Laguna Seca. Nineteen privately owned Mazdas. And one man, lapping all those cars for Road & Track, quietly losing his mind.Car magazines: It’s a weird gig.In this episode, Sam relives one of the more unhinged story pitches of his career: A nonstop weekend wrangling 19 wildly different Miatas. Modded and stock. V-8 swaps and K-swaps. Turbo four-cylinders that made everything from hamster power to some 360 hp at the wheels. Plus one car that looked suspiciously like an Ariel Atom... but wasn’t.What you get here: another story from Sam’s unlikely life in automotive journalism. And a broad, deeply weird, and strangely joyful look at the everlasting appeal of the world’s most beloved roadster.This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “One Rare Day.”RELATED TRIVIA: The Miata was engineered as a love letter to classic British sports cars. All three INTC co-hosts have owned English roadsters; Ross and Jeff still do. Jeff’s is a Triumph Spitfire he once raced with the SCCA but hasn’t driven in decades. Got ideas (or sass) about what he should do with it? Email us at
[email protected]!This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.**Who We Are + Spicy Merch:www.ItsNotTheCar.com**Support It’s Not the Car:Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar**Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
[email protected]**Check out Sam's book!Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023**Where to find us:https://www.instagram.com/intcpodhttps://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/https://rossbentley.substack.com/https://speedsecrets.com/**ABOUT THE SHOW:It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.New episodes every Tuesday.
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