Quick - buy a Mazda MX-5 before it's too late

Elbows out: the 2.0-litre ND is going the way of the Dodo. You've only got half a year (and then half a lifetime) to act

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun: the 2.0-litre version of the Mazda MX-5, the one you want, is no longer available to order in the UK. Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood, suggested Autocar yesterday (in not so many words), for clearly nothing now can ever come to any good (unless you’re happy with the 1.5-litre variant, which is very much still on sale).

In fact, as Mazda UK duly reassured everyone, you will still be able to buy a brand-new 2.0-litre model in this country for the foreseeable, too - and that’s because the firm is confident that its existing stock will last till January next year. Which is (and we’ve checked this) five months away. So probably if you’ve always fancied one and have spent the last decade doing nothing about it, you’ll still be able to get one. Assuming you don’t spend another 20 weeks or so dallying.

Of course, even if you did that, your choice of what’s left would be virtually endless. In case you hadn’t heard, the MX-5 is the world’s best-selling sports car (sort of), and there are 152 examples of the current model available on PH even as we speak. Fully 98 of them feature the more powerful 2.0-litre motor. The most expensive, an RF Homura with just 480 miles under its belt, will set you back £31,995.

There is much to be said for buying the very latest model, as the 2024 update delivered some useful bonus items, including a much nicer-looking infotainment system and (perhaps more importantly) a Track setting for the DSC. This halfway house mode was a longtime coming for the MX-5 - previously it was all or nothing - and is just the sort of thing you want for experimenting with the car’s handling limit on the road without solemnly pushing all your chips forward.

But it isn’t essential. And if you’re unencumbered by the idea that everything must be brand-spanking for it to be good, then you’ll save yourself an awful lot of money. We’ve highlighted the 30th Anniversary car here because we’re partial to the Racing Orange paint, and all the standard kit that came with it. But its status as a limited edition model means you will pay slightly over the odds for it - though £25,450 seems reasonable enough for a one-owner example with just 11k on the clock.

Alternatively, if you’re the kind of person who thinks the MX-5 is only really attractive when paying impossibly little for one, you should know the cheapest 2.0-litre currently available on PH is a very early car with 107k showing. For that, you will only need £6,995. ‘A true driver’s car the perfectly combines performance, reliability and open-top motoring’ says the vendor. On that much, we can all agree. It certainly will be a shame when it’s finally gone. Next year.

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griffsomething

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