Conrad & Judy Serwatka
In 1995 I leased my 1995 Black with Tan leather and GOLD trim, fully loaded Miata.
In 1996 I had put an article in a local newspaper looking for a single “NO Kids and loves a convertible and the out doors” lady. I got a response and I had called this lady who answered my add while I was traveling in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (I had an inspection job out there) At first she thought it was a joke and then I told her to call me back after I gave her my number where I was at In Colorado and see if I was joking. Well we met and on that first date we had lunch and then we walked out to the parking lot and she looked at my 1995 Black Miata and said “do you want to put that in my trunk and I’ll take you home”? She (now my wife Judy) was driving a LAND BARGE, Buick, Roadmaster. Heck, that car had a trunk large enough to put my miata in it and then some!
Well in 1997 we got married. As I introduced Judy to the members from the club after we started to date (Lake Effect) Judy volunteered to be the web mistress (Started our Home page for our club). In one of the Miata Magazines our club had a write up being one of the first clubs worldwide to have a Miata club website thanks to Judy. In 1999 the 10th Anniversary Edition came out and our local dealership had one #774 of 7,500. Our club had our annual “Get Acquainted afternoon” at that dealership to meet Miata owners and new members, all of our members really liked the special edition that was there for us to see. Well after the event was over and we got home Judy said to me “I want that Car”! Well as we all know any husband who has a wife tell you she wants a car will not say “Ok we’ll go tomorrow” OR “OK we’ll go back in a few days” to look at that car. WOW we were now a 2 Miata Family. We got our discounts from the dealership, because we were Miata Club of America members and a very good price from the dealerships owner. We drove the 10th AE to one of Indy’s road rallies and it made a hit and was printed in one of the Indy newsletters thanks to Gary and Kathy Collings.
Judy and I had a very close friend, Joe Menigoz who lived in Wisconsin and was a gear head and knew Miatas inside and out. We met Joe and his wife Michelle at a Lighthouse tour sponsored by the Windy City Miata Club. Judy and I are members in three car Miata clubs. Joe and I were always talking to each other and we constantly talked about our cars. Joe bought a 1992 Yellow #77 of 1,519 on E-Bay and had it shipped from California to his house in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin He totally re-built it in a little over a year. Joe took first place at the Daytona Miata National event back in 2000 with his Yellow for having the cleanest original Miata out of 350 Miatas at that National event. Well Joe talked me into buying a 1992 Yellow. In 2001 Joe retired from Ameritech after 35 years and passed away before he got his first retirement check from cancer. I had just talked to him 2 weeks earlier about my #111 and his #77. Well as the story goes, an Indy Miata member had a 92 Yellow Miata for sale. I had called Jim Nutt and asked him if he would call this member and find out what was wrong with it. Jim (who was President for the second time when I was President in Lake Effect) called me back and said “It sounds like was kept up and was a nice car and for me to GO FOR IT”. Later that evening, returning from Louisville, KY (another inspection job) Judy and I stopped and looked at this Yellow. We met Jim and Martha for dinner and showed off our new addition to our family. Well now we are a THREE Miata family. #111 of 1,519 with a hard top has been totally re-built by me and it is a real eye catcher. The only thing I did not do was re-paint it. I left it up to our local dealership to do that. In 1992 Sunburst Yellow color was an option for $250.00. 25 coats of yellow paint and 3 coats of clear were applied after the car was totally taken apart keeping the little ID tags on the fenders, hood, trunk lid, doors, rear panels, in tact and were covered to show it has the same ID #’s on all parts of this car and is an original and today it is our show car. I recently took “Best Import” with the yellow at a local car show where 116 cars entered. We bought a BUSHTEC motorcycle trailer and have a trailer hitch on our 95 Black and 92 Yellow. By now you have found out that Miatas do not have a very big TRUNK if you plan to take an extended vacation or a long trip using your Miata you use every square inch of room in your trunk. Mail Boxes ETC. came in handy several times before we bought the trailer.
