Windy City Miata Club rolling through area
A few more Mazda Miatas than normal will be on area roads Sunday, May 15.
The car, which has been on American highways and byways since it was introduced in 1990, has a strong local following with the Windy City Miata Club, which is planning its annual President’s Tour event.
An array of colorful Miatas will be spiffed, polished and ready to roll in that tour, which will start at the Fabyan Forest Preserve windmill off Route 25 in Batavia.
Nearly 40 members of the Windy City Miata Club are from the area, including Vice President Jeff Sporleder of Glendale Heights.
“There will be about 30 to 40 Miatas at this event and all are members of our club, which currently has around 330 members,” Sporleder said. “Our membership ranges in age from 18 to 70, and we are a very active club.”
Sporleder said he was convinced by a friend to buy a Miata “after the kids are grown,” when there was no longer a need for a big family car.
“He convinced me that a Miata is fun to drive and dependable,” Sporleder said. “About three years later, in 2003, I had a chance to purchase one and did … a 1991 model … and I was thinking I would keep the car for a year or two and get the whole thing out of my system.
“Well, here I am and actually bought a new one last year.”
Sporleder said an older model Miata can be found for as little as $5,000 these days, and the cars still have a great reputation for lasting a long time. His 1991 model, which he drove until last summer, had 197,000 miles on it “and still ran like a top.”
The drivers in the President’s Tour won’t have to put those kinds of miles on their cars Sunday, but they will add plenty as the event figures to go about 100 miles and last a couple of hours winding through area roads and finishing up at Niko’s Lodge on Route 64 in Wasco.
“We’re looking to start right at the base of the windmill, and the county seems excited about our event,” Sporleder said.
The Windy City club, enjoying its 21st year, is one of 75 Miata clubs nationwide.