My MX5 journey actually started back in late '94. I was looking at order a brand new black Clubman with no options. The price was a real stretch for me back then just 4 years out of school and so I was very happy when I found a 6 month old Clubman in the beautiful Laguna Blue colour and managed to score it for $10k less than buying new.
Over the next 8 or so years it received "a few" mods. Unfortunately I seem to have lost many of the pics I had and back then digital cameras were very new and expensive. To sum it up it had wheels, springs, sway bars, strut brace, clutch, flywheel, ECU, injectors, some gauges and this thing bolted on to the side of the engine that was used to turn rubber into smoke.
This is one of the last photos I have still have of it though at a guess it's still a couple of years before I should it.
I'd gone about as far as I wanted to with it and decided to buy something larger that would be quicker and so bought a brand new 350Z. Oh the foolishness of youth. I quickly realised my error and only had the 350Z for about 18 months. There was a parade of cars over the intervening years. I slowed down and mostly had boring cars though did sneak a 240Z in and a 73 Landover 88".
Anyway after driving 4WD for the past decade I'd decided I wanted a weekend car. I looked at a few things but decided to order a new Mustang. In all those years and cars I'd never owned a V8 and I think time is running out for them. Long story short, after 18 months and two cars being delivered damaged I took the hint that the Mustang wasn't meant to be. It was actually a mates passing comment on the way back from Mustang #2 that got me thinking of the MX5. It was so obvious I should've seen it myself. I'd always said that my old MX5 was my favourite of them all and I was looking for something for early morning runs up to PITS, or Putty or Nasho. Why didn't I think of it?
So the search began and I quickly realised that NAs weren't so common anymore. One of the first I saw was a very expensive 97 green LE. It looked like it was in great condition but the price was too high. Over the course of 2 weeks however and looking at what was on sale around the country I cam to realise the price on the '97 wasn't so far off if the pics were a true representation. Certainly not the colour I would've chosen and no AC but it did have a hardtop.
I spent some time going over the car and while not perfect it really was in great condition for a car approaching 21 years and had a complete service history. Cars in this condition obviously weren't common so while it wasn't exactly what I would've preferred (a white or blue Clubman with AC and hardtop would've been ideal), it was far too good to pass up so a deal was struck. I picked it up this morning. Obligatory first photo upon arriving at home.
This one will remain basically stock unlike my first car. Few little things to tidy up and get a couple of short day trips under the belt to work out any kinks and I'll document anything here. Right now I'm happy to be back in familiar territory.
