Black Bbr Turbo Lemans

got a link to the one on Ebay??

Doug Passell from the OC owns one Black LeMans. I believe there is only one other in Black.

Can't work out when they were called "Johnny Herbert LeMans Editions", or whatever it said!

Shame, that looks a bit scruffy!

Didn't the resprayed ones just have a body respray, i.e, they were still orange under the hood?

Dunno why people get so worked up about limited editions, it's just an MX-5 at the end of the day and worth no more than any other black Mk1 turbo IMHO.

And the green and orange le mans version is probably the worst paint job I've ever seen on any MX-5 Again, just my personal opinion, of course.

I suppose I'm a bit sad.
I like them because people are more interested in them, even to the extent of keeping a record of all the vin numbers and where each car is.
It's the record keeping that gets me, just makes them a little bit different to the average 5. Maybe I should take up train spotting

It is genuine. I have the other black LM car and am the MX5OC Registrar for the LM cars. Two of the green and orange Le Mans cars were returned to MCL Sheerness (the original builders) to be resprayed black when they didn't sell. As per the green orange respray it was a full engine out job so everything is black - engine bay, under bonnet, in boot, underside of boot lid, door shuts, insides of doors etc. however, as per the green/orange respray if you lift the carpets the floor inside the car and some areas behind the plastic trim panels, etc are still the original classic red.

If you check under the bonnet and boot lids in the framework you should still see hints of the green and orange and MAYBE the red, where however hard they tried, the spray gun would not reach. On mine, underneath, even after 19 years, there are still traces of the green and orange overspray and where the car is subject to wear - the bonnet and boot hinges for example, as part of the 'patina' you can see where the black has been abraded away to leave green, orange or red showing. Don't get me wrong, the car doesn't look a mess of these colours. You'd have to look hard to find the evidence - but it's there.

Yes, the car on eBay is rare. It's 1 of a limited edition of 24. 22 are known, one of which was written off. The others still survive. Two were resprayed black and sold through Charles Follet of Mayfair. One was resprayed Caribbean Bue Metallic and sold through T W Whites in Surrey. Two were resprayed orange - not sure where they were sold from though. All five were sold in these colours from new, never having been sold before, just displayed in Mazda showrooms until it got to a point where the dealers had to move them on. They were registered from new in these new colours too.

This car is missing its original OZ Pluton wheels, which are very hard to find but it does have the rare Mazda Finishline body kit, albeit damaged - the front splitter is missing. The lower section that juts out should be continuous. My car has the original wheels although I tend to run it on Lorbers. However, it does not have the bodykit, although I have been able to track one down. Until I can prove whether it was 'de-kitted' or not when it was resprayed I will not be fitting it.

If anyone here is thinking of buying it ask if it has the modified manifold. It should be obvious even though the manifold is covered by a s/s heatshield. There is a 2-3mm wide slit in the flange between the 2nd and 3rd exhaust outlets to allow for expansion and contraction. If not it is likely to be cracked and is expensive to fix. It was cast especially for the BBR Turbo cars and are no longer available.

Does anyone know what mileage its done please?

If anyone from here buys it, please let me know as this car has been 'missing' for 19 years! We wouldn't want to lose sight of it again!

Also, there is a reunion planned for these cars and the BBR Turbos next year (2011) at Beaulieu to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Mazda LM win and the build of these cars.. We (the Wessex area of the MX5OC) are hoping to get as many of the surviving LM cars together for this very special occasion.

If I didn't already have three Fives/Roadsters I'd certainly be VERY interested in buying this one

I'd have to agree on the colour scheme. I think they look great myself but although I love these cars I couldn't imagine owning and driving one. With the black car I've got the best of both worlds. A 'stealth' version and it's even rarer than the green/orange type. Plus, being the shy/retiring type ;-) I can still use it whenever I like .

However, others DO get used with at least two of them having 130,000+ on the clock and at least two converted to full on track cars. There is also one, cocooned from new, that has only done 763 miles and is for sale for offers in excess of £20k. Whether the seller will get that is another matter as it's too good to use and needs to go to a collection somewhere.

Hope that helps?