The Bay Area Miata Association—California’s Oldest Miata Club—Looking Back on 33 Years as a Club
Founded April 22, 1990, the Bay Area Miata Association (BAMA) is the oldest active Mazda MX-5 Miata club in California and is also one of the oldest MX-5 clubs in the United States.
Based in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, BAMA began as the idea of three very enthusiastic Miata owners—Scott Pihl (BAMA’s first President), Sam Handelman, and Bill Lewis, as described in an article in the summer 1990 issue of Miata Magazine. These founders drafted a flyer and chose a location for the club’s first meet on April 22nd (Earth Day) at Huddart Park in San Mateo County. The organizers had expected that only a few interested owners would show up for the gathering but were happily surprised when 35 Miatas and their owners showed up. By the end of April, BAMA had 50 paid members and was off to an amazing start.
In August of 1990, these first BAMA members were fortunate enough to be able to attend the Miata’s first birthday party held by Mazda at Laguna Seca Raceway in conjunction with the Monterey Historic Automobile Races. BAMA folks were even able to meet several members of Mazda's Miata design team, including Tom Matano, Bob Hall, and Norm Garrett.
A year later, BAMA held its first Anniversary Drive and “Show and Shine.” More than 135 members attended, with many awards and prizes being donated by local Mazda dealers and vendors. By the summer of 1991, BAMA membership had reached 200 MX-5s and more than 350 people, and the club was doing heavily attended monthly drives on the winding backroads and through incredible landscapes of the San Francisco region.