Hi, (576, G83 FAN) not until early 1992, it sat unregistered in Manchester in a garage belonging to a “titled” gent who kept it in a carpeted & heated garage complex, it may have actually been registered by Andrew Stott of Autolink as he had a couple of other FAN registered cars go through his hands about the same time, apologies can’t be more specific but all original paperwork etc went to new owner last year. Paul H.
Hi Kevin my G301CLD was registered on 26th march 1990 and I have sale receipt and full history and last 4 numbers on vin plate are 1335 so I’m trying to find out now when the build date Ect
The steel bonnet is aftermarket pattern; Taiwanese pattern bonnets are steel.Its likely the original bonnet was damaged prior to export from Japan, or upon arrival in the UK.I’d hate to say it, but if it came in via Autolinkuk, it may well have had a repair at some time.
The oldest Roadster in the UK is the 14th off the line, and its pretty standard run of the mill Roadster, as far as construction go, and predates that car. The earliest Roadsters are no where near as old as the earliest Miatas; production start off the line with preproduction batches in 1988. Proper Miata production started in April 1989. Between April 1989 and July 1989, over 20,000 Miatas came off the line before a single Eunos Roadster came off the line. The first 100 Miatas made were hand built, and few made it to the open market. I asked Bob Hall about the early Roadster (the 14th) I discovered that was about to be broken up for spares by Ka Yu, back in 2000. He reckoned nothing; the first 1000 or so were sent straight to dealers, for pre-registration, and eventual gouging of the Japanese public. That car is now owned by Sam Goodwin; its technically for sale, but he won’t let it go without a fight.
There’s some info here about early cars;
https://sites.google.com/site/miata00508/
That reference to #37 is wrong, because thats a reference to the sam Goodwin car which has VIN #37. only the Roadsters didn’t start at #1. I think you are mistaken if you think your car was some sort of orddball, as the same as US VIN 00050-00089 (the second preproduction batch, and used for publicity shots, with minor trim differences), as it was built 3 months later. The early Miatas had a smooth casing diff (no jack casting). As I recall, the Sam Goodwin car was similar.
One of those oldest Miatas was used in one of mazda japan’s coffee table promotional books, a Mariner Blue. One of the major differences is that it had stainless steel centre caps on the 14" daisy alloy wheels. In fact, it was this car; this is what an early early Mx5 looks like.
Hi AT, re the steel bonnet, an aftermarket item fitted in Japan before import sounds feasible, but why on a presumably new car being imported into the UK, damaged & fitted on arrival off teh boat or what ??? also - what about the alloy doors ???, never seen them listed by MazdaSpeed or any aftermarket tuning organisation, I did make a bucket load of pennies when I sold them, so they were on the car from import right up until the Gaydon Rally , 2008 ?? (I had bought the car just before & it was my first OC outing) that was where it was found to have the alloy doors, I posted them for sale on the forums & E-Bay & they went to a hillclimber down in Gloucester & I got a pair of Classic Red steel doors as part of the sale, was job done, knowing what I now know about MX5’s am kicking myself silly for letting them go but needed money at the time & didn’t realise their worth , such is life, rgds, Paul H, Bicester.
Autolinuk don’t import new Eunos Roadsters, only old ones, and grades R to 3.5 (mostly) at that. Plenty of importers have brought in damaged cars for repair. Steel bonnets are the de facto option from motor factors. Presumably you had a car with aluminium door skins on a steel frame, or did you check the frame as well with a magnet?
You mentioned evidence of a batch of Miatas with aluminium doors being shipped to the US; got a link for that?
My assumption would be that the door skins you refer to were one offs made by someone like Nielex or Abbey Road, who were into stuff like that. That a former track car out of Japan had been crashed is logical.
AT, these answers to my original post are getting all out of synch, again, my car (576, G83 FAN) came into the country as a new UK spec MX5 routed through a garage in Manchester where it was bought unregistered & kept in cossetted surroundings until 1992 before being registered, my comment re Andrew “possibly” having a hand in registering it was because he passed a few MX5’s at the time registering them with FAN plates, I had been in contact with other FAN registered owners & they had all passed through Andrew !, I am well aware of his connections with importing cars now, both 5’s & Eunos from Japan, I am one of his regular customers, so getting back to my car, it was imported into the country with as far as we were aware from Hiroshima or a Mazda distribution outlet prior to shipping with a steel bonnet & alloy doors, there had been much speculation as to hows & why.
Regarding connections to other Miatas with similiar panels, I spent time, approx 10-12 years ago in the USA working for OBX on MX5 tuning (exhausts, AFM’s & throttle bodies) and had "several " San Diego/Californian friends & customers with cars that had similiar configurations, alloy bootlids were another panel that we came across, no doubt some out there still survive, hope that clarifies, one can speculate as much as one wants but the car & panels as bought were quite genuine & the thought of an effectively new car being imported & having an aftermarket panel fitted etc prior to shipment just doesn’t sound right, however as before not beyond the realms of possibility, there I shall let it rest, so speculate on, best regards, Paul H.
Ok. I remember when Andrew set up Autolinkuk back in 1997-1998. Memories.
AT, thank you for your message, I didn’t want to get into a p*ssing competition over my posts, just that I posted what I had & the confusion that it caused, it was a well known car in the system (mostly through Planet/Mazda Menders, the HSA & Bugatti Owners Club) and the fact that even up to the point of me selling it on no one in the OC or any of teh “experts” from any of the MX forums came up with a plausible explanation as to why it was the way it was.
Regarding California & San Diego especially, I have relatives in Scripps Ranch, San Diego & visit & stay usually on a yearly basis & have worked in the USA with OBX not only with their aviation business but also with the car tuning operation, my Company was in the 90’s their UK distributor, I had close links with the San Diego Miata Club & spent many hours on with them & on their trips around the County & in their competitions, there are many Miata/MX “oddities” out there (including the Coupes, at least 2 in SD County) that have parts that came with the cars (alloy boot lids) or have been sourced through the various tuning establishments so suppose mine was relatively insignificant in the grand scheme just that it seemed unusual in the UK, I see your comments re ages & production, as before my car was number 576 & the build paperwork showed it coming off the Hiroshima production line at 14.00 hrs on July 24 1989, nothing on the build data sheets showed any anomolies or any problems, hope clarifies & just helps puts mine in the listing of aged MX5’s, here endeth my sermon on the matter, with regards, Paul H, Bicester.
Hi AT I called Mazda Newport and they haven’t a build date do you know anybody who might help thanks
Try Roadster Robbie on this forum.
Thanks AT
Robbie roadster came up trumps he found out my uk mx5 car registration G301CLD was build 17th january 1990 and registered on march 26th 1990 folletts mayfair london mazda dealer and i still have sale receipt and full history
Hi guys
Just replying to these old posts from a year ago. Sam Goodwin’s car is chassis number 37. Have have Chassis number 33 built on 20th June 1989.
Hi Red_Al,
I have chassis number 41 in my collection of MX5s.
I think it was a press car and guess it must be one of the oldest surviving UK spec MX5s.
Is there a register for early cars?
Thanks, Steve
