1989 Eunos Roadster NA 1.6 (Mariner Blue)
Discussion
Yes, yet another MX5 thread within Readers’ Cars on PistonHeads. What a surprise!
Preface (for those who care!):
To set the scene a little and give you dear readers some background on my potted car history in lieu of older existing threads I’ll begin with my first car I inherited from my mother in around 2012. The quirky first generation A-Class Mercedes Benz A140. Removable rear seats and huge lugging capacity made it great for cycling and IKEA trips along with the high driving position making it an easy first car to drive.
2003 Mercedes Benz A-Class A140 W168 by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Passed it along to my sister (who saw it off to the scrapyard after a minor collision into guard rail and some starter motor issues) when I made the upgrade to an Audi A4 3.0 Quattro Sport Avant (2004). Absolutely loved that car; was quick off the mark and great on long road trips up and down the UK, plus I could live out my dream of having a fast estate as my daily driver. Parts and labour over the years of ownership didn’t weigh in its favour but I was young and in love so was willing to forgive it.
2004 Audi A4 3.0 Quattro Sport Avant by Apex Cult, on Flickr
It also on various road trips in the Highlands cost me a total of 6 penalty points plus £200 of fines in the form of two SP30s thanks to Scotland’s finest. Therefore with looming insurance cost increases in my future if my behaviour didn’t change I made choice to switch to another car itch I always wanted to scratch on a more permanent basis in the form of the everybody’s favourite car, the venerable MX5!
Group of MX5s by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Over the years I ended up having three different MX5s both in NA and NB flavours. First (NA) left me cheaply to a wannabe drifter after a bad MOT fail while I was still driving the Audi, the second (NB) had a front end bump that ended up being written off which put me into the third (NB facelift) that kept me going as the search began for, in my mind at least, the unicorn of MX5s the Eunos Roadster NA in Mariner Blue. A search which ended in March 2019 which therefore concludes this little preface…
Preface (for those who care!):
To set the scene a little and give you dear readers some background on my potted car history in lieu of older existing threads I’ll begin with my first car I inherited from my mother in around 2012. The quirky first generation A-Class Mercedes Benz A140. Removable rear seats and huge lugging capacity made it great for cycling and IKEA trips along with the high driving position making it an easy first car to drive.
2003 Mercedes Benz A-Class A140 W168 by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Passed it along to my sister (who saw it off to the scrapyard after a minor collision into guard rail and some starter motor issues) when I made the upgrade to an Audi A4 3.0 Quattro Sport Avant (2004). Absolutely loved that car; was quick off the mark and great on long road trips up and down the UK, plus I could live out my dream of having a fast estate as my daily driver. Parts and labour over the years of ownership didn’t weigh in its favour but I was young and in love so was willing to forgive it.
2004 Audi A4 3.0 Quattro Sport Avant by Apex Cult, on Flickr
It also on various road trips in the Highlands cost me a total of 6 penalty points plus £200 of fines in the form of two SP30s thanks to Scotland’s finest. Therefore with looming insurance cost increases in my future if my behaviour didn’t change I made choice to switch to another car itch I always wanted to scratch on a more permanent basis in the form of the everybody’s favourite car, the venerable MX5!
Group of MX5s by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Over the years I ended up having three different MX5s both in NA and NB flavours. First (NA) left me cheaply to a wannabe drifter after a bad MOT fail while I was still driving the Audi, the second (NB) had a front end bump that ended up being written off which put me into the third (NB facelift) that kept me going as the search began for, in my mind at least, the unicorn of MX5s the Eunos Roadster NA in Mariner Blue. A search which ended in March 2019 which therefore concludes this little preface…
End of the search? (Well yes if you've read the thread title...)
After realising I should probably stop pissing about and find the dream MX5 I was after rather than having ones I didn’t really care about in long term I begun the long task of searching all the various Facebook ‘forums’ and usual car selling sites every few days until a couple of months later I finally came across one being sold by Goodwood Sports Cars (an MX5 specialist in Berwick-Upon-Tweed) for the princely sum of £2,295.
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
As the photographs show it was in pretty good overall condition with no real signs of rust in the sills but in terms of previous history, zero apart from past MOTs on the gov.uk website which told me that the car arrived in the UK at some point around 2006 and missed a bunch of MOTs (on SORN presumably) then reappearing in 2014 before going into hibernation again until 2019 when Steve at Goodwood Sports Cars got it back on the road.
Eunos Roadster (1989) MOT - 2006_09_27 by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) MOT - 2006_09_28 by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) MOT - 2014_01_31 by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) MOT - 2014_02_17 by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) MOT - 2019_03_14 by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) MOT - 2019_03_22 by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Around 158,000 kms (98,000 miles) on the clock wasn’t ideal but not a deal breaker either as the car looked reasonably good otherwise so worth putting down a deposit and making the trip down from Edinburgh to Berwick on the train to have a gander. (Yes, I was that positive I’d be driving home in it a return trip wasn’t booked!)
After realising I should probably stop pissing about and find the dream MX5 I was after rather than having ones I didn’t really care about in long term I begun the long task of searching all the various Facebook ‘forums’ and usual car selling sites every few days until a couple of months later I finally came across one being sold by Goodwood Sports Cars (an MX5 specialist in Berwick-Upon-Tweed) for the princely sum of £2,295.
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Seller Photographs by Apex Cult, on Flickr
As the photographs show it was in pretty good overall condition with no real signs of rust in the sills but in terms of previous history, zero apart from past MOTs on the gov.uk website which told me that the car arrived in the UK at some point around 2006 and missed a bunch of MOTs (on SORN presumably) then reappearing in 2014 before going into hibernation again until 2019 when Steve at Goodwood Sports Cars got it back on the road.
Eunos Roadster (1989) MOT - 2006_09_27 by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) MOT - 2006_09_28 by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) MOT - 2014_01_31 by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) MOT - 2014_02_17 by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) MOT - 2019_03_14 by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) MOT - 2019_03_22 by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Around 158,000 kms (98,000 miles) on the clock wasn’t ideal but not a deal breaker either as the car looked reasonably good otherwise so worth putting down a deposit and making the trip down from Edinburgh to Berwick on the train to have a gander. (Yes, I was that positive I’d be driving home in it a return trip wasn’t booked!)
ApexCult said:
mattman said:
Will hopefully be starting my own thread shortly after just winning one on eBay - I blame you lot! 
Nice - we'll shortly flood Readers' Cars with these wee little things as it should be! 
Shameless plug
This reminds me of the Wheeler Dealers car which was thoroughly abused and scrapped in the end. Looks like this one is avoiding the same fate!
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Day One by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Hopped on a train on an early Saturday morning heading down the East Coast Line to Berwick-upon-Tweed. Steve from Goodwood Sports Cars had graciously offered to pick me up from the station as he’s based a little out of town so once I had arrived and we had made our introductions we were off in his Boxster to see my potential purchase.
Once we arrived Steve gave me a pretty thorough tour around the car including all the wee bits and bobs that would likely need some attention under my ownership but overall I was more than happy with what he was presenting so the deal was agreed and the paperwork sorted and I was off to the nearest petrol station to fill up.
Seeing as I was in Northumberland, a county on England I greatly admire, it would have been rude for me not to go for a drive down the coast a little ways to Bamburgh to see how it runs before heading back to Edinburgh.
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Day One by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Day One by Apex Cult, on Flickr
Eunos Roadster (1989) - Day One by Apex Cult, on Flickr
After the small photoshoot as the sun was setting on the day and feeling of smug satisfaction in my heart of finally having the MX5 I’ve been lusting after for so long it was a straight shot up to Edinburgh to tuck it into the garage.
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