Friday 28th August 2009

SOTW Special: Mazda MX-5

PH finally buys another Shed, and this one's not just any Shed; this one's an MX-Shed

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After weeks of fruitless Shed-spotting on the various online classifieds sites, there was growing despondency at PH Towers as our next shed special was proving rather elusive. That was until Garlick spotted something a bit special on Gumtree. It was an MX-5 (well, an imported Eunos Roadster), and it looked grand. Well, it did on the ad - a bright blue low-resolution splendour. Best of all, the owner had put it on at just £695, with no major faults listed.

I put in a swift call to the seller, a small-scale trader from North London, and learned that there was a spot of rust on one of the rear sills (the usual spot for Mk1 MX-5s), a small tear in the rear screen, and that it lacked tax and a service history. But a reasonable mileage at 185,000km (115k miles) and that seductive, negotiable price tag meant it had to be worth a look.

So on Saturday at the crack of noon, Mr Will and I rolled into a quiet street in Harrow to go and take a look at this would-be Shed.

First impressions were pretty good - it was a car, that was for sure, a whole MX-5 that wasn't on fire or sitting in an orange rust cloud. All good so far. A poke around the bodywork revealed everything was in pretty good order, with decent and mostly matching paint, only 2 small dents, and lovely original Jap-spec BBS alloys (albeit with strange 'Enzo' centre caps, for some reason).

The rust on the sills was the same as in many older Mk1s that were not Waxoyl-ed by conscientious owners when the body was still clean, but it was far from terminal, and the car had just passed an MOT from a known garage with no advisories issued, so it was definitely fine for the road.

Like the exterior, the interior was mostly straight; dirty (and smelly) and needing some finishing touches, but with plenty of Shed potential. A non-standard remote-control central locking system was also a bonus. A peek under the bonnet and quick test drive revealed a car that was, mechanically, not in bad nick at all, with a strong engine and its lovely direct gearbox still in great health. Even the oil was nice and clean.

The car seemed to be sitting oddly, and a comparison with my own car sitting next to it revealed that the blue Eunos had been lowered at the front, but not at the rear. Further peering and prodding showed up a set of drilled and grooved front discs, and fairly new Continental rubber.

Some final clues revealed the car's past: a GB sticker on the rear bumper and, sitting proudly above it, another sticker in the familiar shape of the Nürburgring. The interior also revealed a small fire extinguisher, a Porsche Carrera Cup hat, and a 2006 printout from a Donington Park track day. This had been somebody's track toy.

We retired to the local petrol station for a terrible coffee and a chat, and decided to go for it. Mr Will took lead on the negotiation, but the seller was stubborn and knew he was already asking very little. We offered the full asking price if he would tax the car. After he refused this very strongly, our man Will offered to by the car SORN for £600 instead. The seller refused for a good five minutes, but when Mr Will started counting out the readies the dealer was seduced and we sealed the deal.

A tax disc for six months set us back another £105, and we were away.

So far the car has received a full wash and polish, a nice new set of front brake pads as the existing ones started grinding after a couple of days (don't you mean after a couple of miles?! - Riggers), and I braved the interior and boot to make things a little more habitable. The iffy smell is fading now, and she's looking and driving rather well.

Still to do are the rear screen, a few missing details (the front badge for one!), a stereo and some bits of interior trim that need replacing, but this is certainly more than £600-worth of car. Watch this Shed-shaped space...

Shed-obsessed after his latest spot, Garlick has gone and created SOTW's very own Facebook group, the 'PistonHeads SOTW Appreciation Society'. To join, just search the title in Groups on Facebook, and show your appreciation for our much-loved sheds.

 

[niggtv]

I don't really get the PH infatuation with the MX-5, but at £600 that is a bargain!

[niggtv]

Gizmo! said:

Jonny671 said:

Have either of you driven one?

My thoughts exactly.

I haven't driven mine since Sunday and I'm worried that it will think I don't love it any more

Yes, hence my comment! Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they're not a good car - just that in the past year or so there seems to have become a copycat PH favorite.

[niggtv]

skylinecrazy said:

DennisTheMenace said:

posterboy said:

DennisTheMenace said:

SG Sportscars said:

Andy_sx said:

your calling him a Fan boy when all you can use is the same old ste...

Id rather be a fan boy then a tt that cant say something that hasnt been said a million times over by people that have dicks that are too small to allow them to get over the 'image' of wgat many percieve to be a great drivers car...

you can say all you want my opinion wont change haha

everyone (and you) know its a gay gay car

Please carry on being a prat (ive checked a few of your other posts out too) Your coming across as a troll and have just signed up to bait other phers and be a genral arse . carry on please do , i havent banned anyone for a while

ohhhh power trip

Most definately , got the buttons might as well press em

Is that a euphemism?

Oh, and you've spelt definitely wrong.

God, mods these days.

I agree (and he misspelt more than definitely!). Surely the role of a mod is to be balanced enough not to sink to making threats on a thread?

The responses to SG Sportscars from some of these posters seem a bit bizarre - he's only made a quip about MX-5s....this doesn't really warrant calling him a d*ck etc and calling his business into question. Lighten up guys!

Back on the MX-5 topic perhaps...?

Edited by niggtv on Saturday 29th August 07:51

[niggtv]

Red Firecracker said:

Unfortunately, whether the poster likes it or not, he is representing his business at all times, especially if he is posting on a car forum and has his URL's in his profile. His other posts have been in a similar vain as DtM said, so he is doing more than expressing an opinion, he is expressing an opinion that is tangibly tied to his business (even if that opinion is a tired old cliche and should really be ignored).

I agree he's representing his business, but not that the name-calling is warranted - PH seems to be so agro at the moment.

Red Firecracker said:

I don't think Dennis overstepped the mark for a Mod, the poster has hints of troll.

If this is the case then the discussion should then be held off-thread, not as a badly worded threat.

Red Firecracker said:

Back on topic, and back to being a cracked record, the differences between a poorly setup (geo) MX5 and a properly set up MX5 are night and day, which I personally think explains why some people don't 'get' them. Mine was terrible initially, truly awful, but after being setup it was transformed, night and day.

Yup, an often under-recognised aspect of car maintenance. My first Chimaera felt massively nervous all the time when pressing on, and it was only when I test drove and bought a replacement Chimaera that was far better I realised it must have been due to poor setup and they weren't all like that!

There's a lot to be said for small cars that arent particularly fast, but are fun to drive. Great being able to drive enthusiastically yet safely and without being in license-losing territory within a few seconds!

Edited by niggtv on Saturday 29th August 10:40