Well having been a member here for quite a few years, and greatly benefited from all the wonderful advice given therein, many thanks to you all and in particular the Wolfman who's advice and again knowledge has been invaluable at times but there have been so many of you out there so forgive me if names not mentioned. Just thank you.

Will try to keep it brief as a few of you will know that I was waiting and waiting for the new Mercedes but just couldn't or wouldn't pull the trigger for various reasons and I just didn't find anything else out there that was for me and my lifestyle, comparable, so just left it alone until now. Woke up on Jan 8th this year after never having been ill in my life and my eyelids wouldn't open, scary stuff. Then two days later, couldn't talk, and then couldn't swallow and the breathing problems started. After spending 6 weeks in two different hospitals and diagnosed with a very rare disease called Mysathenia Gravis, mostly Im told brought on by stress. now very slowly starting to recover, this condition is not curable but can be controllable, albeit it changes daily from good to bad days. Anyway, life changing to put it mildly as also have double vision which as you can imagine, how can one drive?
That's under control with fitted prisms, but just have to be careful. So what has this to do with anything, let alone this forum. Two weeks ago, probably in a fit of madness, on the same day I went and brought both brand new, a Bentley GT Continental and a Mazda Miata-MX5 and sold the SL550. Bentley is for the wife(she can't drive..ahem) and the miata for me. I absolutely love both, particularly the Miata and with my condition at present, the Bentley slightly daunting, but It's really as spectacular as I imagined and then some. The comfort and power, stunning. The Miata, one of the most fun cars I have ever encountered and sort of takes me back to my MG days in the UK.

Funny how life can change on a dime. The illness made my mind up for me as didn't want the too aggressive looking Corvette(C8) and just didn't want a great big iPad stuck in the middle of the Merc and it kept bothering me, and now have a rotating in built display in the GT which is nicely hidden when I want. I will pop in from time to time to keep up with all the news but wish you all the best with whatever you decide and your choice of car, but can I also say, take each day as if it's your last as we just don't know what's around the corner, but above all, be happy and well.

My best. Bran.

 

Bran,

Keep flying your freak flag my brother! Great advice for all of us.

All my best for your recovery,

Bdevil82

 

Take care OP, all the best to full recovery and looking forward to hearing your enjoyment with your new car.

 

Thank you Bran, and take care. Always a good advice to live every day to the fullest, particularly from someone who faces such physical challenges.
Enjoy the Miata and tell us about your smiles per gallon, as the Miatisimo refer to their driving fun!

 

Two of my favourite cars!

The MX-5 (as it's badged here) was famously one of Top Gear's favourite cars too. You don't need bags of power to have fun.

A friend of mine - car wheeler and dealer - who has owned everything you can imagine, including all the exotics, says the most fun cars he's ever had are a Mini Cooper S and the E36 BMW M3.

Love the W12 Bentley too.

 

Bran, good luck in your journey to recover..!
Yes indeed this group of the forum advisers are awesome and even the least mechanically wise guy is able to share experiences and how some problems are resolved. I personally keep on reading and saving good information just in case my ride may disfunction...!
Talking about cars we enjoyed, all depends on your state of mind....when you are young an immature, no matter what car you own...yours have to be the fastest! So at that stage of our lives, we enjoyed the fastest of all....in my case I used to own a Pontic GTO "The Judge", very respectable ride....I

As I progressed in life and matured I got a BMW 735i standard transmission that I enjoyed for years since power wasn't the aim, instead it was comfort...!

Then in my married years with many home projects on mind, drove trucks to carry building materials....and finally after all that was done, wanted to feel the breeze while driving and have as a roof all the stars in the sky...so I acquired this old SL-500 which forced me to learn new tricks on electronic controls but with the right information and support it is nothing that cannot be tackled!

Cheers guys!

Drink cold beer and enjoy the company!

 

Hi all, just popping in to give you an update. You were right about smiles per gallon. 38 mpg to 42 consistently. Highest recorded was around 49 mpg. Miata MX-5 is just great, fun, fun car. The Bentley is something else. See Streamer selling his 450L(sold yet?) The GT convertible is worth the money. Got 25mpg the other day!! My health, fluctuates, but getting better each day, albeit nearly had a heart attack last Tuesday(see below as just copied this from the Miata forum and thought you might be interested.) Cheers to all.

Hit an Alligator full on!!Was I lucky? 5.30 a.m in virtual total darkness, heading East to Miami(originally started from Marco Island) along 41 at about 60mph, all going well, headlights on, nobody about, just a long straight boring road, and before I knew it, saw something long and big, then wham!!!

Got such a shock, slowed down to under 20mph thinking surely, one if not more tires were shot, never mind what damage I was likely to see in the front and no way was I prepared to get out and look to see any possible damage(if anyone has travelled this road, knows what I am talking about.)

Car behaved beautifully for the next few miles, tires ok it appeared and 90 minutes later got to my hospital appt(no wonder my pressure was 160/85!!) Checked the front of the car in the garage, albeit quite dark but couldn't believe it, apart from covered in bugs, no apparent damage whatsoever! I know when we fish, we love to say, "it was this big!" but yes it was, only one lane, but this thing I hit covered three quarters of it.

When I finally returned home some 4 hours later, checked under the car and
saw all these guts hanging from underneath. Disgusting! Immediately got the hose out and did my best to remove said mess, and it so happened that the lawn people were there at the time and part of what I removed had scales on it so wasn't sure if I had hit a huge python or gator, but they confirmed it definitely was a gator!!! How on earth with such a loud bang does no evidence show in the front and yet how does it's shredded intestines or whatever end up halfway under the carriage?

Washed the car thoroughly but have not been under it totally.(too fat) Parked in my garage and can smell a faint whiff of dead!!! Wondering if I should take her in to be inspected or just let nature take its course if indeed some guts have somehow got tangled where I can't quite see them!!

When I think what could have happened to me and the car, I actually feel very lucky. Miss having though a tire meter as have had on all my other cars but relieved. Not a day I want repeated. This wonderful Miata(and I have had mercs, bmw's, vettes, you name it over the years(other car at present is a Bentley GT)is just a beast and enjoy driving her(MX-5) the most and at 70 mph in comparison to the Bentley, (don't feel a thing and smooth as butter, Oh and I'm not complaining as it is the wife’s car really)I feel I am flying(70 feels like 100) and an absolute joy to drive, not to mention I averaged 42mpg on this trip.
just another day in Paradise(not)