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MX5 buyage


John F

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So... I've been casually looking for a Twingoid replacement for Ms_F for the last couple of months. She'd expressed a preference for something small and a bit sporty, and I'd insisted that I'd have to enjoy working on whatever she ended up with.

 

But bearing in mind my absolute failure at finishing off my LR Series 2a over recent months, I ideally wanted to find something for her that she could just get in & drive, not something that would need months of fettling.

 

So I pounced immediately when a tidy 2001 MX5 Mk 2 in 1.8 flavour turned up at a very attractive price somewhere north of Newcastle. The car will need the usual chassis & sill welding before its next MOT, but it has test until September which should give me enough time to get my shit together & sort it out.

 

Here's the beast... no filling station shot was necessary, the car came with half a tank of pez :-)

 

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The day involved a mad dash north followed by a tortuous return journey back down the A1/M and then across country with Ms_F following me back in the MX5. It was her first time driving a right-hand drive car, so a 100-mile trip through rush-hour traffic and endless roadworks, culminating in a road closure that diverted all of the usual A road traffic down the tight, winding country lane between Harewood and Pool, in the dark, wasn't exactly ideal. Neither was the tug she got near Harrogate from North Yorkshire constabulary due to her... er, unorthodox road positioning. They thought that she might be drunk, but accepted her plea of being German :-)

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Mrs_KJ is well jell of that John_&_K._F. It's her favourite car colour EVAR.

 

Lol'd at getting a pull! Do EU citizens have to pass a UK test after being here for a year, or do they get a free pass? My non-EU immigrant missus has her test booked for April; it's taken seven years to get to this point!

 

PS: are the slightly iffy badges staying?

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Themx5restorer.Co.uk supply chassis repair sections for mx5 to save peeing about

 

http://www.themx5restorer.co.uk/pages/parts-for-sale/front-chassis-rail-repair-panels.php

 

I've got to weld up a mates, but his is engine bay side of the rail, luckily he's took the engine out

 

The welding is engine bay side on this one as well... ta for the link to that supplier, I'm sure it'll come in handy.

 

Mrs_KJ is well jell of that John_&_K._F. It's her favourite car colour EVAR.

 

Lol'd at getting a pull! Do EU citizens have to pass a UK test after being here for a year, or do they get a free pass? My non-EU immigrant missus has her test booked for April; it's taken seven years to get to this point!

 

PS: are the slightly iffy badges staying?

 

I've just checked... EU citizens can now drive on their foreign licences until they're 70, so no need to change to a UK licence. Which is ace.

 

(Yep, the badges are staying to wind up MX5 purists)

 

I am sure she will enjoy the car once she is used to the RHD, a sports car that is comfortable and easy to live with.

 

I just hope the welding does not turn into a marathon, like it did for a friend of mine. 

 

Yep, I'm sure she'll grow to love it. The biggest problem for her at the moment is the gearchange, which is quite heavy and, according to her, 'on the wrong side and everything is in the wrong direction'. Wimmin, eh? lol.

 

The welding looks to be fairly localised to the usual trouble spots, but I reserve the right to utterly change that opinion once I've run the nail gun across it...

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It looks like the the MX5 will shortly be overtaking the MG as the shite sport car of choice on here except it's not really shite apart from rot.

The ex had a 1.8 which was a Mk2 and a half on an 05 reg and it was a really reliable car and she would drive it in all weather.

The only reason she got rid of it was because it was jinxed as it would get hit on a monthly basis and even at 4 years old every panel had been repainted sometime or another.

 

At the time I had a smart roadster and when driving the MX5 it just felt so better screwed together and mechanically you could just tell it was bulletproof and would go on forever whereas you could just tell the smart roadster would be in bits a few years down the line.

 

My only criticism is it did feel a generation behind the competition when it came to the interior but I think that's part of the charm with a mk1/2 Mx5 as its an old school roadster and you don't fix what isn't broken.

 

And building basically the same car from 1989 till 2005 tells you its a goodun.

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Yep, after driving it around the Yorkshire Dales a bit this afternoon I've also got the impression it's well put together and feels pretty durable. And also that it seems to handle better than my old Lotus Excel did, or the various Porsche 944s that my mates had... and they were pretty good.

 

I've just had a check, this car is also the "Mk 2.5" model with front fog lights and other assorted gubbins. Which is nice :-)

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