Here’s my Merlot. It’s done nearly 149,000 miles. It has been lowered by a previous owner, but i do plan on putting the suspension back to standard as i don’t think my spine will take the punishment.
Have removed the wood trim as it was looking a bit tatty and falling off in places.
As you can see from the picture below, it’s definately been lowered. Handles fantastic , but the ride is a little too firm for daily use.
Actually removed most of the interior when i first got the car so i could clean the inside. Was previously kept on a farm so needs some tlc
So are there anymore of us Merlot owners in the North West ?
you can put us down for 2 that we are breaking, one has been crushed and gone and we have one in the yard breaking at the moment, reg P908 SFR, can supply VIN number if you need it. Hope this helps you.
Yes, i sold my Merlot and hopefully to a good home. I had a few people come and look at her from the MX5 OC but they were all looking for something totally imaculate which wasn’t the case with my car but i’d built that factor into the price. The final buyer bought the car happy with what he saw and experienced driving it and for a fair price.
Sad to see it go but life moves on. I have since taken ownership of an English Springer Spaniel puppy - so i’ll be doing a lot more walking and a lot less driving!
yes I have 2 passenger doors, one has a couple of cark park dints (easily removed) but no rust and the other has a little lacquer lift. £25.00 each, courier is not cheap unless you have your own or pick up.
This is my Merlot, the picture is from nearly 5 years ago when I picked her up (Jan 2019). She’s unfortunately no longer in this state having only covered 200 or so miles in that time.
She needs a fair amount of welding doing so I’m in the process of teaching myself to weld to hopefully to return her to her former glory and enjoy what she’s got to offer.
I am after a few bits if anyone knows of anything, mainly after a factory Clarion DRX8175R stereo at the minute and a pair of doors.
There is a facebook group specifically for merlot owners which may give you some joy as parts occasionally come up. The stereo you are after was also in one or two other models i believe around the same period. Search for ‘1996 Mazda MX5 Merlot Owners Group’
Although the radios do come up on eBay from time to time (maybe also try Facebook Marketplace, set your location to Gretna and a 500km radius and you have almost the whole UK being searched for parts), you may need to search internationally for them on each specific national eBay site and other web search results (mine came from Italy for my Gleneagles, the other model with the radio fitted, the GE also shares the wheels and wheel caps with the Merlot) and contact sellers to see if you can persuade them to ship internationally. Be aware there’s also the American model radio which is different but looks similar, it’s a DRX8175.
Failing that, the restorers who keep breakers may have a waiting list for the part you could be added to in case they get a breaker in, since not everyone with a Merlot or Gleneagles will be on Facebook and also may not even be members of the club.