Once upon a time, couples used to go off for dirty weekends with no more luggage than a few items of clean underwear and a couple of toothbrushes.
It could be that the designer of this week's Shed, a W30 Toyota MR2 Roadster, or Spyder as it was more excitingly called in the US, was into this type of outing himself, because he didn't bother including any cargo space in the dinky little convertible's layout. Well, that's not strictly true: you could ram some underpants into the gaps around the under-bonnet spare wheel, and there are two lockers behind the seats that were big enough to house a few real spiders.
But if you Google 'the least practical car ever made', chances are the W30 MR2 will be right up there with the top hits. To create more luggage capacity you could simply bin the spare wheel. The 15-inch-wheeled MR2 wears 185 tyres on the front and 205s on the rear, so you've only got a 50 per cent chance of puncturing the right tyre anyway.
This is an early example, effectively from the model's first year on sale given that production didn't start until October 1999. It followed on from the more mature and curvaceous W20 of 1989 and marked a return to the paper-dart simplicity of the first 1984 W10.
Some think that the MR2 name comes from Mid engine, Rear wheel drive and 2 seats. The 2 seats bit is right, but MR actually stands for Midship Runabout. That sounds a bit like Magic Roundabout, which conveniently brings us to the handling. With that mid-engine layout and rear-wheel drive, this is predictably ace, but it's that slightly twitchy, rotatey, Elise kind of ace. It's very pointy, but once it loses grip you'll need to work fast to get it back. For this reason you probably wouldn't choose one for drifting, although if you could somehow master the technique you would most likely be the only MR2 driver on the drift circuit, and therefore in receipt of additional attention from the opposite sex.
The 2000 model is a little bit short of perfection. You don't get fully independent suspension, so things can get a bit roly-poly when pressing on through the twisties, and there was no limited slip diff option until the 2004 car. But there's a lot of aftermarket knowledge out there that can help you turn your MR2 into a fab little thing. Adding pretty basic stuff like coilovers and a front strut bar will give you an appreciable improvement in handling for not much money.
The 1.8-litre 16-valve VVT-i four only produced 138hp, but as the W30 MR2 weighed under a tonne fully wet, the five-speed manual version would still run through the 0-60 in the mid to low seven second bracket. On the standard exhaust it's not the most exciting sounding motor. New owners may soon find themselves wishing it had another 50-100hp or so, or that Toyota had done a (Japan-only) supercharged version like they did with the W10, or at the very least the turbo was one that was available to W20 buyers in the US. Even the stock W20 was more powerful than the W30. Still, this model does provide you with a good driving position that even freakishly tall people can fit into, not to mention nice steering (both wheel and feel), and a light clutch pedal.
There's plenty of other stuff that's good about an MR2. It launches hard, with good traction, the gearshift is nifty (short-shift kits make it even better), and it's a Toyota, so reliability is generally excellent. It's a convertible, obviously, and the hood doesn't really take up any of your precious cargo space. It's small, so it's easy to park. And it looks good, even now.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the W30 though, is that there aren't many of them left, and certainly not many with a rust-free undercarriage like this one says it has. The ad is about as comprehensive and transparent as you could ask for. A lot of the MR2's 'points to watch' are in here between the lines. MR2 pre-catalytic converters are a bit notorious for failing, which can be a problem if the bits get sucked into the engine. A weird exhaust note or excessive oil consumption might be clues to that. Pre-cat delete is a popular mod in MR2 land.
You'll have noticed that Toyota is sneaking steadily back into performance motoring. The shouty, bouncy little Yaris GRMN is reputedly the first in the new Gazoo-driven wave, and there have been persistent rumours about a proper new two-seater. We can but hope, because the idea of an affordable and reliable sportster worked pretty well for Mazda. It's not hard to imagine plenty of people stumping up for a new-era MR2.
In the meantime, Shed won't be making inquiries about this MR2 as his two-seater days are over. Mrs Shed still lives in hope of a jolly open-topped life, but there will probably be some decency laws against it...
Here we have my 2000 MK3 (W30)
Bought this as a project car, I've got most of the way through what I needed to do but sadly working away means I haven't got it 100%.
The Private plate is included.
Let's go through the specification first.
- UK Car (Not an MR-S or an Import)
- 2 Keys (One Remote and One Spare)
- Remote Central Locking and Alarm
- Chilli Red Paint
- A/C
- Double Din DAB/USB/Bluetooth CD Headunit
- Electric Windows and Mirrors
- 15'' Staggered Alloys
- Power Steering
- Leather Bucket Seats
- Aluminium Sports Pedals
- Heated Glass Rear Window
In terms of condition;
- Paintwork is good (could do with a mop and polish)
- Dent in bonnet
- Slight rust scab on windscreen pillar
- Undercarriage in good condition
- Crossmember is solid on this example (common problem)
- Interior is in good condition (both leather and carpets have no holes, burns etc.
- Soft top is in good condition, has a very small hole that I've sealed with weatherseal to prevent it getting any bigger, it is watertight.
- All electrics work
Recent work carried out:
- Seafoam/MMO engine flush (they're known for sticking oil control rings)
- Fitted 4 Brand New Tyres
- Renewed Rear Discs and Pads
- Engine Oil and Filter Change (5W 30 Fully Synth)
- New Radiator and Coolant Flush
- New NGK Spark Plugs
- New Electric Aerial
Work left to carry out:
- Change Auxilary Belt (Have included in Sale)
- Change Gearbox and LSD Oil (Have included high performance 75w-90 in sale)
- Few interior trim screws to replace (from fitting new headunit)
- Fit Rear Shims to Brakes (Slight Squeal) (Have included in sale)
- Machine Polish with G3 and a good wax sealant
- Refurbish the alloys (Not terrible but these roadsters are about looking great)
Haven't put enough miles on it to know if this example uses oil but in the 1,000 miles I've driven it I haven't noticed any excessive consumption issues, similarly I'm unsure if the pre-cat is still in place on this one either.
Honest Straight Car, Starts First Time, Plenty of Power, Revs well, Stops and Steers as it should, a little bit of fettling and it will make someone a great summer runabout.
It's even got a full tank of Petrol!
In terms of previous owners its had 10, which I don't think is unreasonable for an 18 year old convertible, they generally get swapped around quite a bit with the nature of the car.
Has service history, receipts, manuals, locking wheel nut etc.
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