While I normally have respect for things that handle well on the track, I can't do it for Miata's. Don't care. There is not one single redeeming thing about those cars. I'd rather drive a Yugo.
And its not the barbie car looks either. I like MG's, bugeye sprite's, all kinds of little Brit cars that look just as "barbie car" as a Miata. Heck maybe even more so in some cases.
I think it comes from their delusional owners calling them "sports cars". Maybe if they called them "the death of everything we ever knew as, or considered to be, a sports car" I wouldn't be so affected. But yeah, I think the hatred comes from the very existence of the Miata being an insult to the spirit of the sports car. The fact that miata owners some how think they're carrying on the sports car tradition just adds further insult.