up very sore, even bruised. Not to mention a couple of battle scars on my knuckles, too.

This little roadster has a way of healing you, and helps you forget about your worries, such as a senseless act of vandalism. I guess that’s why I got it in the first place.

Zoom Zoom.

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