Okanagan Valley Miata Club - July 07 Archive

Okanagan Valley Miata Club archive
July 2007

Pete's Peachland Post-Pool Patio Party and Potluck BBQ (and Meeting) - Saturday, July 21

There's no more pool, but the July tradition continues. Our usual monthly meeting moves to the weekend and is followed by a barbecue. The event will be held Saturday July 21 at Pete place, ------------------ in Peachland.
All OVMC members are encouraged to come! The meeting starts at 4:30 sharp, and the party starts at 5:30. You don't have to come to the meeting to attend the party.

Please e-mail Pete at -------------------- if you are coming so that the proper quantities of BBQ supplies can be acquired.

BBQ / Pot Luck:
Hamburgers, Bison Burgers, Veggie Burgers, Turkey Wieners, buns and condiments will be provided. Please bring a salad or dessert.

Drinks:
Yes! Soft drinks will be provided. Bring any other libations that you may wish to consume (BYOB). Coffee will be provided around dessert time if the host remembers to turn on the machine.

Directions:
At Peachland's only traffic signal on Highway 97, turn up Princeton Avenue (a right turn if you are coming from Kelowna, or a left turn if you are coming from Penticton). Head up Princeton Avenue for 3.5 kilometres. Turn right on Forest Hill Drive, go 100 feet, then turn right again onto Thompson Drive. Look for the balloons attached to the Courier box, but check to see that you are at 6249 or you could end up at another party. Park in the driveway or on the street, anything goes in Peachland. Go through the carport and down to the pool area. Now print off these directions... cause you just know you're going to get lost if you don't!

Northern Exploration Run and Picnic - Sunday, July 15

After a strange spring (weather-wise) it would appear that summer has actually arrived for good, and nothing says summer like a picnic. So it's time to celebrate summer by going for a drive and picnic this Sunday, July 15.

Kelowna and southern Okanagan members will meet at The Jammery Restaurant in Lake Country, just past Duck Lake on the left. Click here for map. If you would like to go for breakfast first, you should be there by 8:30 am. We will leave from The Jammery parking lot at 9:30 am and head for Vernon. We will meet up with our northern members at 10:00 am at Starbucks, across the highway from the Prestige Inn in the Vernon Square Mall (Safeway / London Drugs / BCAA) on Highway 97 at 43rd Ave.

From Vernon the plan entails twisty roads (duh!) and a picnic lunch on the shores of Mabel Lake. The best plan for the lunch break will be to pack your own picnic lunch or pick some grub in Vernon before we head off, as food choices at Mabel Lake are likely nonexistent. Don't forget to bring a picnic blanket too.

In case you were wondering what is meant by an "Exploration Run", it simply means we're not really sure where we're going or what's at the end of the road, but we are sure it will be fun getting there!

Willamette Valley Miata Club "Explore Oregon" - July 13-15

The Willamette Valley Miata Club is hosting their 3rd annual Explore Oregon event, July 13-15, 2007. Details of the event and registration information can be found on their website ----------------------.

Okanagan British Car Club "Rally In The Valley" - July 6-8

Okanagan Valley Miata Club members are officially invited to attend the annual Rally in the Valley, to be held July 6-8, 2007.
This is the first time that the Okanagan British Car Club has opened their doors to anything other than British cars.
This year’s events include a parking lot party, baron-of beef buffet, silent auction, car show, tech sessions, a car run, awards banquet and breakfast.
The Miata will be officially recognized in the car show event, with trophies awarded in 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation classes.
For more information see the Rally In The Valley website.

Post Sun Run wrap up meeting (and Pizza!) - Wednesday June 20

Our post Sun Run wrap up meeting will be held Wednesday June 20 (yes, it's a week earlier than usual) at Gord and Patrice's house, 393 Providence Avenue in Kettle Valley. Click here for a map. Pizza and drinks will be served at 6:30 pm as a thank-you to everyone for helping with the Sun Run. The regular meeting will start at 7:00 pm. Even if you didn't help with the Sun Run this year, feel free to join us. New input is always welcome. Please RSVP to --------------- if you plan to come for pizza so we know how many to order.

Ticklebery Run - Sunday June 17

A better-late-than-never version of the annual Tickleberry Run will be held Sunday June 17. We will be departing from the Capri Hotel parking lot (Capri St. side) at 10:00 am, so please be there a few minutes early. Good roads + good ice-cream = good fun!

Topless Sun Run headlines The Province Driving section

The Province newspaper Driving editor Keith Morgan attended the Sun Run and filed a feature report in the June 8 edition. The full text of the main article and sidebar story appear below, or click the links below to view PDF files of the news pages with all text and photos.

Okanagan attracts a Miata army
Almost 200 cars make the trip for rally

Keith Morgan
The Province

Friday, June 08, 2007

Carol Savill grinned throughout the Okanagan Topless Sun Run. Settle down, please. It's the name of the annual Mazda Miata rally and the Rossland woman was beaming because she was able to drive her own car.
The smiling woman explained why it was so remarkable for her to be behind the wheel for the whole 115-kilometre, backcountry tour from Kelowna, along the west side of Okanagan Lake, to Vernon.
"My son Martin figured if I got this car, I would have so much fun driving it that I would no longer be interested in purchasing a Smart car, which he and his dad didn't think could handle the mountainous terrain where I live.
"He was absolutely right. Except, I hardly ever get to drive it as my husband Doug appears to enjoy it even more!"
Her British Racing Green Miata is a 1991 edition of the first-generation of what is now the most popular roadster ever with worldwide sales now well in excess of 800,000.
"I bought it in April 2006 and this is my first event . . . it won't be my last."
The pompous that populate the sports-car field often sneer and describe the Miata as a "girly car," but a look around in Kelowna revealed most of the rest of the owners of the 197 cars were men.
And the drivers and their co-pilots at the Okanagan Valley Miata Club event -- 345 in all -- came in all shapes, sizes and ages from all over B.C. and as far away as Ontario, plus some from south of the 49th.
Yours truly borrowed one of the new retractable hardtop versions -- so easy to get in and out of which is more than can be said of some of its competitors.
Mazda media person Patricia Robitaille, was my co-pilot, or nag-ivator as I constantly referred to her.
It was so good to have somebody show me which side the gas tank was located on, how to release the cap and other little things that would normally require you to read the manual. Men don't read manuals or ask for directions.
Ah, yes, and it was her nagivation that ensured we stayed on the straight and narrow and turned when we should . . . most of the time.
I was familiar with the rest of the car's attributes, as I've spent a few weeks in this fun car and was raring to re-acquaint myself with the responsive 2.0-litre, inline-four-cylinder, DOHC 16-valve engine and especially its sporty six-speed manual shift.
Highway 97 traffic came to a stop as almost 200 Miatas, or MX-5s as they are now known, set out.
The sight of them crossing the old floating bridge was one to behold and the speedy procession turned many heads along the way.
I had to laugh at the youngsters in cars travelling the opposite direction, poking dad or mom and pointing excitedly at the Mazdas zoom, zoom, zooming by.
Like me, I'm sure many of my fellow travellers imagined what those wide eyed youngsters were saying, as their heads bobbed from side to side: "Look dad, a Miata! Look dad, a Miata! Look dad, a Miata!" ad infinitum, until dad was glad to see the exhaust pipe of the last to pass.
The road alongside the west side of the lake offers spectacular views for passengers, but drivers take their eyes off the road at their own risk.
Narrow roads abound and those twisties that Hot Wheels writer Corrie Miller always raves about for two-wheelers are indeed a challenge for those on four.
There was an irresistible challenge to throttle the throttle and spin the car through those corners. Judging by the leg action, it seemed Ms. Robitaille figured she could slow our progress by pressing
the invisible brake pedal on her side. But the Miata took the corners easily and streaked up the hills. The best view for yours truly was the sight ahead of a dozen or more Miatas buzzing like a parade of very speedy beetles in and out of the corners on a steep incline.
We were among the first few dozen to enter Vernon's O'Keefe Ranch and, for the next hour, Miataphiles filed in for a picnic lunch and a chance to inspect the paint jobs and condition of every other vehicle.
As we scoffed on sandwiches and inhaled water, it was quite a sight.
We need a new collective noun to describe a gathering of Miatas. Maybe a Mass of Miatas, as it seemed a religious experience for many present.
After been fed and watered we left the home of the horses and each chose our own routes back to the central Okanagan city, some taking in the vineyards along the way while others settled
for a quiet and slower return along another scenic
route.
Back in Kelowna, Takao Kijima, daddy of the third-generation MX-5, who was in at the beginning of the original's birth back in the late 1980s, was the centre of attention.
He signed trunk lids, any flat space he could find inside the engine compartments and he even autographed some plain pieces of paper.
And today, dozens of rally goers have shots of themselves posing with the gracious Japanese engineer.
On the final day, crash helmets were grabbed and the Miatas were driven through an autocross course that finally put the lie to any suggestion that it is a "girly" car.

Vehicle's designer proud of creation sold worldwide
Knows why his roadster is the most popular ever produced

Keith Morgan
The Province

Friday, June 08, 2007

Takao Kijima is like a new dad when he stands by the third generation Mazda MX-5 posing for a photograph.
The Mazda engineer can't resist repeatedly glancing at the creation he brought to life in 2005 as its program manager.
Even after he had stepped away to chat, he still kept sneaking a look at the latest retractable hard top version.
He readily agreed his involvement with the MX-5 is the highlight if his career, which began in 1967 when he joined the chassis department of Mazda.
"When it was launched [1989/90], we thought it might have 3,000 sales per year, but it became 50,000 units, and by January 2007, it had sold 800,000," said Kijima, turning to take in the massed ranks of Miatas filling the field behind him.
That makes it the hottest selling and most popular roadster in the world -- ever. He knows why.
"It is fun to drive . . . I have a second-generation MX-5 with 80,000 kilometres on it and I drive it any time I can."
Guided by the idea of Jinba Ittai -- a rider and horse moving as one -- Kijima and his team produced a third-generation car that not only renewed the design cues of the original but truly offers the driver the feeling of controlling the vehicle as an extension of one's own limbs.
Kijima said the new car is meant to say: "Enjoy me and justify my creation." It does indeed and at a very competitive price.
The soft-top ranges from $28,095 to $34,195 and the hard-top version -- which manages to retract without taking any trunk space --starts at $31,290 topping out at a base price of $36,390 for the GT I drove.