Why do I want a car?

I've never been particularly interested in cars. But, for the past few weeks I've become almost obsessed with the idea of buying a car. Don't know what brought this on suddenly, but that is the way I am. Once I get my mind on something that I want, there is nothing else I can think about.

Tokyo isn't really the kind of place where you really need a car, and I've never felt inconvenienced without one. But when I started to imagine all the places I could go at anytime of day, I really started to get excited.

So, what kind of car do I want? I was at first entertaining thoughts of a nice BMW 3 series, but they're a bit too expensive and if you look around you'll notice BMWs everywhere! I think I see more BMWs on Tokyo streets than any other kind of car. How about a Nissan March? The TV commercials were cute and I liked the colors. Nah, the car seems like it was made by Tokyu Hands and besides I've only seen young mothers driving them. Not the kind of car for a single thirties guy.

Then, I remembered once a long time ago when I first came to Japan and saw a silver
Eunos Roadster convertible zipping along in Shibuya. And even though I wasn't the least bit interested in cars, I found myself daydreaming about myself in that shining ragtop. There is something about the Roadster (called MX-5 or Miata in other countries) that is endearing, can't describe it really, but it's similar to how some people are nuts about their MACs or PALMs. Searching the web, I found literally thousands of websites devoted to the most popular sports car in the world, according to Guiness.

Checked Yahoo! Auction to get an idea of used Roadster prices and decided that it was in my range. I also noticed that there were many affordable convertibles out there that were attractive. Toyota MR-S spyder, Daihatsu Copen to name just two under considered. They were both very nice cars and had many features I liked, but to me they were missing that endearing quality that I had for the Roadster. I figure if I was going to fork out all that cash for a car, I should get one that I'm excited about and will want to drive everyday, rather than have it sit in a ¥30,000 a month parking space under a sheet.

And so I've decided on getting a Roadster. Don't know if I will purchase it new or used yet. The first thing I need to do is get my license!