Very interesting read thanks for sharing post cheers Richy mc TDA
Sadly Japanese market only 
Paywall and ad free article here :- https://www.evo.co.uk/mazda/mx-5/207526/the-spirit-racing-12r-is-the-ultimate-mazda-mx-5-but-we-cant-have-it
You can always import a new car. They go on sale in the autumn, and likely will be over subscribed. Any hitting the used market will have a premium, so i suspect, with taxes paid, ÂŁ66k.
Yes I was thinking that this afternoon and wondered how far I’d be prepared to go to get one and concluded I’d probably draw the line at 50k all in taxes paid and landed in the UK. 30k over the odds seems a bit of a stretch for a car that I would want to thrash year round until I drop. I’d not want to see it wasting away in a garage.
I’ll think on it some more because it is damn tempting to make some enquiries, presumably aside from language and foreign currency issues there is nothing to stop Johnny Foriegner, me, buying one straight from a dealer in Japan ?
Yeah. Shame the performance upgrade wasn’t complemented by an ant-rust upgrade 
First stop on landing here would be to my prefered rust proofer in Iver 
Which one is that?
There is more than one specialising in MX-5 rustproofing in Iver ?
Ok, I’ll ask a different way
Which is the one in Iver?
Anand Viad is the man, easily found on fb.
Iver is just down the road from me which is handy Andy.
Wheels look too small and the power increase is nowhere near enough.
I will stick with my NC turbo.
Yeah, you don’t live in Japan.
Non-residents cannot buy cars there. Hence you have to use an agent to buy one on your behalf.
So you buy a ÂŁ50k extra lightweight MX5 then spend ÂŁ500 making it heavier?
Its perfectly ok to drive a non-rust proofed car 365 days of the year in the UK. You’ve just got to keep it clean.
Personally, I think aftermarlet extra rustproofing is largely a marketing scam.
Any suggestions regarding reputable ones, please, or experiences from using any that you can share?
Ah the old catch 22 
I can see why as not all rustproofers are the experts they would have you believe and or conciencious taking everything back to bare metal before applying their prefered preparations, but I have found one I trust and that is good enough for me
Any importer still in business in 2025 is probably reputable. The obvious one on this forum is Autolinkuk. They imported a FTO for my brother yonks ago. Of course their “man” in Japan was looking at auction cars.
Years ago, a company called Japatrans was buying retail grade cars from forecourts. They have long gone. Before them, around about 1990, a London company Bauhaus was importing automatic V-Specs, as there was a demand then.
Import process
Thanks - I’ve seen some of Mat’s video but will give it another watch.