Lid, or SWMBO (she who must be obeyed), decreed in 2002 that she wanted to buy herself a smarter little runabout, to replace the worthy but buttock-clenchingly dull Ford Escort that she had been using til then. Who can blame her? A bland yawn-mobile, or a whizzy little sports car? no contest really.
So a copy of the local Autotrader was speedily acquired, and the hunt for an MX5 began. Later MK2 MX5s were ruled out on the basis of cost. For the amount of money we were wanting to spend, only a Mk1 with the pop-up lamps, would be in budget, and, by all accounts, its the more entertaining to drive. We rang up after a few examples, but they were already sold.
Finally we located a red 1990 MX5 in North Wales which fitted the bill, so off we scampered that same evening, to have a test drive. This car had obviously been very well pampered, belonging to a young lad who'd bought it as a pick-me-up following an illness. It came with a mountain of history, and was up for a fair price so following a brief, largely unsuccessful haggle, the deal was done, and a deposit left. Next evening we went back over, cash in pocket, to collect the car.
I'd not had a convertible in the fleet since my 2.5 Spitfire, so I was looking forward to the MX5s arrival. I was not disappointed, the car is very chuckable and revs far better than the wheezy old iron block Triumph engines I'd last had in a roadster.
A year on and for the most part I still enjoy this little car, although it is not without fault in my eyes. Neither of us find the skinny seats particularly comfortable, and with the roof up it is quite noisy inside, not helped by what feels like overly low gearing - anything over 60 and its very buzzy inside. The gear change is very precise, although very knotchy - perhaps a different gearbox oil would help, although the gearbox is very whiney on this example so maybe after 75000 miles it is showing its age, though I'd be surprised. The hood
for the most part keeps the cars occupants dry, but dollops of water landing on your right knee are not unknown after a rain shower. The quality and look of the interior is a let down, especially in a car built for posing I find, and the retro-style alloys are lousy quality, their rough cast finish making keeping them clean virtually impossible, unless you enjoy spending every Sunday morning with a tub of Wonder Wheels, which I don't.
Saying that, on a nice day with the roof down, it's still a great ride, I just don't think I (or rather my back) could put up with using one every day. Being an early 1.6 MX5, they are allegedly prone to problems with the keyway on the nose of the crankshaft, so that too is a worry that is in the back of my mind, as failure can lead to the end of the crank shearing off :( And don't let anyone tell you that Jap cars don't rust, ours has an area of rust at the base of a screen pillar, just above the top door hinge, and the rear
end of both sills, ahead of the back wheels, show signs of some tinworm also, although we have had this repaired.
Update July 2005.We heard of a lower mileage '92 Eunos coming up for sale, so we decided to go for this, and sold on the old UK car. We had looked at a few mid-90s MX5s with nearby dealers and privately, but they were all showing signs of the dreaded rust on the back end of the sills, which was very disappointing. The low-mileage import that we settled on doesn't show any sign of tinworm, so hopefully should last ok.
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