Is my MX5 / Eunos Roadster a vintage?

Buying a ‘5 and Insurance advice Insurance Advice
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Guys

Just looking at my VIN number [NA6CE-100361] I get the impression that its one of the older Eunos Roadsters. I know it was built for the Japanese market in 1989. I bought it in NZ and imported it back to UK many years ago.

I’ve just checked the www.japan-partner.com website and get the impression that the vehicle was produced in July 1989.

Does anyone think this vehicle has ‘vintage’ status? If it is one of the older models or if it belongs to the first batches of the production line - how would I go about ascertaining a value for insurance purposes?

The vehicle is still used - goes fine. Just spent a few bob on having it professionally waxoyled. I don’t intend to sell. I may have it under-insured (Adrian Flux). How would I go about determining the value of a very early model for Insurance purposes - assuming it may be worth something.

Any advice appreciated.

Regards BJ

 

 

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Its the 340th Eunos Roadster, but it by no means the earliest MX5. Production started in earnest in April 1989,so by July, about 13-14,000 MX5s had already been made. Unless the car is in exceptional original condition, it has no special value. When I learnt of the existence of the 14th Eunos Roadster was in the UK (it was about to be broken up for spares in 2000), I contacted Bob Hall, from the original MX5 design team, to see if any of these early Roadsters had an interesting history. Alas not. By July, it was clear that the car was a hit, so it seems the first 2000 or so were shipped to dealerships, to provide supply on launch day. The press cars would have been in the '1500s.

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thanks saz9961 - I appreciate your response. BJ

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Just a note, one of our members has number 13, and I have been told that 1 to 12 were prototype so number 13 was the first production model. And yes it is still used.

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Pilot production started in 1988, with  a dozen cars, S1-1 to S1-12, and these were used for press demos during the summer of 1988, then presumably reports embargo’d until later… The first Eunos Roadster to roll off the production line NA6CE-100021, a base spec car. NA6CE-100022 was a S-Package. The car was announced in Japan on 3rd Jul 1989, deposits taken on the 5th. Deliveries made 1st September (source; Brian Long). By the time the Eunos Roadster went into production, Mazda was long past the prototyping stage

Sam Goodwin’s car (the ex-Ka Yu car) was NA6CE-100037.

 

 

 

I thought the other early one was #38. In Northern Ireland, there was an Australian spec car, imported in 1991, that was chassis number 14, but Australia had a different VIN system, so that MX5 was December 1989.

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Oh, and this is a pre-production MX5, from october 1988:


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This refers to the 37th Miata built being in England, but I’m pretty sure thats a confusion with the Eunos Roadster:

https://sites.google.com/site/miata00508/

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Seems like my posts are vanishing ??? will try again,
My Eunos was number 576, car came off the Hiroshima line at 14.00 hrs on July 24 1989.
I had all the original build data with the car, Classic Red, black interior, electric windows, manual steering & as before (something which has caused controversy with the forum ?) it had alloy doors at build. The car was first registered in the UK up in Manchester I bought it in 2007, reg is G83 FAN (are you still out there) car went down to Brands Hatch couple of years ago, hope helps, rgds Paul H.

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I still like to know how you know it had aluminium doors fitted during production, when no other Roadster had such doors, rather than later on. The combination of power windows and no power steering is unusual. 1987??? Back to the Future.

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We found the doors were alloy when after after I had bought it (2007) went to the Rally at Gaydon, as I was a new member the car had fair bit of interest  from other FAN registration Eunos owners, so whilst comparing notes & the car being looked over etc, bonnet, boot etc being opened & closed, me being new to the car was told it was fitted with an aftermarket steel bonnet & due to the non standard noise from shutting the doors (dull clang ?) them being made of alloy, the paperwork was looked at, whereupon in the build data showed as I put, manual steering, alloy doors, bonnet etc, a magnet was produced plus lots of members gathered & was confirmed that yes doors were alloy, we even stripped the door card from my door & it was thought & then confirmed that the door internal bracing was different to standard steel doors. As I said it has also caused some controversy on the forum as I have posted this info before.

I prepped the car in 2008 for sprinting & hillclimbing & to raise money sold the doors & bonnet (bonnet UK to Gas Guzzler for his V8, doors went to Furstenfeldbruk in Germany) to fund the preparation going back to steel doors & fibreglass bonnet from Brian Holden,  it was suggested that because of the other things the car had when I bought it (large bore Apexi throttle body & large diameter flowed AFM, ARC induction ducting plus MazdaSpeed 4 branch exhaust) that the car had been sorted / built to order ? in Japan before import but that didn’t show in any of the paperwork I had other than of the original factory build data,  I seem to remember we had some conversations re this on this forum (or Planet ?) before, but there it is, my car was well known in the MX system viewed, driven etc by many club members who knew it & confirmed the info,  maybe an oddity but quite genuine, rgds Paul H, Bicester.   

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Yes just seen my original date error - read 2007,  so no back to the future, PH.

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Hi folks. I have chassis number 33 which I believe is the 13th production car eunos built in June 1989. Which makes mine a little older than Sam Goodwins. There was an article about mine in STHT a few years ago.

She still goes and is hoping to get some body work repairs and a respray this coming spring. Watch out for her at Booklands!

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That’s NA6CE-100033 VIN number.

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Making it ~10 minutes older than the Goodwin car, based on Mazda’s production numbers for June 1989.

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thanks for all your reponses guys.

One question: are the very early MK1 cars actually worth much? One gentleman on the forum advised that  it is number 340 of the line (100021 being the first one). Mine has not been refurbished in any way. Still has the original paint which is now flaking. The lady wife wont go near it until its had a re-spray (dilemma !! - should I - should’nt I ???  (-; )

My main concern is that I don’t want to under-insure. I currently have it insured for around 3k (with the hardtop) - however I’m just stabbing at figures here. That might even be too much. Havent a clue as to its true value.

regards BJ

 

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As I said, its not actually a very early MX5, just an early Roadster. Early UK MX5s aren’t really worth any more, unless they are in exceptional, original condition. Unless you get an agreed value, any value agreed over a phone s meaningless. In the even of a claim, they will always look at market rates, which will inevitably result in a write off, given that, say, a bumper, two wings amounts to £3k billed to the insurers. But having your car insured as a classic might enable you to keep your car and have it fixed with used parts.

As it is a Roadster, you need to check its originality. Ok, original paint is scruffy; how complete in the interior. Is it still on its original engine (lots of crankshaft failures on early cars have lead to the engines being replaced), are all the panels still original (lots of grey imports came in on non-original panels), and so forth. Do you have a wad of receipts from Japan? Roadsters, as much as I love them, generally have zero providence from before they came into this country, with a small number of exceptions where the importer forgot to throw away the service books.

If the car is in good condition, it will obviously have a certain intrinsic value. And obviously, Mk1 values are on the rise now (no, not dramatically, but the days of the £200 Roadster are becoming rarer).

You will only get an agreed valuation if someone official from the club gave you a value, or an engineer. And on both counts I suspect neither will be able to give you a value of more than, say, £1000, if the car doesn’t have rust holes in it.

If you stuck it away in a shed now, and unearthed it in 50 years, it might fetch a decent amount like that very very rusty early Mini did recently.

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ok thats great saz9961 - makes sense.
I have it insured with Adrian Flux as a classic. I bought it in New Zealand years ago. They told me that the Japanese MOT took place on the 7th year of a vehicles life and it was nearly impossible to pass. So the boy racers would just flog the cars to death pre MOT and then sell them off to the Aussie and New Zealand markets. Which is where I picked mine up - 6 years after it was owned by some Japanese boy racer who prettied the underneath of the vehicle up. It hasnt given me a lot of bother and I havent gone over the top with servicing. It was in my garage for 6 years untouched. I put a new battery in it last year, fired it up and off it went. sweet. No bother - even with 6 year old petrol in it. Thats how good they are.
Did’nt get Japanese receipts though all the original Japanese stickers are in the usual places.
Does’nt have rust holes or dents believe it or not and the engine is original but I can’t see it being worth a lot. Its not in pristine condition - think I’ll just drive it and enjoy having the wind in my hair.
Forgot - lost that years ago.