There’s only so long you can delay writing about the Mazda MX-5 in a series about classic cars. This nimble two-seater, launched in 1989, is the world’s bestselling roadster thanks to sales of more than one million, including 130,000 in Britain. Therein lies its blessing and curse because a) it’s affordable but b) there’s a good chance a near-neighbour will already have one.
Way back in 1976 a motoring journalist called Bob Hall had the bright idea of creating a modern sports car based on the excellent but defunct Lotus Elan: engine at the front, rear-wheel drive and not a gram of excess weight. “I babbled about how the simple, bugs-in-the-teeth, wind-in-the-hair, classically British sports car doesn’t exist any more and somebody should build one,” said Hall, recalling a meeting with Mazda bosses. By the mid-1980s other cheap, zesty two-seaters such as the Triumph Spitfire and MG Midget had followed the Elan out of production and Mazda HQ gave the go-ahead.
Luckily, it turned out to be exactly what the market wanted. The Series One, called the Miata, roared into these rain-soaked isles in 1990, weighing under a tonne. I’m looking online at an advert for one of the first, complete with pop-up headlights, for £3,200 — less than its launch price of £14,249, which is rare for a classic.
So if you’re wondering what to do with a retirement cheque, you could do worse than blow it on a Miata. Your only dilemma then is where to take it on a road trip. The North Coast 500 — Scotland’s answer to Route 66? Or Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, with its hairpins and switchbacks? Either will
show off the little Mazda’s, well, elan.
From your seating position inches above the asphalt you’ll need to work the notchy five-speed gear-change as the road hugs the twisting coastline and the countryside speeds by in a blur. If it rains, just reach back and swing the top into position. To reopen it, all it needs is a flick of a catch and a one-handed shove. By the time you arrive at the other end, weather-beaten and tousle-haired, you’ll be ready to give up the rat race for a crofter’s cottage.
