I bought a 1993 S Special a couple of years ago, freshly imported from Japan. It obviously has had a full tonneau at some point in its life because its got the wee push-fit nipple things on the top of the dashboard, close to the windscreen, and it also had a popper stud fitting attached to the left hand door mirror mounting.
I recently came across a full tonneau on ebay and decided to buy it since my car already had the fittings. However, it doesn’t quite fit! It fits fine around the back rail (forward of the boot lid), but it doesn’t quite reach the dashboard nipples – it’s a good 4cm too short, so its not just needing stretched! It also doesn’t have any way of connecting to the popper stud on the mirror mounting, so I don’t think this is actually the right tonneau for my car.
I’ve seen photos of a tonneau cover which has ‘pockets’ for the seat headrests to project into i.e. the tonneau cover will fit on without having to lower the seats - unlike mine which is completely flat (so you need to recline the seats as low as possible before the tonneau will fit).
I also noticed Goodwood Sportscars selling a tonneau the same as mine on ebay the other day, and he specifically mentions that his doesn’t stretch to the dashboard nipples either! So all this makes me think that there is more than one type of tonneau for the Mk1. Perhaps the one with the seat pockets is slightly longer, and so would fit my car?
Just wondered if anybody out there can shed any light on this little mystery?
They do shrink, but will stretch back. On a sunny day (wrong time of year now!) Fit the tonneau to the dash then stretch it back to the fitting at the rear. Not an easy job, and will require a warm day and 2 people
There are several. The one with headrests is an aftermarket effort from Robbins. Mazda in the UK sold one embossed with “MX-5”, which I discovered won’t work with my seats and the 1.8 cockpit brace. The factory tonneau comes in RHD or LHD versions, and also has fittings on the mirrors.
I personally think they are useless for the UK. On one version, you have to move and recline the seats to use, and on all three versions, I don’t see how you stop driving rain around the doors getting in. OK for California or Texas if you are worried about the sun bleaching the dash.
The one in your photo looks like the type I need - headrest pockets and door mirror tabs. I’ll keep my eye out on Ebay - although to be honest I’m not sure I’d ever use it…!
