I’m happy to report my brief loss of faith has passed, and I’ve decided to put all thoughts of selling behind me. You’re right, £500/yr is not a fortune. Next temptation to sell for me might be when/if value rises to £4-5k, which may never happen. When electric cars take centre stage all petrol cars might struggle to find buyers in the future.
Ive recently bought an rltd for a bit more than has been mentioned here. After getting cold feet on spending 8k on a well known rs. Which im still gutted about not getting
I also know of a very nice vrltd that sold very recently for over 6k.
There are buyers out there for the rarer models
But im not so sure on just very nice more basic ones
There is a S-Special (ie, regular model), with 3000 miles on it, out there (still has protective plastic on the sill and speaker covers). Dealer wants £19,000 for it.
Wow! I’d love to see that. I wouldn’t call the S-Special a regular model personally. I’ve had a regular 1.8 and have now got an S-Special type 2 and there’s a big difference.
https://www.bossmotor.co.uk/used-car-mazda-mx-5-s-special-1-18-eunos-roadster-3000-miles-693
The S-Special was part of the regular line-up since 1992. It was not a special edition. The S-Special II was a Phase 2 NA8C. All Phase 2 cars in Japan received a 4.3 rear (see https://www.atelier-nii.com/cars/rs_catalog/jp/1995jp_Roadster_brochure.pdf) compared to the 4.1 of the earlier 1.8 (the 4.1 gearing continued in non-Japanese markets). Its the gearing that mainly contributed to the change in feel
That is stunning, but I’m disappointed in the air bag steering wheel, and hollow spoke alloys rather than the BBS’s.
I think there’s more than just the diff Saz. The thicker ARB’s and the extra stiffening for a start.
What I stated:
Phase 2 S-Specials never had BBS, or rather, the 14" BBS was switftly ditched. Its not a S-Special II that they are selling.
Of course there are more differences, I was relating the single difference that causes the most difference between a 1996 JDM car and a early 1995 car. Its the gearing. 4.3 will give better 0-60, a small reduction in top speed, but increased revs at motorway speeds
The effect of the lighter flywheel is subtle; it wasn’t that much lighter.
Theoretical speed through the gears:
4.300 final
1st gear 36mph=58km/h
2nd gear 60mph=97km/h
3rd gear 85mph=136km/h
4th gear 113mph=182km/h
5th gear 139mph=224km/h
4.100 final
1st gear 38mph=61km/h
2nd gear 63mph=101km/h
3rd gear 89mph=143km/h
4th gear 118mph=190km/h
5th gear 146mph=235km/h
ARBs: Bilstein package cars had 20mm on the front, compared to 19mm on non-Bilstein cars. All Torsen cars had 12mm rear ARBs. Non-Torsen cars had 11mm rear bars. Virtually all 1.8 Eunos Roadsters had the Torsen LSD fitted, certainly up to 1996.
Stiffening; this is the non-functional front “strut” brace. Subtle effect at best. I recall a conversation with the head of Racing Beat, who are behind Mazda’s Mazdaspeed chassis upgrades, how the STB was a waste of time.
15" BBS; 12lbs versus 10.8lbs of the 14" hollow spoke.
I’ve had S-Package 1.6, S-Special 1.6, M2-1002 1.6, S-Limited, and S-Special II for last 14 years. The final gearing makes a HUGE different to drivability.
That Eunos has been for sale for a number of months not really surprising as there can’t be too many buyers out there willing to spend nearly 20K on a Eunos.
There is also what looks like a standard MX5 N/A on Pistonheads for 18K https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/mazda/mx-5-mk1/mazda-mx-5-1-6/9982215
I suppose the hope is that some well healed buyer will want to add an MX5 to their classic car collection - has the MX5 reached that stage yet?
It would seem so … as that car is now sold ! (if you look at the dealers website)
It’s happened for a few years really…in a pretty odd occasion rarified manner.
I witnessed (a long time past I must stress but together with fellow exhibitors) more than one mint & boxed Mk1 being “stealth transported” to shows in an attempt win a gong when under the rules they ought to have been driven
. It never bothered me, indeed I found it quite amusing.
From what I’ve seen on the mk1 owners facebook page I’m convinced that the “mx5 scene” has something to do with the stagnation and even the devaluing of mk1s. It seems every 17 to 20 year old wants one at the lowest price possible so they can stick on a set of rota’s, cheap coilovers and a mahoosive rear wing then drift around a maccyd’s car park all day long. The sooner they move onto something else the better.
There’s no other car that’s around in numbers and so cheaply available, that is so much fun to drive, and easy to modify. That’s why every spotty oik with a few quid wants to own one.
But the number of really good cars out there? I don’t think there are that many.
Combined with how many cars are being broken every day?
Top class cars are very hard to find even now. And those cars are fetching good money.
You can still buy a Mk1 very cheaply, but it will be in a state and need a lot of money spending on it.
What these kids are doing is buying cheap, and running them into the ground. They aren’t renovating them.
Prices will only go up on good cars in my opinion.
Quinvy, I agree with you, it is staggering the amount of MX5 (MK1 and MK2’s) that are being broken… which is for a good reason rust / un-econmic repair I guess
I look regularly at MK1’s but it seems that good ones are fetching strong money these days, well this it what the are being advertised for - not sure what the actual sale price is.
As A true enthusiast myself after 90% completing a full nut and bolt resto of a MK1, I would be very interested to see what my MK1 would be worth, espcially as I havent added up what I have spent in it:-), doubt I would ever sell it though, but would like to think I haven’t lost that much £££s
Good/rare parts seem to fetching strong money, like BBS center caps, and the 15" wheels and any JDM aftermarket parts from mazdaspeed and ARC and the of course recaro seats from imported MK1…
Really … ? Staggering… ?
What do you actually expect for 20…, almost 30 year old cars ?
The blind spot for enthusiasts is when one assumes that everyone else shares your enthusiasm.
I owned a Triumph TR5 in the mid 70’s. It was 8 years old when I bought it for £460. 75,000 miles,
the engine was getting a bit blue smoky on the over run, and getting rusty, but not too badly.
I decided to rebuild it over an autumn, winter, spring in to early summer. Rebuilt engine, new body panels,
welding done by the MT guys at the RAF base where I worked. Sprayed it myself with an electric gun ( Burgess, for those
who can remember them ).
The car was great. It was a pre-production prototype. Number 6 of all TR5’s ever built. One of the press cars that journalists
tested. Mine was in Autocar ( 1967 ), it was driven in England, France and hurled round Silverstone. The car, even before the
engine rebuild, drove like no other TR5, or TR6 that I subsequently drove. ( I didn’t know anything then about blueprinting, slightly
lightened flywheels etc, that factories did to press cars ).
After I did all the work, I really enjoyed using the car for about 2 years. TR5’s were already being commonly spoken of as future
classics in the mags of the time, fast , powerful, only 500 or so made for the UK. I decided to sell it. ( I had my eyes on buying a Jaguar XJ6 4.2 ).
Could I get rid of that TR5 ? Ads around the owners club. Ad, repeated, in the Exchange and Mart ( yesterdays’s equivalent of Autotrader )
Over 6 weeks, almost 2 months as I recall… barely a sniff, couple of desultory phone enquiries. Price dropped. No difference.
I ended up piling the spare wire wheels into the car, and driving into West London on a January night to sell to a dealer operating out of his
flat. Log books scattered over the dining room table. £1000 in cash. [£5K in todays money. Price for a very good TR5 today, around £50K ]
I wasn’t gutted. Just totally gobsmacked at how, outside of my enthusiast bubble, no one else seemed that bothered.
My interest in TR’s waned when the bigger money started to pile in, gleaming cars began to be transported to shows on trailers,
and less and less people outside of those earning a living from them, seemed interested in getting their hands dirty. And the
words ‘investment’, and ‘patina’ began to appear. Time to move on.
TRs…Back in 1997, when I was looking at MX5s, and getting rid of my hateful 309 Gti, I did briefly consider a TR6, that had a full chassis off restoration. It was £9500, but I had no garage, so brought the 1992 Eunos Roadster for £9000 instead…
Yes, I felt the same when I sold my M2-1002 via the MX5 forums. Not a single offer. In the end, I asked Sam Goodwin if he wanted it.
More recently, I sold my S-Limited, very nice condition, comprehensive advert. One timewaster was someone at BBR. Another was someone who was about to drop the hammer, and then somehow got hold of a 2008 copy of Japanese Performance, that featured an interview with the then owner. Back then, the car was turbocharged, but the owner was well known just going from show to show, picking up trophies. A single throwaway remark by the then owner put the kibosh on the deal. The owner noted he had tried out the car at the Shakespear Raceway, got a time, and in a moment of bravado, said he was try to go quicker the next summer. Of course, he sold the car a few months later to fund a VW restoration. But the car went, in the buyers mind, from carefully and sympathetically restored S-Limited to worn out race car… Lost that buyer, sold to someone else who wanted a work car. So don’t expect that to last all that long, despite the buyers assurances.
I have my remaining MX5 up for sale. Will sit back and see how that goes.
Saz, will you be MX5 less when this one is sold???
Probably, if it sells. I won’t be looking for another one.
That will be a sad day. With all your knowledge of these cars, and your input on the forums.
They are only going to worth what someone is willing to pay…
If you have advertised one at a price and it as not sold, then its the wrong price.
M-m
Well after covering under 250 miles this past year (due to “one thing and another”), I finally (reluctantly) decided to offer the car for sale. Has anyone seen the advert ? Does it seem reasonable?.