Friday 21st October 2016

Shed Of The Week: Mazda Eunos S-Special

A special edition MX-5 with a good spec, new roof and 11 months MOT? Get it bought!

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Shed always knows when the cold weather is approaching. For a start, Mrs Shed puts her winter drawers out on the line for airing, once she's received permission from the local airfield of course. And a lot more used Mazda MX-5s start to come onto the market.

BBS and LSD? Great combo!

Controversial statement alert: anyone who slags off the MX-5 has either never tried one or is a fool. How can anyone criticise a car whose design was so right and whose launch impact in 1989 was so cataclysmic? For the first time in motoring history an enthusiast could jump into a cheap sports car, fire it up and razz it about the place with gay abandon in the near-certain knowledge that (a) it wouldn't break down or (b) drench their crotch at the first sight of rain.

Ever since that fateful day 27 years ago, the little Mazda has been providing simple driving pleasure and decent practicality to more people than any other open-topped car ever. The first model with the pop-up headlights is quite rightly regarded as the one to have, not just because they're getting rarer with the passage of time, but also because their unfussy style and purposeful design is a pretty fair definition of affordable motoring fun.

Did it have a spoiler? Did it not? Let us know!

Right, that's the case for the defence laid out. Now let's look at our star witness, this week's Shed. It's a Eunos. If you believe the internet, the name 'eunos' comes from a mix of 'eu', Greek for 'good' and 'nos', English for nitrous oxide. No, sorry, that should be English for 'the abbreviation of numbers', which to be honest sounds even more unlikely than the nitrous explanation.

For any hermits out there, Eunos also means it's an import from the Japanese domestic market rather than a Mazda GB car. There was a time when ads for used MX-5s would make a point of saying 'UK car'. Eunos cars had a stigma about them, fuelled mainly by a fear of the unknown. That irrational fear has been largely replaced over the years by the happy realisation that Eunos cars are rather well specced, and have often been quite well looked after by their first owners.

Built five years into the Mk1 production run (and a year before the Eunos sub-brand experiment ended), our Shed is especially desirable spec-wise as it's an S Special. This 500-off limited edition came with 14-inch BBS alloys, Bilstein dampers, a strut brace, Nardi steering wheel, Torsen limited-slip diff, lighter flywheel and (Shed thought) a rear spoiler.

Strut brace because special edition

The apparent removal of that last piece is no great loss. More important is the stuff we do have here. That starts with the correct Japanese paperwork and a nearly full MoT, a crucial document for this car as it tells us that any of the structural sill and rear arch rust problems that are this model's best known weaknesses have been addressed.

Then we go on to the non-paper stuff. Besides a nearly new roof we have a nice selection of MX-5 enhancements. We're not talking bean can exhausts, death's head tyre valve caps or undercarriage neon. We're talking about the sort of things that don't show but that can nicely enhance the drive, in this case a sensibly modded exhaust and braided brake lines in addition to the very welcome standard-fit diff and flywheel.

The percentage of motorists who have experienced a car with a lightened flywheel is pretty small. Not surprising really as it's not exactly an off the shelf modification, and that's a shame because there's a big difference in responsiveness. The ultimate expression of this phenomenon is the Lexus LFA, whose engine revs go up and down faster than Mrs Shed's drawers at a lingerie party.

Grooved discs and braided lines are encouraging

Shed likes the smell of this car. There are no cabin shots, which is a pity, but the bodywork looks clean and it's good to see proper tyres (well, one at least) with lots of meat left rather than the ha'porth o' tar PingPong 500s that all too often spoil what could otherwise be a fine ship, or car. Obviously, times are hard and everything, but what's the point of buying a nice little sports car and then saddling it with tyres made from microwaved liqourice?

We all know that modern smartphones take suspiciously great pics, and the vendor does keep your expectations in check by describing his MX-5 as being in a "condition you would expect from a 22-year old car", but all that aside, this one merits a good look.

Here's the ad.

Reluctantly I have to sell my Mazda MX-5. I've had the car for nearly 5 years now with much more than a grumble.
Its a S-Special addition which comes with:
Electric windows
Scuff plates
CD player
Electric Aerial
Lightweight fly wheel
Bilstein shock absorbers
Torsen LSD
14" BBS alloys
Yellow strut brace
Ltd slip diff

I have the original Japanese paperwork and log book.
Recently had a new fabric roof.
In 2013 it had a 4-2-1 Exhaust manifold installed and grooved disc brakes with S/S braided lines.
The paintwork and interior is in the condition you would expect from a 22 year old car, and I will have the car valeted before sold.
Comes with 11 months MOT
The Pictures are a little old but I will upload some more in the next couple of days.

[Soupr]

No mention of the rear cills being made out of iron oxide and paper mache? This is a fantastic spec car for the money, even if the cills were gone it would make a good doner car. Getting a torsen for the vlsd (open by now) diffs is expensive.

Also, aren't the wheels 15"?

[Gorbyrev]

Great shed sir - surprised to see a S-Special sub grand. There is much to like here. All I can hear in my head is a slight rewording of the "Italian Job" theme tune, "Momentum Preservation Society"!

[2smoke]

Looks good and only 30 miles away, not sure I can justify a 4th car though!

[pti]

Oooh, I want that.

[steve2864169]

"Pictures are a little old..." could explain why it looks so nice...

Tempted though!

[BenLowden]

Judging from the MOT advisories it probably needs another grand spending on it, but still looks like a bargain to me. Really really really want one of these, but just don't have the space/funds at the moment. Looks like sills need replacing but I think that's a £300 job, needs new tyres all round but that's no biggy. Quite a few suspension parts need replacing, but they're probably pretty cheap and straight forward DIY. Jealous of whoever buys it!

[only1ian]

Oh look its MX-5 of the week!

[grumpy52]

Not another poncey MX5 !
Bored !

[carinaman]

Weld it up or part it out?

[J4CKO]

It sounds usable as it has an MOT but this is a bit of a project really, rather than a cheap MX5, if you do all the jobs yourself it could be cheap though, less so if you send it to a garage, some stuff has been done like the brakes.

None of the advisories are anything that requires much in the way of expensive parts, sounds more like labour, get it, stick it in your garage and work through it, beg borrow or steal a mig welder for the cills/arches and practice on some bits of metal, read up on it and have a go, I did on my 944 and had it checked over by a pro and he said my effort was a lot better than a lot of stuff he sees done by garages, I didnt mention it took me a month...




Advisory notice item(s)
Fuel cap seal perished
Centre brake light inop
Brake pedal rubber worn
N/S/F inner sill corroded, advise repair
centre Exhaust has a minor leak of exhaust gases (7.1.2)
rear Brake pipe slightly corroded (3.6.B.2c)
O/S/R sill / wheel arch corroded
Front tyres worn on inner edges
nearside front coil spring corroded (2.4.C.1b)
offside front coil spring corroded (2.4.C.1b)
nearside rear coil spring corroded (2.4.C.1b)
offside rear coil spring corroded (2.4.C.1b)
nearside front lower Suspension arm ball joint dust cover deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (2.4.G.2)
offside front lower Suspension arm ball joint dust cover deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (2.4.G.2)
nearside front upper Suspension arm has slight play in a pin/bush (2.4.G.2)
offside front upper Suspension arm has slight play in a pin/bush (2.4.G.2)
O/S/R tyre worn bald on inner edge / Advise replacement
N/S/R tyre wearing on inner edge

[PistonBroker]

Great shed. Had 2 x Mk1 V-Specs in quick succession between 2003 and 2006 and loved them. Always fancied an S-Spec as the kit list on them is nice.

Welding's beyond me but, otherwise, that doesn't strike me as too bad a list. Plus it's all advisory items so at least it could be a rolling resto.

Dangerously close to home and I'll be passing Bristol tomorrow. Thank god funds don't allow right now!

[bmv6197]

Great choice for SOTW and unless it's deteriorated massively since the photos were taken, it seems like a bargain for a decent, and subtly modded Mk1.

As for the tyres, anyone who's had the "pleasure" of running Pirelli P6000 on an MX5/Eunos Roadster will note their astounding ability to never wear out, and when cold or wet, to provide a similar level of traction to a greased monkey. If only they'd made the MX5's sills out of an equally solid, robust material... But after a few brown-trouser moments on wet roundabouts, the new owner will surely be waving goodbye to his/her Italian rubber in favour of one of the very reasonably priced other alternatives...

[Richard-390a0]

Another MX-5 yawn & the images look to have been taken at the time of the manifold & brakes being fitted so three years out of date. I would reasonably assume the other images are of a similar age as the seller says they are old pictures & would bear little relevance to what the car is like now.

Edited by Richard-390a0 on Friday 21st October 10:41

[Mr-B]

Loved the definition of Eunos, Eu Greek for good , nos nitrous, etc. Gave me a chuckle anyway.

[Blackpuddin]

Richard-390a0 said:

Another MX-5 yawn

Yes, damn all those MX-5 Sheds, that's the second one in the last two years.

[MrGeoff]

Blackpuddin said:

Richard-390a0 said:

Another MX-5 yawn

Yes, damn all those MX-5 Sheds, that's the second one in the last two years.

Haha, brilliant!

[Usget]

This makes mine worth about 50p. Damn it.

[Limpet]

I guess if you bought it to get a year of fun out of it "as is" and break / dispose, it's a bargain.

As a project/fixer upper, it's not cheap enough for the time and money that needs investing IMHO.

Arms are prohibitively expensive to replace (£200 each) so you're looking at rebushing them (a pig of a job) and replacing the balljoints. A lot of work involving about £350 worth of bits if you don't use eBay crap.
Welding is probably straightforward enough if you know what you are doing. Negligble cost if you DIY, but a bit of time.
Decent set of springs is £200
Another £150 on a couple of tyres and realignment.
Exhaust and brake pipes, with fluid refresh another £100 or so.

And that's just the stuff that's known about, that the MOT picked up. It would not be excessive to allow another £200 for stuff that you are going to find as you go.

For £2k you can get a really nice mk1 and save yourself all the work.

[Black S2K]

Usget said:

This makes mine worth about 50p. Damn it.

Where can you get so much fun for 50p, though.

[gdaybruce]

bmv6197 said:

As for the tyres, anyone who's had the "pleasure" of running Pirelli P6000 on an MX5/Eunos Roadster will note their astounding ability ... when cold or wet, to provide a similar level of traction to a greased monkey.

Have to agree with this. P6000s doubtless work well on bigger, heavier cars but definitely not on MX5s. Mind, I should add that I've no idea how old mine were - I just knew they had to go!

For less than a grand, this looks like a very fair shed.