[SloMo6Oh]

I thought of a Miata for a while before I found my 2004 Insight for $2K, but I live in Minnesota. We only have about 4 months of summer. My Irish skin can't handle much sun and the top wouldn't come off for the other 9 months so I likely would have put a hard to on it too.
Rear-wheel drive would be fun when the roads are dry here but I fear I wouldn't get around well in the winter with a car that light. I grew up driving in the 70s with rear wheel drive but our cars were much heavier back then. (Sure had a lot of fun sliding around with rear wheel drive as a teenager)

If you want a 2-seater, why don't you get a 1st gen Honda Insight?

Good luck!