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"?