Hi. Just wanted to introduce myself. I’m John, based in Nottingham and completely new to the mx5 community. Infact so new I haven’t got one… Yet. I’ve been searching for a while through the usual sites and I’m in search of a nice mk1. Why a mk1… Well I was looking for an Elan for a long time but to get a good one, and be able to maintain it with spares is a costly exercise. I hadnt really noticed the mx5 till a friend of mine mentioned it and tbh I’m sold. They look nice, tick the classic car box and spares etc seem to be in plentiful supply and reasonably priced. There’s also this forum as well as the club that I intend to join quickly. The only minefield now is finding a good, ideally rust free, low mileage nice car that I can tinker with but mainly enjoy. I drive a boring company car all day so need an escape.
I’m probably going through a midlife crisis and have always wanted to own a classic car. I’ve had my share of BMW z4s so not new to convertibles which Ive loved, but they just didn’t give me that raw driving feel and doing anything mechanical with my limited knowledge was certainly not an option. I don’t want or need all the toys in a car for the weekend.
So there you are… Just need a car and cannot wait to start showing my face on here and at local meets very soon.
J
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Welcome to the community… As far as a car is concerned, I have done something similar myself. I got an “acceptable” Mk1, but there are really very few around that will not need some work doing on them. They were designed as a car that you could improve, or at least change and personalise. I am trying to keep my car as close to standard as possible though. Part of the “fun” is to get a car and keep it for a while and gradually get it to a standard that you are happy with. I have just had £1200 of work done to mine to get it through the MOT, but it will need a bit more work and potentially a respray in the next 18 months. But it gets you more into a relationship with your car. You will find that unless you pay a lot of money (in MX5 terms) you will get a car that will need ongoing work, but it is worth it if you can afford to do it. I have a regular car and mine stays in the garage unless the sun is out.
I would look for a car that is not in desperate need of immediate work - have a good look and get the car that you really want - colour/trim etc - there are a lot of choices. Then over a few years look after it and you can keep it getting better and enjoy it. As the roads are getting more difficult to drive fast, an MX5 is ideal, as you have the joy of driving the car at relatively low speeds as speed is not the real point.
Anyway, good luck finding a car and enjoy…
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