The American singer Cyndi Lauper sure had the pulse on females worldwide when in 1983 she sang the song, Girls Just Want to Have Fun.

It was a song first written and recorded in 1979 by American musician Robert Hazard.

Lauper’s version gained recognition as a feminist anthem and was promoted by a Grammy-winning video. It has been covered on either an album or in live concert by over 30 other artists.

In 2016, Mazda sure has the pulse on females worldwide who just want to have fun with their introduction of the 2017 Mazda MX-5 Miata RF.

On October 5, 2016 as reported by mazdausa.com, “Mazda Motor Corporation started production of the 2017 Mazda MX-5 Miata RF retractable hardtop (known as Roadster RF in Japan) yesterday at Ujina Plant No.1 near its global headquarters in Hiroshima. Production began with models bound for North American and European markets, where sales launches begin from early 2017. In Japan, the MX-5 RF will go on sale later this year.

“Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun.”…. Randy Pausch

An extension of the MX-5 family, MX-5 RF fully embodies the core value of “Lots of Fun” that has defined MX-5 throughout its 27-year history. This new two-seater sports car features a unique fastback design and offers an exhilarating open-air feel.”

And what has been the result?

Another announcement follows on October 11, 2016, “Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today announced that it has sold out of the 1,000-car allocation for the 2017 MX-5 Miata RF Launch Edition.

In the first week of ordering, which started September 26, more than 500 loyal Mazda customers put down deposits to buy a Retractable Fastback MX-5 Miata. When ordering opened to the general public on October 3, the remaining cars sold out in just 13 hours. In all, 67 percent of customers opted for manual transmissions.”

Wouldn’t you agree these beautiful precision machines would be a joy to drive?

The praise continues and the numbers sold continue to rise.

This powerful princess of a car has such a dynamic and fun reputation that a special enthusiast’s event was created.

There share their passion at miatasatmazdaraceway.co, “The first Miatas at Mazda Raceway – called “Miatas at MRLS” – was a two-day event that ran on March 21-22nd, 2009 as a 20th birthday party for the Miata. It spawned follow up events in 2010, 2012 and 2013, pulling Miatas from all over North America and beyond. In 2014, we celebrated 25 years of the Miata with a massive gathering that included the first public showing of the 4th generation car, then followed that up with another massive event in 2015.”

This is so exciting, why don’t we walk up to the race track for a closer look.

One-Millionth Mazda MX-5 Miata and 2017 MX-5 RF Headline Annual ‘Miatas at Mazda Raceway’ Event

With thousands of models coming from hundreds of automakers over the decades, few cars have followings of enthusiasts the world over quite like the Mazda MX-5 Miata. Whatever you call it—MX-5, Miata, Roadster—it’s hard to argue against its key ingredient: Fun. It’s more fun than any vehicle has a right to be, and it’s a testament design and engineering coming together for the purpose of delighting emotions over rationalizing sensibilities.

When it won the 2016 World Car of the Year award in a year when nearly every keynote speech at the banquet mentioned autonomous driving, it proved its mettle and lasting significance, winning the hearts of some of the world’s most detail-oriented automotive media.

Perhaps that’s why, each year, hundreds of MX-5 enthusiasts from all over the U.S. and Canada—as well as a handful from farther reaches around the world—come to Monterey, California, for Miatas at Mazda Raceway, a gathering of gearheads, enthusiasts, longtime owners, new enthusiasts and friends.

The annual October event drew in more than 900 attendees this year who brought more than 700 MX-5s. Mazda chipped in on the action as well, bringing the one-millionth MX-5 Miata to its final official stop of the 18-stop national “Millionth Miata Celebration Tour” and one of the few 2017 MX-5 RFs in the country.

The two fourth-generation MX-5s led a parade of 296 cars around the 2.238-mile racetrack for one of the few times the one-millionth MX-5 has been driven. Behind the wheel of the one-millionth MX-5was Road & Track journalist Sam Smith alongside Tom Matano, who served as VP of Mazda’s Irvine-based design operations in the 1980s and ‘90s, overseeing the first-generation MX-5.

Matano’s presence was treated like royalty among the sea of MX-5 owners, young and old. He and his wife perused the vendor displays and weaved in and out of the hundreds of cars parked in the Raceway paddock, both dressed in matching black MX-5 hooded sweatshirts.

The cars they saw ranged from original-condition roadsters to modified Miatas with high-horsepower V8 engines shoehorned under their hoods to cars that barely looked like the cars on which they were based. Some used MX-5 underpinnings wit fiberglass tubs—because 2,100-pound sports cars are apparently too heavy. Radical—and radically lightweight—and renamed the Catfish.

Another, designed by Exomotive and built by the Mad Hatters at Flyin’ Miata out of Colorado, was pared down to just tubing and an engine around MX-5 parts, coming in at just 1,500 lbs. Other cars were stripped-down racecars used in competition throughout the country.

“Everything here was, at some point, based on a Miata,” said Rick Weldon, the founder and organizer of Miatas at Mazda Raceway for the last seven years. “This event has grown immensely over the years, from a handful of enthusiasts to 300 or 400 to more than 1,000 people during the reveal of the ND in 2014 to now, where it is still larger than it ever was before two years ago.”

Weldon, an endurance racer, entrepreneur and driving instructor, took the project of getting MX-5 enthusiasts from around North America to come to California’s Central Coast for what amounts to Woodstock-meets-Miatas because he simply loves the car and all it represents: lightweight and fun to drive, heightening the sensation of driving. Miatas at Mazda Raceway is a weekend of comradery, friendship and love for a little roadster that has shaped an industry of sports cars around its 27 years of existence and continues to challenge the industry to hold onto the spirit of joy one can get from behind the wheel.

“It’s such an amazing event with amazing people,” said Weldon. “We’re going to keep making it better and better each year.”

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Sources: brainyquote.com, Wikipedia, fciwomenswrestling2.com, FCI Elite Competitor, photos thank you Wikimedia Commons.

http://insidemazda.mazdausa.com/press-release/2017-mazda-mx-5-miata-rf-price/

http://www.autobytel.com/car-buying-guides/features/best-cars-for-single-women-in-2016-130650/

http://insidemazda.mazdausa.com/press-release/mazda-starts-production-2017-mazda-mx-5-miata-rf/

http://insidemazda.mazdausa.com/what-we-do/miatas-mazda-raceway-2016/

http://insidemazda.mazdausa.com/press-release/mazda-sells-1000-mx-5-miata-rf-launch-editions/

http://www.miatasatmazdaraceway.com/