A little Background
The last time I owned an MX-5 it was circa 2005, when I purchased an NA (ie the 1st generation) reg /year ? I cannot recall now, but it was pretty ropey, with a roof that blew from shut to open at 70 mph on a Spanish Autoroute, mediocre handling from probable tired suspension, lastly, a terminal issue, when the coolant disappeared, rapid overheating ensued, the car towed to a Spanish garage never to re-appear!
An all too brief experience with two Honda CRX(Del Sol) circa 1994 age of cars, happened just afterwards :- a CRX Vti and a heavily modified B-18 engine converted Trans-top, both were excellent cars for where we were living at the time :- Costa Brava, Spain. A major forest fire put paid to the Vti, whilst the missus hated the other one, which had overly firm suspension and thus was sold on.
Story Continuation
Following the miserable experience with the MX-5, a few years elapsed until circa 2016, when I decided to have another go at buying an affordable convertible. This time I avoided MX-5, so the 'affordable' Roadster/Convertible category consisted of Fiat X1-9, Fiat Barchetta, BMW Z3 and Z4 , and finally my choice, a Toyota MR2 mk3 .
This Toyota had only 12k miles, silver with a hardtop, located in a different part of the country :- Edinburgh, whereas I live in Mid-Wales.3 train journeys later, taking at least 6 hours, I was met by the seller at a train station, after a few hours of checking the car out, I was happily driving home with the hardtop on, at a steady 75-80 mph.
The MR2 was a source of great joy, but 2 factors combined to take away from the driving experience, namely I always ended up with quite severe headaches after a 1-2 hour drive. This turned out to be down to 2 factors :- cold on the forehead, when driving with the roof off, secondly,a lack of good sunglasses to reduce the glare. BUT I only discovered these were factors after I had sold the MR2. I didn't replace the convertible until maybe a further year, then an Audi TT convertible was bought.
The higher screen of the Audi took away any wind blast onto my forehead, also the wearing of headgear helped. Quite a few Audi TT later of various guises of fwd/awd, and from 160-300bhp varieties were bought. However I decided that although the cabin quality, general ambience, paintwork were excellent, it really couldn't overcome the lack of joy and fun that the TT gave to the driver ie Dull but worthy in it's own way......just not a drivers car!
So I decided to go back to MR2 mk3 , this time suitably attired to avoid the headache issue, I owned maybe 6-7 for various periods of time, indeed I was that besotted with how very good a mid-engined rwd could be, I ended up with four at once :- madness!! but it must be said at this point that each one was a source of great joy and really couldn't contemplate ever not owning at least one in future years.
Story Conclusion
Full circle and back to the MX- 5 story (this was written on 19/3/24)
Today, I bought an Orange 30th Edition with 15k miles on the clock, crucially it also came with a raft of BBR kit(s)
220 bhp engine kit
Big Brake kit with cf pads
Exhaust + manifold kit
Ohlins suspension kit
Great geo done by the previous owner
This is just what I can recall 'off the cuff' . The upshot is though, its a wonderful relaxed cruiser , 6th gear at 70mph = ~ 2800 rpm and very economical at those speeds , maybe high 40's-low 50's mpg .
But the car transforms into a supremely planted, very rapid sports car, when the revs rise over ~ 5500rpm , I did see 7500rpm today , with a delicious accompanying howl .
The car has exceeded all expectations with it's multi-faceted character , I travelled on a few well-known to me back-roads today, at a far higher speed than with any other vehicle I have owned previously,all achieved without any fuss or drama, such was the excellence of the chassis/ride and roadholding .
So what will I do with my existing MR2 mk3 (2 off) ?
I'm very strongly considering selling both, as their virtues and strong points are at least matched by this MX-5
The MR-2 is a less common sight on UK roads, and just maybe the driving position is a tad more generous than the MX-5, but these would be the only area where my existing cars have any very slight advantage.
Maybe a Final Twist in This Saga though
A friend who was a previous MR-2 owner, purchased a well sorted, great service history, but ancient 05 reg Porsche Boxster 987 2.7 engined car, in mid Summer last year. I drove the car, and was suitably impressed with the very solid nature of it in terms of the car controls eg pedals,switches,levers , maybe overly heavy in fact, but the overall driving impression was very positive. Little did I imagine less than 9 months later, that the car now belongs to me. So, as I was driving the Boxster along today,I'm thinking ''did I need to also have the newly bought MX-5 as well'? The previous owner of the MX-5 did indicate that he would like to have 1st refusal if ever I wanted to sell. So.....what to do? enjoy all of my crop of cars over the Summer and then see what to do for the best, or start to have a much needed cull of a 5 car stable, where I am the only driver in the family.
Two MR2 for Sale
MR2 (now sold)
Updated situation in late July
As per usual in my car-owning history, nothing was straightforward. A friend who I have known for many moons, offered me yet another MR2 in May, but this one was an unusual solar yellow Facelift in great condition, with a low mileage of 46.8k(now bought) so couldn't pass up the opportunity. This had followed me swapping the black MR2 mentioned above (that was For Sale) for a Honda CRZ, but the Honda has subsequently been donated to my son who 'blew-up' his only car:- a battered MX-5. So, once again all change, but at least I am at 4 cars now! The MR-S that I also mentioned for sale above, generated some initial interest, but I must confess that I haven't strongly pushed to sell it as it is such a delightful relatively cheap (not quite valueless) car. However it doesn't make much sense to have 4 cabriolets however much I like each of them. So, over the next few weeks/months it's the intention to replace the MR-S with a winter-runabout, and probably trade in the recently bought yellow MR2 along with with the manual Boxster to get a PDK paddle-shift 987 Gen 2 Boxster .....this would bring the stable to a far more manageable 3 cars
The Planned 'Fleet'
MX-5
Boxster
A cheap runabout eg Audi A2, Ford Fiesta ......
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