I was in the same boat until May of 2009, then I sat in the 10AE MX5. Everything is catered towards the driver, its as if the entire cabin was molded around you. Everything just feels right, you are incredibly connected to the car. The tranny is perfect, the throws are very short, the car is so balanced its hard at times to believe its stock
I think that the Honda S2000 did a great job at this. Even the "center" console is gone and basicaly "wrapped" around the driver. And they did it with good body styling.
Not necessarily saying that the miata had BAD styling but its not great either. Once i got passed that, i started liking the miata's.
Another car thats "girly" but a blast to drive is the Mini Cooper S, but even that car looks or can look way more agressive/masculine(best word i could think of) than the Miata.
And i'm not trying to bash but more so expressing frustration with Mazda for making such a great car but so, unatractive per say.
That power hard top looks awesome though.