Bill's 2013 Miata (MX-5) PRHT GT
Purchased:  July 2, 2021


Although I purchased this car 15 months before posting this webpage, I've only just gotten around to taking pictures and creating a web page.

This car is my 6th Miata, in order here's a brief history of these cars:

1.  1990 "A" package
        I've always liked sports cars.  The first time I heard about the Miata, I knew that this was the right car for me.  Sold it 3 years later to purchase the LE Miata.
2.  1993 Limited Edition
       This is the same link as #1.  I sold this car when we purchased a cattle ranch in Missouri and bought 2 pickup trucks.  Sold both trucks when we decided to retire to Florida. 
3.  1997 M-Edition
        Having been without a Miata for a few years and now living in Florida, this was a no-brainer.  We drove this car for many years, then sold it in 2006.
4.  2005 Mazdaspeed
        I was offered a good deal on a new and rare factory supercharged Miata.  Sold it a few years later to buy a 2013 Corvette.  I was not impressed with the Corvette and sold it after one year.
5.  2017 MX-5 GT
        After the Corvette I couldn't wait to get another Miata!  But then 2 years later I sold it and began my search for a PRHT.
6.  2013 PRHT
        The Power Retractable Hard Top (PRHT) is IMO the finest option ever offered by Mazda for the Miata.

Once I learned more about the PRHT, I decided to purchase one.   The only requirements were that the car:
        - is a PRHT (duh).  Check the 2017 MX-5 GT link for details why I decided against the RF model.
        - has low mileage.
        - is a GT model.
        - has standard 6-speed transmission.
        - has a red exterior and black interior.
        - is in outstanding condition.

It should be noted that I did find "almost" the exact car I wanted locally, but the exception to my list was that it had an automatic transmission.  I drove it and found that it was "sluggish" compared to my previous stick shift cars, so this was the last time I would ever consider an automatic!

I knew I'd never be able to find exactly what I wanted locally, so I spent a long time studying nationwide ads in cargurus.com and autotrader.com.  Ultimately in CarGurus I found what looked like the perfect car for me at a dealership in Bryan, Texas (988 miles from our home in Tucson, AZ).  After discussing the details with the salesman, I gave the dealership my credit card information as deposit and flew out the next day to look at the car.  It was beautiful, so I closed the deal and the day after began an enjoyable 2-day drive west in my new toy.  It should be noted that when I purchased the car it had only 11,129 miles on the odometer, which I believe was unusually low for any 9-year old car!  Of course I immediately added another 1,000 miles to that total!  :)

Since buying the car I've made 3 significant modifications:
        - Replaced the Bose radio with a Sony XAV-AX5500 digital multimedia receiver.
        - Replaced the tiny "peanut whistle" horn with a pair of Farbin air horns.
        - Installed the "SmartTOP" PRHT control module.

I recently mentioned to my local Mazda salesman that if they ever offered a new PRHT Miata (not an RF), I'd buy it.  If not, this should be my last Miata!  :)  I also checked Google to see if there was another sports car which offered a fully removable power hardtop.  I found only one current model ~ the Ferrari California which lists new from $325K and up, too rich my "beer budget"!  A few older Mercedes also offered a PRHT, but these are no longer manufactured.  But, both the Ferrari and the Mercedes PRHT cars had back seats, which IMHO means that these aren't really "sports cars".


The following pictures were taken during during October and November, 2022 . . . click on picture to enlarge.

Power Retractable Hard Top.
Top up.
Top partially lowered.
Top down.
An amazing finish for a 10-year old car. My wife told me this picture looks like a Salvador Dali painting.
Very comfortable leather seats.
No trunk space is lost when the top is lowered.
The cockpit is nicely laid out with lots of "bells and whistles".
I prefer polished chrome wheels, but these are OK.
The original Bose radio, horrible sound with a CD changer that barely worked.
The Bose radio was replaced with this Sony multimedia receiver which massively improved the overall sound system.
This is not my car. I "borrowed" this video to show how the driver lowers the top.




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You may use any of the above pictures for any purpose and may do so without giving me credit.  Note that each picture has been downsized for those with slow connection speeds.  If you'd like a copy of any of the original JPG pictures, send me an E-mail and I'll be happy to send the original pictures to you at no charge!

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