If I recall, the extent of the supplying dealer went to making your car safe and presentable was fitting some second had suspension parts, and months of toing and throwing sorting out scruffy paint. You probably paid over the odds for the car in the first place, but in return, you get a “fresh” import, though I’m guessing Goodwood never shared with you the auction sheet showing what grade it was.
Hagarty reported the MX5 (Mk1) had the highest CAGR for auction values:
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-6459617/Is-classic-car-market-stalling-Prices-just-1-April.html
But I’m guessing this was based on a small sample size (how many Mk1 MX5s go through classic car auctions).
You probably paid ÂŁ2000-3000 more than for a similar car sourced through a private seller, ie., the car was worth ÂŁ2-3000. Unfortunately, as a fresh import, the valuation by the dealer was distorted by a combination of rising Japan values and a crashing pound. A dealer has his money tied up at sea for 6-8 weeks. He probably applied a 100% markup, to keep his business viable. But the price he paid for the car had little relationship to the UK market. During the noughties, the UK market was over supplied with grey imports. The supply of cars from Japan has declined since ~2004-5, but might be picking up a little recently (I sense) but nowhere near previously.
When I brought my first import in 1997, a 1992 car, Mazda wanted to relive me of ÂŁ11,000 for a 1990 UK spec car. I paid ÂŁ8900 for the import, and was very happy.
In 2000, some lowlife stole that car from a MX5OC meeting, and torched it. I was fearing the worst with the payout, because imports were getting a lot of negative press at the time (Quentin Wilson labeled tham as rotboxes). The insurance payout was ÂŁ6700. I managed to get a replacement car, a 1991 import, for under ÂŁ6k, leaving me with a little spending money on it.
I had that car repainted in 2004, for ÂŁ900. It looked smart. I sold it in 2005, with 140k miles on it, for ÂŁ3500. I was very happy with that.
I paid £4000 at the time for my current 1996 S-Special 2, which even then, wasn’t mint, a few scratches, and a worn out roof
A few months later, I brought a M2-1002 for ÂŁ2700. had it for a year, made it roadworthy, restored the Panasports, but ultimately decided it was too big a job for me (Japan-era accident damage).
So I sold it for ÂŁ1700 to Sam Goodwin, along with some bundled garage work, that to me was worth ÂŁ1000 (Sam supplied and fitted to SAZ a new hood, and fitted/setup the Performance5 coilovers), so I was probably out of pocket by ÂŁ3-500.
In 2013, I brought a S-Limited; ex-show car that had been modified, but now had hailstone damage (120 dents I counted) and needed a new roof, and wheel refurbishment. Brought as the keeper, over a period of the next 5-6 years was slowly put right, though it had a number of infuriating mechanical issues, slowed by the fact the car was 100 miles from where I lived… I paid £2700 for that, though it did come with an unfitted supercharger, so probably about £2200 for the car itself. 2012-13 was probably when values were starting to firm up.
After a long period of advertising, I eventually sold that car for ÂŁ3300, but it probably cost me, including original purchase, ÂŁ6000 to get it to the immaculate state I let it in.
Meanwhile, by 2017, SAZ had sunk to a low; the BAS hood fitted by Sam was now literally held together by gaffer tape, to sills and arches were rotted, and it was on its second engine, with 270k kms on the clock, compared to 90k kms when I got it. Oh, and along the way I had smacked it into a grass bank, so now the front wings don’t quite match the bonnet that had been part of the complete respray in 2009. It was probably worthless, so I did the sensible thing by spending £2000 on it.
The market is complex; values are rising for some cars, and firming up for others.
As pointed out, the big numbers are made by the clean original cars, proving Pete Lewis was right, despite everyone hating him. But the rest of the market is still maturing. I sense that mainstream classic car dealers and auctions are still dismissive of any import. That won’t last; I don’t see dealers turning down ex-Arizona MGBs for instance.
Repairs and restorations; one man’s restoration is another man’s bodge-up. I think very very few Mk1s have actually been restored. Yes, they’ve been done up, prettified.The sill repairs are still pretty crude compared to what you read of in older classic cars. eg, with factory rear wings still available, is it better to effect a rear sill repair by replacing the entire with with a factory part, rather than welding in bits made from a Chinese made repair panel, and some scrap steel lying around the workshop. I can see the arguments for and against (the former uses OE parts, the latter preservers the original structure at the cost of adding arguably inferior aftermarket parts). I think the gold standard for a restoration has yet to be set. Yes, people go on about MX5restorer, but his repairs are really no different from any of the other MX5 specialists around the country. And that mostly because its not worth restoring a MX5 thats missing its sills, floor, etc.
Again, like the question of imports, the market view of repaired/restored cars is not going to remain static. There will be a seperation of the wheat from the chaff. We are a long way from that though.
Anyone buying a Mk1 to make money is a fool. Even if you managed to find a cosmetically perfect specimen and keep it that way, the cars are getting to an age now where new mechanical failures are occurring as previously long lived components give up the ghost. If Hagerty is correct, and Mk1s are making 8.5% a year, on a ÂŁ4000 car, thats barely covering routine servicing, let alone unforeseen repairs. And of course the real world cagr, away from the 20 odd cars that go to auction each year, is probably more like 2-3% (if you want to make money, buy a cheap car, then leave it on the drive).
So you take your ÂŁ4750 car, which was really worth ÂŁ2500, add in a ÂŁ1000 respray. Yes, today, its probably worth ÂŁ3500, on a good day. Console your self with the thought that if you spent ÂŁ4750 on a 10 year old Fiesta, it will probably be worth less than ÂŁ2k now.
Which might go to show, if you want a Mk1 right now, your best choices are either that ÂŁ10k garage queen that you would be afraid to use, or the ÂŁ1000 car with the dubious MOT history, but for which the market will still bear sinking in ÂŁ2000 for the inevitable repairs/restoration.
