Miatas are about as popular a track car as has ever existed. They're basically Lotus Elans built with Japanese reliability, and the Elan is on every magazine's list of Greatest Sports Cars Of All Time. As is the Miata. My dad still has two original Elans from the 60s...the Miata build team used the Elan as their benchmark when designing the first NA-gen Miata.

Never owned one myself but have raced and autocrossed the NA, NB, and NC-generation Miatas. The only cars I've ever driven with better handling than the Miata are the 981.2 and 982-gen (718 model) Porsche Caymans and Boxsters. Well, those and the Ferrari 488 and 458, but now we're talking crazy talk...