20 Years

[Wade Jackson]

Wow, it’s hard to believe that I am racing a 20-year-old car.  We had five B13 cars 
racing in NASA’s PTE class in February at VIR!  During qualifying in the March race, 
I had a high-speed off with another B13.  The off and collisions resulted in my 
breaking third gear.  I decided to race on Saturday using just 2nd and 4th and got 
some decent lap times.  They would have been better, but I spent a lot of time bump 
drafting the Spec Miata.  I dropped the car off in Richmond on Sunday with a friend 
and got a call at 7:00 saying that he had already replaced third gear!  This is the 
original transmission with 220k+ miles on it.

My ’96 B14 has 262k miles on it, and I’m the original owner.  About six months ago, 
the fifth gear synchros stopped working.  I’ve had to rev match to make it into fifth 
gear ever since.  I plan to put my spare racecar transmission in it.  The 96 has the 
original transmission and clutch, which has at least 100 track days on it.  Not too 
bad I guess!  The car still gets 35-40 mpg on my commute at 65-80 mph.  I guess 
the SA96 syndrome has not hurt longevity.  Bonus points to the old timers who 
remember what SA96 meant! 

Wade