Mitch, I think you're in the right place. The only Miata I've seen along on one of these cruise days people have mentioned belongs to Alan Merklin's wife. Odd that after 30 Speedster projects ... he hasn't built one for her yet. Mrs. Merklin has never had a problem keeping up with us on our runs, but she's been looked at as the odd person out for her choice of wheels.
Not to sleight Mrs. Merklin, whom we all love very much, but she's missing out. If we cut a hole in the rear trunk of the Miata and dropped it on a VW chassis ... and glued some Beetle headlight buckets to the fenders ... maybe she'd be okay. We'd have to send her off on a vacation for a while to get it done without her protesting the job, but we could maybe do it in a week.
On the other end of the spectrum, my father-in-law is a professional driving instructor. He teaches 'Frozen Teutonomy 301' in some God-forsaken part of northern Finland (near Ernie's house, I think), and at Birmingham and Road Atlanta.
His personal race car is an ages-old BMW 2002, which he's lightened, strengthened and just won't let go of. He's described it as balanced, but it makes a hell of a lot of noise in corners (and he's been driving it long enough that he's getting the most of it on every lap). Having watched how hard he has to work to keep that car under control, I wonder if the street 2002s are even remotely valid as a base of comparison.
Probably not.
Most Spyders seem like they're as well thought out as they can be, right out of the box. People add things to them, just like Speedster people do, and they only get better. The Spyders I like best are the unapologetic, loud, tire-squealing ones that sound like they're being attacked by zombies with chainsaws -- pretty much the antithesis of most Speedsters. If you haven't looked into them, don't do what I done, as they say, and check one of those out before you look at a Speedster.
Finally, Speedsters. There is nothing else to say about the shape, the timeless interior or the view out the windshield that you haven't already figured out. The powerplants, the gearboxes, brakes, stability control options and the choice of how Gucci you want it to look are all great options to have in a car. Imagine if you could get all of those options nowadays in a modern car, hang the engine out back, park a great set of fenders on the front and STILL be under $30K.
Can't be done. Speedsters are where it's at. If you do decide to get one ... make sure you lose the bumpers, chrome bits, roof, carpet, door handles and storage space (unless you're an old man, in which case you can leave all the aforementioned bits, and go out and buy a dapper pork-pie hat and a tweed coat).
Welcome aboard!