I remember desiring the Mk1 when it was new (came close to buying a Miata when I was living in the US in the early '90s).
At the back of my mind I always knew I'd own one, but with already too many cars in the fleet than is sensible, I wasn't in a hurry.
And then the other week, I was browsing the classifieds as you do, and three days later I was driving back from Wales in my mk2 1.8iS.
The T1Rs are fitted, and my pilgrimage to WiM happened this morning. After 9 days and 600 miles of ownership, I can say with a fair degree of certainty that there always be an MX-5 in my garage. So many of my boxes ticked: the perfectly-geared, intuitive steering; wrist-flick gearchange; pedals perfectly positioned for heel-and-toe downchanges, the pointiness, fluid balance yet compliance over bumps; the sheer purity of concept, no-frills simplicity and confidence-inspiring robustness.
The only downsides I can ascertain so far are the slightly gruff nature of the 1.8 post 5k (it prefers short-shifting to redlining - my next MX-5 will be a mk1 1.6), and a bit too much body roll (fatter arbs on the cards down the line).
Not to mention the excellent online communities (which are important to me as they really enrich the ownership experience), the myriad of aftermarket options and the extremely sensible running costs. I feel like a born-again convert.
At the back of my mind I always knew I'd own one, but with already too many cars in the fleet than is sensible, I wasn't in a hurry.
And then the other week, I was browsing the classifieds as you do, and three days later I was driving back from Wales in my mk2 1.8iS.
The T1Rs are fitted, and my pilgrimage to WiM happened this morning. After 9 days and 600 miles of ownership, I can say with a fair degree of certainty that there always be an MX-5 in my garage. So many of my boxes ticked: the perfectly-geared, intuitive steering; wrist-flick gearchange; pedals perfectly positioned for heel-and-toe downchanges, the pointiness, fluid balance yet compliance over bumps; the sheer purity of concept, no-frills simplicity and confidence-inspiring robustness.
The only downsides I can ascertain so far are the slightly gruff nature of the 1.8 post 5k (it prefers short-shifting to redlining - my next MX-5 will be a mk1 1.6), and a bit too much body roll (fatter arbs on the cards down the line).
Not to mention the excellent online communities (which are important to me as they really enrich the ownership experience), the myriad of aftermarket options and the extremely sensible running costs. I feel like a born-again convert.
