Since she was President of the Gateway Miata Club at the time, Betty had a good relationship with the Mazda Regional Manager. On March 6, 1998, he invited us to attend the Mazda sales preview of the M2, normally reserved for the sales force of the Mazda dealers in the region, at a hotel in St Louis. When we arrived they had 6 to drive and a 99 and 97 in the Banquet Room for the folks to compare.

Nevada Red was the 99 in the Banquet Room and St Louis was the last stop of the preview. The next day, he was delivered to a dealership 2 miles from our home in St. Louis. I drove my Mariner Blue '91 that I'd put 110,000 miles on into the dealer and drove Red out on March 7, 1998. After research on CARFAX checking all the lower VINs, to the best of my knowledge (with a few exceptions in Canada) I've discovered it is the lowest VIN (0094) M2 on the roads of the US today.

 

Mods below are linked to source and include...

2001 Special Edition taillights

Custom painted Pearl Red with Pearl White Racing Stripes and.....

Jackson Racing Supercharger at 5PSI w/Ignition Timing Controller, red silicon hoses,
a double pod w/Boost gauge & air/fuel mixture gauge

Flyin' Miata Dual NA exhaust

Hard Dog Polished Stainless Steel Hardbar

Mazda Polished Stainless Steel Door Sills

Brainstorm front & rear sub braces

MetroMotorsports dual chrome hoodlifts

Brainstorm short shifter

Koni adjustable shocks

Jackson Racing Lowering Springs

Bomex Aero wing

Voodoo Pearl shift knob w/chrome trim ring

Clear side lenses all around

Brainstorm tan leather console cushion

Crazy Red Italian Air Horns

Hydraulic hood lifts

Refurb Red HT (w/stripes) from a '90 w/tinted window & headliner

Rear soft top window tint

Duetto trunk lid pouch

Mazda side sills

Kosei K1 Racing 16 " white wheels

Buck's Design Forward Diamond grille

Brainstorm Tan leather shift boot

Flyin' Miata Red 8.5mm Magnacor wires

NGK cool plugs

Robbins heavy vinyl tan boot

IL Motorsports White Gauges

Brainstorm Chrome Classic Fuel Filler

Brainstorm Chrome Needle Buttons

& an extra added attraction was the Okuyama V Brace.
I won in a contest on Miata-related website, courtesy of Leni Metro of MetroMotorsports.Com.

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