I’m sure by the time of reading this, you’ve owned your Miata for a while now and am thinking, do I need a hard top? Yes, yes you do.
The factory equipped Miata soft top is not the worst thing in the world, but the hard top is definitely a game changer. The ability to drop the top and free flow your hairdresser lifestyle is one of the best things about owning a Miata, however, as you begin your modification list and you start taking the car out on track days or Autocross days, you’ll start to notice less and less soft tops.
With only four bolts to remove the hard top, you can keep your factory equipped soft top during the summer! During the winter months though, when that soft top is leaking water down your side at a stop light, you’ll be dreaming about the fiberglass roof over your head.
In Northern California, hard tops range anywhere from $800 to $1200 based off condition. We purchased ours about two hours away for around $800 and it was in okay condition with some crappy spray paint on top.
We thought about vinyl wrapping or taking it to a professional auto body, however, we opted not to based off of cost versus reward. We did what any other reasonable person would do and headed to Walmart at 2AM and bought a few cans of Rustoleum Candy Red spray paint and went to town.
A few coats of clearcoat later and our top, surprisingly looked good. For the past two years the top has held up well, but in due time we’ll treat the ol’ girl to a professional paint job.
Would we ever go back to just the soft top? Absolutely not. The security of the top alone is worth its weight, plus not getting rained on due to the crappy seals helps too. Go check your local Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace or local Facebook Miata group and see what you can find for yourself.
Good luck!
