1994 Mazda MX5

that's bloody cheap! any bits need doing on it?

know what you mean about fun tho, they're not that quick but they feel bloody brilliant to drive.

was just lucky i guess...its covered 150 miles in the last year, 1500 miles in last 3 years.....always garaged, kept as a weekend toy.....it needs rear of sills tidied and a few bits on arches, but just cosmetic stuff...I'm just gonna give it a fresh mot and enjoy...something i wrote about mx5 for those weird enough to give a curse word....

my thoughts...apologies if your not a led zep fan..and shame on you if your not....but those of ya who are hopefully know what i mean....

led zeppelin....behemoths of rock, possibly the greatest rock band of all time.....think of the pomp and splendour of achilles last stand or kashmir belting out...perfectly produced, note perfect, power riffs strained thru cut glass..a huge, overwhelming, overproduced wall of perfect noise.....but it wasnt always like this..go listen to led zeppelin's first, self titled album, enjoy the stripped down back to basics essential blues/rock sound those guys belted out in the late sixties... no room for error, no safety net..just pared to the bone perfection. four guys living the dream before the dream started living them. the urgency, the vitality, the spark..its all there on led zeppelin 1..the band became slowly more powerful, more ponderous, hell, maybe more perfect too some, over time..eventually they were derided as dinosaurs of rock and when the backbone of the band primal, thumping beat, jon bonham, died, the ride was over.....

....for me, an early mx5 is bare essentials motoring. nothing to dillute the intimate experience of driving the car. no power steering, no heavy air con units, no heavy power hood, no electric windows. this is led zeppelin before they became older, before they had multi million dollar recording facilities, this is the simple, raw, raucous enjoyment you get from listening to led zeppelin 1...and its all the better for it. this car may be perceived as a cheap japanese facsimilie of a trad brit sportscar...but its one of those rare occurences....this tribute band is better than the original!!

the rorty 1.8 twin cam engine is happy to lug you around in a higher gear when you just wanna loaf aimlessley around - think the lazy licks of ' i cant quit you baby' - as you cruise along with one hand on the wheel, sun on your face...laid back but with the feeling of raw, raunchy rock n roll excitment not to far below the surface...but its equally happy to make the rev counter needle race to the war paint in every gear as you conduct a high energy, high speed, note perfect gasoline fueled symphony ..think 'communication breakdown' here..ten tenths thrills with no extra padding.

the driving position is just about spot on. sure you sit close to the wheel, but you have to. the car is a surprisingly physical wee thing to drive, making a mockery of its 'hairdresser' image. the gearchange is gorgeous. short throw snickety snick, it has the feel of a perfectly engineered rifle bolt and none of the usual over engineered japlite feel. this isnt a car that drives you just like so many moderns, this is an old fashioned experience..you have to drive this car. ..you are an integral cog in this machine, not a computer chip..not a one driver fits all automonon, you are a mechanical piece of the car and you are essential to its progress.

find a road you know and put the foot down half and inch...and the car goes half an inch faster....turn the wheel a half turn and the car feels like its turned, well, a half turn..inch perfect..every time.....no slop, no unfaithfulness, but neither does it have the nervy feel of a mk1 civic type r or the like. the steering is meaty rather than heavy and conveys a feeling of economy of motion, it feels both lean and spare, yet substantial and implicitly trustworthy..a difficult trick to pull off..it turns in just so and communicates where the wheels are going and where they wanna go..the car rides very well on its standard suspension..sure, some might want lower, stiffer suspension, but, just like led zeppelin, I'm a wee bit older, and a wee bit wiser than i used to be, so il stick with the standard springs!!..the little mazda zips down the road with a raw, grity realism..this car feels like an old, well loved vinyl album...sure a cd might play better, an mp3 track might be more easily available in todays world , but give the wee roadster its head and you will remember that warm feeling of satisfaction as the needle hits the groove..its a live action experience in a cgi world...

it is a feel good car, and not just because its a soft top, though the sensation of driving is heightened by your close proximity to the elements with the top down..and its a sin NOT to put the top down, cos it takes, oh, about a minute to do so..and the same again to put it back up. power hoods..pah..cars like this make you realise its what you don't need in a car that puts a smile on your face, not what you think you do need..an overworked cliche here, but cars like this can prove that less can be more. you smile when you drive an mx5, and you don't feel that other road users are jealous of you in the same way they would be if you were driving a bmw convertible or the like. its a wee unthreatning car, it provokes smiles and warmth from other drivers, and its only other owners or real enthusiaists that know that beneath the carefully constructed imagery is a real, dedicated sportscar in the traditional sense of the word...

the secret of led zeppelin was that they were, in the words of jimmy page, tight but loose.....that description suits the mx5 perfectly. it feels tight, planted, everything feels like its gonna keep on keepin on....but it feels like when you wanna tie the dog loose, when you wanna let your hair down, its happy to indulge in the on the road equivelant of one of jimmy's fantastic solos, its happy to trip up and down the tarmac fretboard, happy to hit all the high notes and let you indulge in the big riffs anytime you want..tight, but loose....the mx5 is bare essentials, no frills rock n roll.....a true sportscar on a budget, and like listening to led zep turned up to eleven, it sometimes leaves me feeling deafened, but never short changed....

seconded.

i just got one of similar age, uk spec, 1.8 for 3 grand.

and it's brilliant. all the best factors of it are nicked from earrlier cars tho, the style of gearchange, seating position, engine note, all designed as a facsimilie of other cars people have loved over the years and yet somehow it seems better than all of them!

Can I just say your a git! Why can't I ever find a bargin like that?! Going to be looking for one of these when I get back from sweden, so if you get bored! (which you never will )

Nice find, heres so to subtle retro mods ;D

again, seconded. they really lack torque in a big way, you have to keep them really busy to make progress.

got a set of 16s with new tyres for mine yesterday for 200 quid, really good nick to. going to respray them but not sure what colour yet, i'm knocking a few ideas around before settling on a standard silver so any suggestions greatfully received.

car's in BRG with coded cruise light covers and clear repeaters.

gonna get a set of 30mm lower springs and a strut brace ot be going on with, should make the car sit down a bit better and hopefully be that bit stiffer through the bends....and yup, the car only sings past 4k revs, but hey, thats the fun aint it........