Format: bullet cues only, reference not read-aloud. Hosts riff from beats, never teleprompter the page.
Scored as: 2009-2012 NC2, 2.0 6MT, soft top · Total: 47/70 (PROPOSED, not ratified) · Target runtime: ~6:40, hard ceiling 7:00
Title (curiosity gap): "The $7,000 Car That Races the One We Ranked First"
Thumbnail word (emotion/verdict, zero overlap w/ title): "INSPECT" + big 47 on the Board
Order: Deal -> Drive -> Upkeep -> Risk -> Daily -> Limit -> Mods -> Board -> Verdict

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Hook | One Sentence (~0:05)

1. "If a seven thousand dollar Miata is on your list, this is the only seven minutes you need before you spend a dollar."
2. "This car costs seven thousand dollars, and it races in the same class as the one we ranked first."
3. "At this price you're not choosing a model, you're choosing an example, and we'll show you how to tell them apart."

Recommend #1. Cut straight to The Deal on the last syllable.

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1 · The Deal, reveal 9 (~0:50)

Beats

• $6,985 · KBB private party, Good, 120,000 mi · range $5,685 to $7,960
• Under $7,000, against $19,500 for the ND at the top of the Board
• $41.8 per horsepower, against the 350Z's $18.7
• classic.com average $15,592 across 92 sales, with a $42,000 outlier in the same dataset Different population. NOT the same car trading at both numbers
• Do not air a price trend. The -8.3% figure was withdrawn: search snippet, real data paywalled
• 120k is the flat tier basis. Miatas are weekend cars, so real examples run lower

B-roll: live cars.com search, 2009-12 under $12k · screen-record the grid at edit time
On screen: the $6,985 plate · KBB-vs-classic.com two-markets split · live results grid
Reveal line cue: "Seven thousand dollars for a rear-drive sports car... The Deal scores a 9."

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2 · The Drive, reveal 6 (~0:45)

Beats

• 167 hp / 140 lb-ft · 2,480 lb · 14.9 lb/hp vs the ND's 12.9 · 0-60 6.8s · 7,200 rpm
• It is a 6. Say it out loud rather than letting the chart say it for you
• What survives: steering, balance, direction change. Still a light rear-drive roadster
• What's gone: 148 lb heavier, 14 hp down, shifter good not great
• The line: "a Miata is not automatically a Miata"
• 0-60 runs 6.4 to 7.0 in the wild, but most of that spread is the 158 hp NC1 or the automatic. We use MotorWeek's 6.8

On screen: 14.9 vs 12.9 lb/hp split · weight and hp deltas vs ND
Reveal line cue: "Most of the feeling, none of the pace... The Drive, a 6."

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3 · The Upkeep, reveal 8 (~0:50)

Beats

• ~$4,027/yr: $2,000 fuel · $1,512 insurance · $165 tires · $350 service
• No timing belt. The 2.0 MZR runs a chain with no interval at all
• 24 mpg, five behind the ND. That single line is the whole gap
• Premium is recommended, not required. 87 is permitted with reduced output, which drops fuel to ~$1,750
• The correction, said out loud: the NC costs $164 to $414/yr MORE than the ND, not less. We published the opposite
• Insurance is 21.6% of the car's value. Most real buyers run liability only

On screen: running-cost stack vs the ND · "PREMIUM RECOMMENDED, NOT REQUIRED" stamp · the correction as an on-screen callout
Reveal line cue: "No timing belt, cheap rubber, and one bad number... The Upkeep, an 8."

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4 · The Risk, reveal 8 (~1:15)

Beats (this segment is the review, protect it in the edit)

• Scope out loud first: 2009 to 2012
• There is no engine grenade. No rod bearing, no ringland, no head gasket, no tensioner
• Worst realistic repair is a clutch, up to $1,967
• The signature failure of the generation is a blocked drain tube letting water into the cabin
• Every single item is findable before you pay. That is the argument for the car and for the 8
• Rust is the exception that writes the car off rather than costing a repair. Salt states, get underneath it
• Myth-buster: "replace the timing belt every 60k" is everywhere and this car has no belt. Believing it adds ~$700 for a job that does not exist
• Keyless crank/cam sprockets on an interference MZR is a 2007 NC1 issue, outside our years

PPI CHECKLIST - hold it on screen

1. Lift the carpet behind both seats. Damp means blocked drains
2. Cycle a retractable hardtop three full times
3. Rockers and rear fender arches, from underneath
4. Drive a broken surface. Crashing means collapsed top hats
5. A/C to full cold, held five minutes
6. Feel where the clutch bites. Worth ~$1,900 on its own
7. Confirm NC2: 7,200 rpm tach, 167 hp

YEAR-ONE COST

• Maintained ~$800-1,200 · Typical ~$1,973-2,415 · Neglected ~$4,060-4,882
• As a share of the $6,985 buy-in: 11-17% vs 58-70%
• Land the thesis: "you are not choosing a model, you are choosing an example"

On screen: severity/frequency fault grid · PPI checklist held long enough to pause · year-one scenario bars · "NO TIMING BELT" stamp over the myth
Reveal line cue: "No grenade, and nothing you can't find before you pay... The Risk, an 8."

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5 · The Daily, reveal 3 (~0:30)

Beats

• Open on the surprise: 5.3 cu ft vs the ND's 4.6. The older, cheaper car has the bigger boot
• It loses anyway, because we score livability, not cubic feet
• 2 seats, 2 doors, no CarPlay, Bluetooth trim-dependent · head unit $300-500
• The soft top is also the most common way water gets in, so it costs you twice
• Frame it as wrong job, not bad car

On screen: 5.3-vs-4.6 boot callout · "NO CARPLAY" stamp · head-unit cost chip
Reveal line cue: "Bigger boot than the car that beat it, and still the hardest to live with... The Daily, a 3."

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6 · The Limit, reveal 8 (~0:50)

Beats

• SCCA C Street. The same class as the ND at the top of the Board
• A $6,985 car and a $19,500 car, same course, same rules, same class
• 0.87 g and 113 ft, on a 2010 test car on its factory tires. Name the year and the tire whenever it airs
• 113 ft is 60-0. The ND, GR86 and Supra figures are 70-0. Different test, do not convert
• Confirmed in the 2026 Appendix A. We had it from a 2018 club document and went and checked
• Shopper warning: the LSD was not standard. Confirm it if you plan to compete

On screen: the two cars side by side under one "C STREET" banner · autocross b-roll · 2026 Appendix A citation
Reveal line cue: "Same class as the car we ranked first, for a third of the money... The Limit, an 8."

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7 · The Mods, reveal 5 (~0:40)

Beats

• There is no +100 whp at any sane price. Stage 1 tune: 8 to 12 whp
• Header and tune: still short of 200 whp
• Supercharger $4,000 to $5,000, and still not +100
• The 8-12 whp figure comes from the vendor selling the tune. An understated vendor claim is more credible than usual
• The chassis aftermarket is elite. Coilovers, bars, bushings, tires transform it for a fraction of power money
• Mods do not accelerate a failure here. You risk wasted money, not a grenade. Opposite of a WRX
• Payoff: spend it on the corners, not the engine

On screen: "NO +100 WHP PATH" stamp · chassis-vs-power money split
Reveal line cue: "Elite for the corners, hopeless for the engine... The Mods, a 5."

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The Board + Verdict (~0:50)

Beats

• Total lands: 47 / 70, and it is a proposed score
• The shape: ties the 350Z for the best Deal, ties the best Risk we've given anything, shares a class with the car ranked first, then hands it back on pace, practicality and power
• Callback to the hook: a $6,985 car races the one at the top of the Board
• VERDICT: "Buy the right example, not the right model."
• The four checks, repeated so they're what people remember: carpet, corners, arches, clutch
• Skip case: you want to be fast, or you need one car to do everything

On screen: the 47 hits the Board · NC slots one above the 370Z · Buy stamp with the four-check condition
Close cue: one line to the Board · end

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Runtime + notes

• Sum ~ 6:40. The Risk carries the extra runtime because at this price the question is which example, not which model. If it runs long, pull from The Mods and The Daily.
• All seven scores are proposals. The Deal (9) is the one most likely to move: buy-in argues 9, the year-one bill on a neglected car argues 6.
• Do not say on camera: a price trend, or a braking comparison across the three cars in the tables (mixed protocols).
• B-roll warning: listings are asking prices, the $6,985 is KBB private-party. Name which is which.
• Title and thumbnail share zero words per channel rule.