Well, here's something you don't see every day...a write up on a Miata ( now MX-5 ) automatic.
http://www.caranddriver.com/shortroa...automatic.html

Actually, though, it does make some sense. The classic and traditional view of this car is that it is a purist machine that an automatic turns into pure heresy. But, while I don't believe in automotive stereotypes myself, the fact is that this car is quite popular with women who don't want to fool with a clutch, and even some men if the car is used in dense urban traffic, where its small size, of course, is an asset when parking and manuvering, though the stiff suspension and short wheelbase doesn't help on rough city streets. One of the personnel girls at my office, in fact, has one with an automatic. I myself have test-driven three or four Miatas over the years...one with an automatic, but it is simply too small an interior for me....5' 8" or so and around 200 lb. is about the limit.
According to C&D's figures...which they no doubt got elsewhere.......about 1 in 5 Miatas are sold with automatics, which means Toyota may have made a mistake in not offering the MR2 Spyder with a full automatic......as an option, it had only a SMT ( Sequential Manual Transmission ) without a clutch.

 

I actually read this article in the magazine after picking it up at a newstand.

Where I live, manuals are the norm, I would say at least 70% of cars in the Mexico City area, but automatics are gradually making inroads due to lower pricing (though everyone is aware a stick will do better on MPG and is easier to fix unlike a tranny).

However, I know the head of the sales division for Mazda in Mexico and he was remarking that with both the Miata and with the soon to be sold here RX8, people by and large down here wanted an automatic over a manual. The major reason was that the traffic is stop and go and people are unpredictable. Having driven the stickshift cars of my Uncle to work a few times in traffic, I can happily agree that it is not safe at all and I was constantly pouncing on my brake and clutch like every other 10 seconds. Good thing is that I was hardly shifting out of first, but it was one major PITA. I got tired after the first week and decided to use his 1996 Dodge Caravan (the Lexus stays at home since the neighborhood where I work is not safe).

I am also about 5´8", 200 pounds and I agree with mmarshall about the interior, but one of my high school friends had a Miata and she absolutely loved it, but she was about 5 feet tall.

Now, in the U.S., I would not hesitate to pick up a stick shift car where there is a lot of room to enjoy.

Speaking of the MR2, the MR2 is happily still offered by Toyota down here in Mexico.