Looks like a very neat installation and conversion of a Mk2 to electric - could be the future to keep some of the classics on the road?
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To be honest, can kinda already see that happening with the next mark anyway- ties in with NE
Here is another thread on the issue, and some replies… 
think i’d prefer a mk1 with electrification - that way you still keep the pop ups! 
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Yep, can see that. They’ll need to do something to entice the buyers, that’s for sure
When are these classics going to be forced off the road?
At the moment, never. The ICE ban in 2030 refers to the sales of new cars.
The average age of a car in the UK is about 8 years old
It will be well into the mid 2030s before you start seeing an appreciable thinning of petrol cars on the road. That old MX5 will become like today’s horse. Horses are still in widespread use 130+ years after the first car appeared, but the way they are used for has changed. You wouldn’t take a horse to the shops for instance, nor commute to work on one.
Forget about “having” to convert a MX5 to electric, its the rest of it you have to worry about. Servicability will be a decider. Carsstill have to pass a MOT, and meet an emissions standard. Even when the cars get to 40 years old, and presuming the MOT waiver is still in place, owners must still maintain a car to a MOTable standard.
The MK1 can largely be kept running without the help of Mazda. There is a huge market for pattern/aftermarket parts. No one in their right mind would buy a replacement catalytic converter from Mazda. There are plenty of used parts, and many a rusted out Mk2 can be gutted to keep a Mk1 going for a long while
Not a given for the later models. For a start there is no where the same number of Mk3 and Mk4 models sold. These are much more complex machines, and its less likely you could keep one on the road for half a century without the help of Mazda. What do you do when the airbag systems become a bit flakey. You legally can’t “debag” a car. They won’t be impossible to maintain, but they will become more difficult. That in itself will consign many more of these cars to the crusher than previously.
I suspect in 10 years time, there won’t be much of a market for “modern classics” (cars in the 10-15 year range) By 2035-2040, I would not be surprised, except for exotics, ICE cars built 2000-2030 will basically disappear off the road. There won’t be., and most will be scrapped before the end of their normal service life. For older cars, natural attrition. By 230, the Mk1 will be like today’s MGB; scrappage rates will be negligable.
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Sobering thoughts indeed.
Luckily, I won’t be around to see my beloved internal combustion-engined NC made illegal - neither of us would probably last that long anyway !
If Mazda come up with a good-looking, electric MX-5 in the next couple of years, I would be tempted, I must admit. But I’m an old goat who likes the look of the more traditionally-styled motor car, and have never taken to the styling of the ND for instance, so for me, it would have to have retro looks coupled to modern electric-powered technology - some hope.
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I don’t see retro looks in the NC myself, the NA and the NB yes. It just shows how we all see things differently, but don’t mind me I’m just an old goat too!
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Zo! I zee zat you repeat zis at every opportunity on any thread! Zerefore it is mein opinion zat you have to do zis to try to convince yourzelf, because zubconciously you really love ze ND styling und really vant vun. 
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That’s a rubbish Italian accent! 
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It’s West Country, you know - Zomerzet where the zider appfels grow! 
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Ha ha - Nice one !
It’s all a matter of personal taste though isn’t it ? Wouldn’t the world be a boring place if we all thought the same, and liked the same things ?
Why don’t I like the lines on the ND ? Well, to me it looks short from a side view, and quite bulbous when looking from the front and the rear, and those sharp edges… Having said that, it’s not ugly - it’s just modern I think, and I’m an old goat who is not much into modern.
I remember years ago when Ford first introduced the Ka, I thought that was pretty ugly. Then Fiat brought out the Multiplas, and ugly had a new standard. However, I know a couple of folk who had Multiplas and they loved them - apparently great for a family man.
As I said, there’s no accounting for taste. And to be fair, not everyone needs or wants a beautiful car to drive around in - not all drivers are car enthusiasts, and everyone’s idea of a beautiful car is different !
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I know a MX5 owner who brought a Multipla purely for the design. He didn’t need a people carrier. It was a clever design, considering, at the time, most other people carriers were little more than vans with glass.
The original Ka was a decent design, and genuinely shocked that Ford, of all companies, could bring such an avant garde design to the world so quickly, and at such an accessible price. Again, at the time, the rivals to the Ka, really were dreadful little designs.
On the other hand, there was no explanation for the face lifted Ford Scorpio, except that Ford was trying to impose a look on an obsolete design. Or the Ssangyong Rodius; which looking like the work of not just a committee, but two committees. But it was worse that that. Ssangyong, presumably because they felt they weren’t capable to designing a car that would suit Western tastes, paid Ken Greenley, who had been the head of the automotive design course at the Royal College of Art, to design it for them, on the basis he knew what he was doing. And he had worked on the shapely Musso previously. Greenley had previously done the Vauxhall “Droop Snoot” Firenza.
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I agree, the world would be a boring place if we all liked the same things. For me I like the NA (except when the lights are up as it looks comical), also like the NB (classic looks without pop up lights) less so the NC (overlarge wheel arches, grinning face and too big and heavy), like the ND (bought one) although I think the design of the lights at the front could be better. None of them are perfect but all of them appeal to different people. I try not to bang on about likes and dislikes though in case it gets annoying… 
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I remember being on holiday in the Lakes (summer 1996 I think) when I first saw the Ford KA mk1 parked up in a quite lane. It looked liked no other small car of the period; my first thoughts were what the hell is that…quirky to say the least. Over the course of time I got used to how it looked (like many others) and grew to quite like it. My son owned one for a while and it handled and went well, surprising considering the age of the engine design.
Funny enough it was the same with the mx-5 ND, with such a radical change of design (compared to previous generations) it took time for me to get used to. It’s often the case that cars that get remembered were once thought a bit avant-garde.
Very true Chris! 
Variety being the spice of life! 
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It’s worrying quite how spectacularly awful it is.
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You see I like the wheel-arches on the NC - to me it gives the car a manly, muscle-car look, and perhaps the fact that it is the heaviest of the MX-5, gives it what I feel is a superior ride ! I’ve never liked a sports car that bounces along the road like it’s a go-kart - far too uncomfortable at my age !
Looks are so subjective.
Visually I prefer the NB to the NC, although the NC is a much better car. NC also looks quite “classic” from some angles.
Visually I prefer the ND to all of them ( I’m on my third so I must love it)
Ran in to an old friend yesterday who had never seen one up close , her instant reaction was “wow what a stunning looking car” !
What do people think of the official boot spoiler? I quite like it but I have my doubts that it actually does anything
Hi Paul. As I’ve posted elsewhere, I think the “boot spoiler” is just that, it spoils the boot! It’s nothing more than an expensive PPoP (Pointless Piece of Plastic), list price £227.87 !!!. Just my view, many will disagree.
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