During my rental of the Mirage this past weekend, I met up with my best friend and had him drive the car. To put it briefly, he hated it and said there's no way I could buy that car. An Accent or Fit would be better, he stated, and to be honest, I like them too and would consider buying one. It was hard to defend the Mirage at the time, but I decided to put words into action. Interestingly, my friend is an equally interesting fella and loved Ford Aerostars and Mercury Lynxs back in the day. Below is a letter I sent defending the Mirage. I think it is how many of us have felt in one form or another about this little car:
"It's been a strange obsession. One that goes down in history with Chevy Luminas, Ford Aerostars, Ford Aspires, and Mercury Lynxs. One for what many would consider an unremarkable car that really doesn't do anything well and would be punishment to be seen in, let alone own and drive.
It's been hard to justify beyond boring explanations like fuel economy when asked "why would you want this car?" Yes, the infatuation over a Mirage is bizarre and eccentric.
When it came time to think about it, I can't even explain it easily. Here we have a slow, frumpy, tiny car built for third world countries and built to a price. There's nothing glamorous. Nothing not seen before. And there will probably never be a poster of one on any teenage boy's room.
But that's when the light bulb hit; the utter simplicity of the car is its appeal. In a world when we have economy cars posing as something that they are not, ala Scion, it's refreshing to see a car that knows it's an economy car, behaves like an economy car, and doesn't give a s**t if you don't like it. It's one of the rare cars that has no aspirations. That in itself makes it a unique car that stands out from the crowd.
I even like the styling. It's back to basics. There's nothing silly. Nothing overdone. Although it may look 90's, it's clean and uncluttered. Look at the new Fit for example and my question is why are there swoops and creases where they don't need to be, and why are there two huge holes punched out in the back bumper? They're pointless and just scream desperation from the designers to do fill in the gap. To be fair, the Fit isn't the only culprit. To me, the Mirage looks downright attractive and simple by comparison, and adorable. In ten years, it won't look gimmicky and so 2014!
For many, driving the Mirage is dreadful. It leans, it's slow, and noisy. But I like that. It's performance is fine; it's much faster than Ally and Yoshi (my old Ford Aspire and Daihatsu, we have a habit of naming cars), and more like the 88hp that Estella (my old '95 Escort) churned out. It'll get over hills with minimal fuss. And once you get used to the quirks of cornering, it was actually a fun little car on twisty roads. I was able to have fun and keep up with much faster cars. In an age when cars separate the driver from the road, the Mirage demands your attention and skill. It demands involvement. It's interactive. But it's also refined enough, unlike the older cars, to get to and cruise comfortably at 65mpg and take it easy; plus get great mpg. It may not match modern car standards of noise and performance, but it is eons ahead of many other cars we've driven long distance. It's always funny how many car fanatics dwell on driving simpler, more involved, cars, and here we have one.
I've enjoyed all the three-cylinder cars I've owned in the past, and regret that I've always owned them when they are older. I always wish I could've gone back in time to buy them new, and now here is a chance. This Mirage, in comparison to the others, is a luxury car. It may have the same number of cylinders and wheels, but that's where the comparison ends. It has features that were not even available on any car back then, and has stuff I've never had on any of my own cars.
I'm fully aware that it's not perfect and an Accent, or a Fit, are more modern and advanced. Maybe that's not what I'm looking for. But then again, those other cars could be easier to live with over the years? Who knows? I'm not your average buyer and have lived with much worse for years in day-to-day life. The Accent and Fit are good in their own ways and are excellent cars; they are continually acknowledged for it. It was only fair to give the Mirage some justification and love too."
Sunshine
Yoshi
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