Sun Riders Miata  Club of Tampa Bay

 I am originally from Allentown, PA. After enlisting in the Air Force in 1977, I spent several years in Utah, California and Colorado where I met and married my wife, Kim, in 1985.  A few months later we moved to Tampa, Florida. We just celebrated our 35th anniversary in December, 2020.  Between the two of us, we have 5 children and 8 grandchildren.

I am an avid sports enthusiast.  My favorite sports teams are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lightning, Rays and the University of Florida Gators.

My first Miata was a 2016, soul red Grand Touring Roadster, however it was an automatic.  The following year, when the RFs rolled out, we traded in our 2016 for a 2017 Soul Red RF GT, with standard transmission, which we continue to customize. We joined Sun Riders in 2016 and it was the best decision we ever made. We have met so many wonderful people, seen so many sights in Florida and enjoyed so many miles in our little car. 

Originally both my wife Deb of 31 years and I are from South Jersey. Over the years we moved around. Our daughter Amanda and son Andrew were born in Columbus Oh. We moved from Columbus to Ellicott City MD which is between Baltimore and DC. Our daughter went to Eckerd College here in St Pete which attracted us to Tampa Bay. Once our son graduated from high school and decided he also was going to attend college in Fl we made the move here. We bought our 1st Miata in Md. a Copper-Red 2010 Grand Touring PRHT due to winters in Md. We also owned a 2014 Mazda3 Grand Touring. We are now the proud owners of the 2019 30th Anniversary Edition #269 soft top.

I grew up in Tampa. I have always loved cars and hung out with my buddies who loved cars. By the time I was leaving high school I was on my fifth car. 

Over the years I've had some pretty cool cars and many were convertibles.  I have only had one other Mazda and it was an RX7; so I was pretty late to the Miata party. Actually I never even imagined I would own a Miata, and never really thought much about them. 

I'd had a couple of MGs and I really loved them.  So a few years ago when I was looking to get a new fun car,  I was kind of hoping to find some kind of more modern MG. 

My fun cars have always had to have three pedals and a top that drops, these days that's a pretty limited group to choose from. I had recently noticed the RF's on the road and I really liked their style; so I gave the Miata a good hard look. 

I loved them,  but because of covid there were not any on the lot. I had to get in line on the order list and I hoped I would get lucky. It took a while; but the dealer finally called me up and said they had a blue one on the lot if I wanted it. I didn't even know what the color was really but I told him I'd be down and pick it up. 

Love at first sight, the rest is history. 

I have really enjoyed the club. Everyone is so nice, really! 

I think there is something special about these little cars; and the people that love them. 

A really active club like ours takes a lot of work, so I am trying to give back what I can.

Keep the shiny side up and I hope to CU on the road... zoom zoom!