THE GREAT PREDICAMENT

I've been dreaming and contemplating my first car for a while now. The perfect car would have to be sporty yet practical, and decently reliable. That perfect car for me would be the GR Corolla.
It checks all the boxes, though practicality isn't its strong suit, and reliability is good if it doesn't burn to a crisp on the side of the road out of nowhere. The only problem is that it's a good $40,000. I can't imagine the what insurance and everything would cost for a new/young driver.

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I'm going to need something cheaper, and that's where the Mazda Miata comes into play.

 

A first-generation Miata would be perfect. It's small, cute, fun to drive, and checks off the box for being a lot less expensive. Though it isn't very practical with its small trunk space and small  everything, I wouldn't really need more than that. On the other hand, reliability is a plus. Even though they're so old, they often hold up very well.
 

If I got one, I would customize it a bit. I'd paint it British Racing Green, lower it, put some fresh rims on it, new seats, a Nardi wheel (If it's older than a '94, if it has airbags I'm leaving those boys in), and a rollbar (Hard Dog) because I do know they have helped increase their safety. And also, it looks good.

I feel like this is all decently reasonable, nothing too crazy or like a high psi turbo conversion. Also, keep that word "safety" in mind. It'll be important later.

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Now here's the problem with the Miata for me specifically. 
Back in the 90s and early 2000s, before my older brother was even born, my dad owned one, and he absolutely LOVED it. To this day, it's the only Japanese-made car he likes. Sadly, one night while he was driving it, a car, running from the cops, overtook another car by crossing the double yellow lines into my dad's lane, and hit him head-on. The airbag saved his life, but it was a nasty accident, and he had to get airlifted out.

Sadly, now, my Mom doesn't want me to get one because of its lack of safety features. I totally get where she's coming from, and she isn't an overly protective mom who doesn't let you do simple things. My dad still loves the idea of me getting one since he enjoyed his so much, and it would make for a perfect car, especially because I want to one day buy a JDM Mazda RX-7 FC3S. Naturally, a 13b is a lot different from the Miata's 1.6l or 1.8l inline-4 engine, but the Miata would give me some good experience working on 90s sports cars and modifying them in general.

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There are still other cars I have considered, but none of them have the same excitement.

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BMW E30 Convertible (would be cool and classy, but reliability and fixing stuff is tougher)
Honda Prelude (Gen 5, always liked them)
Nissan 350Z (This is a good one, I know a guy who has one)

 

Still, nothing in my book beats the Miata. But I guess only time will tell if I'll actually get one.