UPDATE:
This morning, after exchanging a few emails over the past few weeks, I spent about an hour on the phone with the current owner of my former Miata (the black car).
He's a great guy! He told me that the car is virtually unchanged from when I owned it, and he has only added a few miles to it, due to the combined facts that he owns several other cars and lives in Europe for part of the year.
We talked for a long time, about a lot of cool stuff. We have become friends.
My urgent need to own another Miata has cooled a bit. For the past month or so, I've been telling myself that I was only going to do something "If the Right Car comes along".
I have explained this to him, and we agreed that we both know where the Right Car is. He has considered thinning his fleet, and said that doing so would be easier if he knew that the Miata would be going to a good home.
He's returning to Europe next week and won't be back until summer. We're going to meet up in August for a pint of brown ale.
We have a gentleman's agreement. When he is ready to sell, I will be ready to buy.