Post by cardo on Oct 23, 2018 20:37:06 GMT
A bit of history behind the car…..
This car came to me from a good friend as a part exchange against a 911 that I sold to him.
He bought the car from its original owner after meeting in a hospital ward when they were both in for surgery.
They were in neighbouring beds and got chatting about cars one day and the chap started telling my friend about the low mileage MX5 that he had owned from new.
They agreed to meet up when they both got out of hospital and to cut a long story short a deal was struck and my friend bought the Mazda.
18 months later after 6000 miles of happy motoring it's ended up in my care and I'd like to find a new “forever home” for it.
M397SKN was delivered to Colefax limited from Turnbridge Wells Mazda on 5th of May 1995.It was collected by Mr M lock as his new company car that he would go on to use in and around London on business for the next 20 years.
On his retirement from Colefax and Fowler limited in April 2015 he paid a nominal sum for the car and ownership was transferred to him.I have the original copy of the letter from the company's HR department outlining this transfer.
The car was then used sparingly for the next 2 years until the chance meeting with my friend where it moved onto its new life in Sussex.At this point it had covered a mere 39K miles in the hands of one driver over 22 years.
My friend serviced the car,dropped the hood and spent the next 18 months and 6000 miles enjoying the car properly in the glorious roads around the South Downs.
When he first got the car it was a little sluggish,no doubt caused by spending all its life up to that point in London.However,it responded well to having its legs stretched and very quickly started to loosen up and go very nicely.
Fast forward to September 2018 and my decision to sell a car that my friend has his eye on resulted in us striking a deal that meant the little green MX5 headed North to Scotland and ended up with me.
A bit about the car…..
Structurally the car is very good apart from the trailing edge of the drivers side sill.
When my friend bought the car there were signs of bubbling appearing under the stone chip.18 months on it has broken through(as they all do eventually) and will require repairing before the next MOT.The corrosion is localised and has not spread into the arch/inner arch.If tackled now and dealt with properly it should be good for many years to come.
The passenger sill is starting to show signs of a small bubble but should be good for the next couple of years before requiring attention.
I would estimate the cost of the drivers sill at around £200 to £300 including paint to do correctly and there is an MX5 City half quarter/sill repair panel that my friend bought for £100 in anticipation of doing the job that will come with the car.
Both wheel arches are in excellent condition internally and externally with sharp,well defined spot welds and no bulging or distorted seams.
Underneath I would describe the rest of the shell as very good.Floors,boot floor,chassis legs and tank area are all very clean and straight with minimal corrosion.Suspension wishbones are clean straight and solid with only light corrosion.This is unusual for a UK car as most of them look like they've been at the bottom of the sea!
With a bit of time spent tidying and applying a good quality preservation system such as Bilt hamber or Dinotrol you should end up with an underside equal in condition to a good imported car.
Being a London based car the body has its fair share of little dinks and scuffs.
The passenger wing has a small scuff at the lower edge near the join to the bumper.The passenger door has a little car park crease that should easily come out with a paintless dent removal.Rear quarter on the same side has a little scuff near the edge of the tail light.There is also a small area of paint missing on the rear bumper.
Other than that the British racing green(HU) solid paint cleans up well and looks pretty shiny and presentable.I’m sure that an afternoon with a DA polisher and some cutting compound would have it looking even better.
The black interior is in nice clean,unmolested condition and only shows signs of very light wear.
The carpets are clean and dry and the dash top is unsplit.There is a period Blaupunkt radio cassette fitted along with a factory immobiliser.
The black vinyl hood has a glass rear window and is in generally good condition except for a small area over the drivers window where the frame has rubbed through resulting in a small split approximately 30mm long.This could be easily patched without standing out too badly.
Mechanically the car drives very well due to its low mileage.Its been a while since I've driven a good standard car and to be honest I found it very enjoyable.
The drive train is quiet and shunt free with lovely gear change,light and progressive clutch,strong brakes and compliant standard suspension.The manual rack is a little heavy at slow speed but gives lovely feedback and weight once up to pace and is slop free and direct.
The engine is quiet,smoke and rattle free and pulls very nicely with decent torque for daily driving duties.
Unusually the car has a full service history with a book full of Mazda dealer stamps and later services annotated in the continuation area with associated receipts.
All hand books are present along with a full set of factory keys and immobiliser paperwork.
The first owner sourced and fitted a rare set of factory spec Fondmetal 14” alloy wheels that are in nice unkerbed condition and suit the car well in my opinion.
I would really like to see this car go to someone that will tackle the small areas that require attention and preserve it for the future.
NA’s are widely accepted as classic car these days and even though they were built in large numbers there are very few good unmodified cars left.
With a light programme of restoration someone will end up with a really nice example of this design classic.
The car is located in the West of Scotland 15 minutes from Glasgow airport and 5 minutes from a main line train station.I am happy to pick anyone up from either of them and the car can be fully inspected in my garage up on stands with all wheels off if required.
It is MOT’d till April 2019 and i would vouch for its ability to cover any length of journey on leaving here.The current mileage stands at 45,655.
I have tried without success to upload pictures using the forum uploader and cannot get Flickr to work with the iPad!
If anyone would like pictures of the car please PM me your email address and I will forward some onto you.
I'm fighting the urge to keep the car and carry out the work myself as it it will be a very rewarding project,however,I'm time poor and have too many cars so the sensible thing is to let the car go to someone that will give it the attention it deserves.
I'm looking for £2500
This car came to me from a good friend as a part exchange against a 911 that I sold to him.
He bought the car from its original owner after meeting in a hospital ward when they were both in for surgery.
They were in neighbouring beds and got chatting about cars one day and the chap started telling my friend about the low mileage MX5 that he had owned from new.
They agreed to meet up when they both got out of hospital and to cut a long story short a deal was struck and my friend bought the Mazda.
18 months later after 6000 miles of happy motoring it's ended up in my care and I'd like to find a new “forever home” for it.
M397SKN was delivered to Colefax limited from Turnbridge Wells Mazda on 5th of May 1995.It was collected by Mr M lock as his new company car that he would go on to use in and around London on business for the next 20 years.
On his retirement from Colefax and Fowler limited in April 2015 he paid a nominal sum for the car and ownership was transferred to him.I have the original copy of the letter from the company's HR department outlining this transfer.
The car was then used sparingly for the next 2 years until the chance meeting with my friend where it moved onto its new life in Sussex.At this point it had covered a mere 39K miles in the hands of one driver over 22 years.
My friend serviced the car,dropped the hood and spent the next 18 months and 6000 miles enjoying the car properly in the glorious roads around the South Downs.
When he first got the car it was a little sluggish,no doubt caused by spending all its life up to that point in London.However,it responded well to having its legs stretched and very quickly started to loosen up and go very nicely.
Fast forward to September 2018 and my decision to sell a car that my friend has his eye on resulted in us striking a deal that meant the little green MX5 headed North to Scotland and ended up with me.
A bit about the car…..
Structurally the car is very good apart from the trailing edge of the drivers side sill.
When my friend bought the car there were signs of bubbling appearing under the stone chip.18 months on it has broken through(as they all do eventually) and will require repairing before the next MOT.The corrosion is localised and has not spread into the arch/inner arch.If tackled now and dealt with properly it should be good for many years to come.
The passenger sill is starting to show signs of a small bubble but should be good for the next couple of years before requiring attention.
I would estimate the cost of the drivers sill at around £200 to £300 including paint to do correctly and there is an MX5 City half quarter/sill repair panel that my friend bought for £100 in anticipation of doing the job that will come with the car.
Both wheel arches are in excellent condition internally and externally with sharp,well defined spot welds and no bulging or distorted seams.
Underneath I would describe the rest of the shell as very good.Floors,boot floor,chassis legs and tank area are all very clean and straight with minimal corrosion.Suspension wishbones are clean straight and solid with only light corrosion.This is unusual for a UK car as most of them look like they've been at the bottom of the sea!
With a bit of time spent tidying and applying a good quality preservation system such as Bilt hamber or Dinotrol you should end up with an underside equal in condition to a good imported car.
Being a London based car the body has its fair share of little dinks and scuffs.
The passenger wing has a small scuff at the lower edge near the join to the bumper.The passenger door has a little car park crease that should easily come out with a paintless dent removal.Rear quarter on the same side has a little scuff near the edge of the tail light.There is also a small area of paint missing on the rear bumper.
Other than that the British racing green(HU) solid paint cleans up well and looks pretty shiny and presentable.I’m sure that an afternoon with a DA polisher and some cutting compound would have it looking even better.
The black interior is in nice clean,unmolested condition and only shows signs of very light wear.
The carpets are clean and dry and the dash top is unsplit.There is a period Blaupunkt radio cassette fitted along with a factory immobiliser.
The black vinyl hood has a glass rear window and is in generally good condition except for a small area over the drivers window where the frame has rubbed through resulting in a small split approximately 30mm long.This could be easily patched without standing out too badly.
Mechanically the car drives very well due to its low mileage.Its been a while since I've driven a good standard car and to be honest I found it very enjoyable.
The drive train is quiet and shunt free with lovely gear change,light and progressive clutch,strong brakes and compliant standard suspension.The manual rack is a little heavy at slow speed but gives lovely feedback and weight once up to pace and is slop free and direct.
The engine is quiet,smoke and rattle free and pulls very nicely with decent torque for daily driving duties.
Unusually the car has a full service history with a book full of Mazda dealer stamps and later services annotated in the continuation area with associated receipts.
All hand books are present along with a full set of factory keys and immobiliser paperwork.
The first owner sourced and fitted a rare set of factory spec Fondmetal 14” alloy wheels that are in nice unkerbed condition and suit the car well in my opinion.
I would really like to see this car go to someone that will tackle the small areas that require attention and preserve it for the future.
NA’s are widely accepted as classic car these days and even though they were built in large numbers there are very few good unmodified cars left.
With a light programme of restoration someone will end up with a really nice example of this design classic.
The car is located in the West of Scotland 15 minutes from Glasgow airport and 5 minutes from a main line train station.I am happy to pick anyone up from either of them and the car can be fully inspected in my garage up on stands with all wheels off if required.
It is MOT’d till April 2019 and i would vouch for its ability to cover any length of journey on leaving here.The current mileage stands at 45,655.
I have tried without success to upload pictures using the forum uploader and cannot get Flickr to work with the iPad!
If anyone would like pictures of the car please PM me your email address and I will forward some onto you.
I'm fighting the urge to keep the car and carry out the work myself as it it will be a very rewarding project,however,I'm time poor and have too many cars so the sensible thing is to let the car go to someone that will give it the attention it deserves.
I'm looking for £2500