Harold996tt 1991 British racing green
Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 3:28 pm
Decided to introduce myself as a new/old MX5 owner. Before launching into my most recent purchase, perhaps a bit of an introduction into my past.
I originally hail from Perth Western Australia (born in Melbourne but raised in Perth and more or less studied there my whole life). Whilst at university I always saw a beautiful limited edition BRG MX5 parked in the university car park and that first got me interested in the MX5. I completed my studies in 1991 and moved to Singapore for work purposes. On my return to Perth in 1994 I immediately picked up my first sports car, a 1994 MX5 Clubman in silver, bought new from Brookings Mazda (since closed). But I always wanted the BRG limited edition, and looked at a few at the time second hand with a view to sell my Clubman and pick up one of the BRGs second hand. Sadly all the cars I looked at did not appear to be in great condition and I decided to stick with the Clubman.
Unfortunately my stint in Perth was short and I was required to relocate back to Singapore in 1995 for work. The Clubman was interestingly sold to a WA MX5 club member who also had a BRG! I then picked up an automatic 1991 MX5 in Singapore for my daily commute and enjoyed the car for a period of time before bigger horsepower got hold of me. From there I moved on to numerous cars including 5 porsche 911s, one Ferrari, and two Lamborghinis all in Singapore (still have a Lambo in Singapore where I spend most of my time).
I also bought a Porsche 911 back in Perth some 9 years ago as a holiday car and I still have that car back in Perth. On my most recent trip back to Perth in January I decided to on the very last day before my return back to Singapore grab a quick look through carsales.com.au and spotted this car...
http://www.carsales.com.au/private/deta ... rt=default
It was fate as far as I was concerned. So I immediately contacted the seller, and arranged to meet him before my flight back to Singapore the following day. So the next day I dropped by to see the car... Sadly it was in a rougher state than I had hoped, but was definitely still an acceptable base car, and it was an originally delivered WA car which was important to me (don't ask me why, I just always wanted a WA BRG). So with very little haggling, I ended up paying way higher than market for the car simply because I HAD TO HAVE a BRG first gen delivered in WA.
Regardless, I am very happy, and will be back in Perth early Feb to look the car over properly (got it delivered to my parents house for storage there). First port of call will be a full mechanical check through and full service, and in this respect am still trying to identify of there is any specialist MX5 workshop in WA. I have also got in contact with a restorer- my intention is to do a full bare metal restoration of this car and bring it to as new condition- I am going to be way out of the money on this car, but the intention is never to sell it.
In this regard, would love to see if there are any people on the forum with an ability to take a picture of the wood gearknob as I need mine to be totally redone and need a base from which to start (could not find any pictures on the net unfortunately), and the knob on my car is so badly worn that it will be a bit hit and miss in trying to redo it... In fact I'm not sure if I can even see the edition number of the car still on the knob!
Sorry but no pics other than those from the carsales add at the moment but will be back in Perth in a couple of weeks and will snap all the shots then in greater detail to show how the little battler has (not) faired over the last twenty odd years.
Looking forward to gradually bringing this car back to life and will report on it as and when progress is made. In the meantime I hope to continue to learn from all the old hands on the forum so that I can bring this old lady back to its fully original glory.
I have also been running a blog for some time on all my car exploits and will be updating the project on this little green number there as well.... Http://smfracing.blogspot.com
Cheers,
Harold.
I originally hail from Perth Western Australia (born in Melbourne but raised in Perth and more or less studied there my whole life). Whilst at university I always saw a beautiful limited edition BRG MX5 parked in the university car park and that first got me interested in the MX5. I completed my studies in 1991 and moved to Singapore for work purposes. On my return to Perth in 1994 I immediately picked up my first sports car, a 1994 MX5 Clubman in silver, bought new from Brookings Mazda (since closed). But I always wanted the BRG limited edition, and looked at a few at the time second hand with a view to sell my Clubman and pick up one of the BRGs second hand. Sadly all the cars I looked at did not appear to be in great condition and I decided to stick with the Clubman.
Unfortunately my stint in Perth was short and I was required to relocate back to Singapore in 1995 for work. The Clubman was interestingly sold to a WA MX5 club member who also had a BRG! I then picked up an automatic 1991 MX5 in Singapore for my daily commute and enjoyed the car for a period of time before bigger horsepower got hold of me. From there I moved on to numerous cars including 5 porsche 911s, one Ferrari, and two Lamborghinis all in Singapore (still have a Lambo in Singapore where I spend most of my time).
I also bought a Porsche 911 back in Perth some 9 years ago as a holiday car and I still have that car back in Perth. On my most recent trip back to Perth in January I decided to on the very last day before my return back to Singapore grab a quick look through carsales.com.au and spotted this car...
http://www.carsales.com.au/private/deta ... rt=default
It was fate as far as I was concerned. So I immediately contacted the seller, and arranged to meet him before my flight back to Singapore the following day. So the next day I dropped by to see the car... Sadly it was in a rougher state than I had hoped, but was definitely still an acceptable base car, and it was an originally delivered WA car which was important to me (don't ask me why, I just always wanted a WA BRG). So with very little haggling, I ended up paying way higher than market for the car simply because I HAD TO HAVE a BRG first gen delivered in WA.
Regardless, I am very happy, and will be back in Perth early Feb to look the car over properly (got it delivered to my parents house for storage there). First port of call will be a full mechanical check through and full service, and in this respect am still trying to identify of there is any specialist MX5 workshop in WA. I have also got in contact with a restorer- my intention is to do a full bare metal restoration of this car and bring it to as new condition- I am going to be way out of the money on this car, but the intention is never to sell it.
In this regard, would love to see if there are any people on the forum with an ability to take a picture of the wood gearknob as I need mine to be totally redone and need a base from which to start (could not find any pictures on the net unfortunately), and the knob on my car is so badly worn that it will be a bit hit and miss in trying to redo it... In fact I'm not sure if I can even see the edition number of the car still on the knob!
Sorry but no pics other than those from the carsales add at the moment but will be back in Perth in a couple of weeks and will snap all the shots then in greater detail to show how the little battler has (not) faired over the last twenty odd years.
Looking forward to gradually bringing this car back to life and will report on it as and when progress is made. In the meantime I hope to continue to learn from all the old hands on the forum so that I can bring this old lady back to its fully original glory.
I have also been running a blog for some time on all my car exploits and will be updating the project on this little green number there as well.... Http://smfracing.blogspot.com
Cheers,
Harold.
