I bought a Mk1 1.6 Eunos off eBay about a year ago, rust free and in immaculate condition for the ridiculously low price of £800. I'll never sell it. All the reviews are true - fantastic handling and great gearbox, nothing can touch it on a winding road. As for out and out performance, I've owned three Lotus Elans back in the 1970's and the Mazda feels just as good. Back then, when other cars typically had 0-60 acceleration times of 10-15 seconds, the Elans 7-8 seconds felt quick. Today with 0-60 times of most sporty saloons around 7-9 seconds, the Mazda's 8.5 seconds is less impressive, but you can hardly blame the Mazda for the rest of the world catching up. If you want a classic sports car for pocket money prices with modern reliability there's nothing else to touch the Mazda.

I have just turned 60 and have had 3 MGB,s in my youth but having always admired the look of the Mx5 I finally bought one for a grand and drove it back from Cornwall to the West Midlands and had a smile on my face all the way. They are just such a unadulterated pleasure to drive, go like clockwork, handle a dream once you have mastered throwing them around the corners and so so cheap to insure under Classic insurance. The Eunos has extras over the UK model and I would have no hesitation in recommending anyone to buy an import. I love mine and you can pick them up with low mileage. These have to be the happiest cars around to drive.

I have a 1994 Laguna Blue Eunos MX5 Mk1s with Torsen LSD and all the underbody stabiliser bars. I have fitted a Mohair hood with heated GRW along with a set of Mazda 12 spoke alloys with Yokohama A drive tyres.The main improvement though, has been binning the Bilstein, hard as a rock suspension and fitting Gaz gold pros, fully adjustable for height and ride comfort along with a 4 wheel alignment,brilliant.Although I am really old (64) I still enjoy every single drive in Maz and even manage to frighten my wife at times when she is misbehaving (Maz, Not the wife)I would really have loved to own a Maz when we lived in Australia, but they are too expensive:equivalent to £6000 for just a basically good one-No sorry it's not viable or cost effective to export them to OZ- Iknow, I've done the homework. Also it's too hot and you would die unless you kept the hood up and the aircon on.So ther are benefits to living in the UK, The summers are OK for MX5ing and airfares to europe and the sunshine are cheap. Skippy Chester Le Street County Durham

Just brought a MX5 Jap inport last weekend. Wow it was raining on the way home (August... makes sense) and at first I thought it was broken as the back end was sliding around all over the place, awesome fun. Not quite such a handful in the dry but with a heavy right foot in second around a roundabout the back end can be made to slide out. I got mine off ebay for £677, which is probably the best deal I have ever had. When I picked it up the owner hadn't renewed the tax for next month so he dropped off another £120! in the end only £550 was exchanged and I was driving home in a red MX5. It badly needs a tcut as it's pinky in places, but has no rust and a rather old school wooden steering wheel with I've unexpectedly grown to like. I hope to have many happy miles going sideways in it. Don’t think about it… buy one.

I bought my Eunos from BF Imports of Oldham 2 years ago and have never looked back. I was attracted by the the automatic option and simply stated I wanted something that was mechanically perfect, rust free and ready to go. Since then I have used Autolink (UK)Ltd of Upper Swanmore for the odd bit including a spoiler and have been delighted with their professional advice and return post responses. For trim bits I have used Woolies of Market Deeping and have been equally impressed. Incidently none of the above are aware I have written a review. It is a fun car and has been great for days out in the country on our rare sunny days. Performance with
the 1.6 automatic is lacking but who wants to rush on a sunny day.

Am thinking of buying this silver Eunos Roadster. Looks lovely, but how do i know its not a dodgy import...!!????

It is from Japan, I know, but I have heard that there are a lot of dodgy imports about.

Also the price, its done 73K and asking price is 1200K.

Should I???

Being 50+ a Focus Estate owner etc. etc. toyed with the idea of how to satisfy my "mid life crisi". So a mariner blue Eunos Roadster Manual along with a hardtop to match - came along and boy did it 'fill the void'. 90k miles, service history, well looked after, imported 2003 and at £2k seemed a reasonable deal. Absolute joy to drive and in excellent condition (imports seem to rust less? perhaps they haven't had to survive so much road salt as the UK ones?). Insurance was sorted - after a silly quote from Swinton, I got a lovely deal with Adrian Flux (highly recommend these experts). My lad managed to aid the failure of the passenger electric regulator by leaning on the glass but again - steep learning curve - after obtaining a used one from AUTOLINK (brilliant source of parts near Swanmore) - and discovering how easy it was to replace, was soon back to normal. The wife loves the car, but as my son says "dad it's only got 2 seats so where IS she going to sit!?". I'm hooked, lovely drive the excitement factor will be there for a very long time I'm sure.

I have owned 4 mx5 the one i have now is gleneagles edition which is very nice with champain leather interior wallnut concul 1.8 engine lovely car but i do prefer eunos especially the ltd edition models.i never had any problems with any of them the engine is bullit proof just keeps going,i so look foreward to sunny days with the hood down country lanes or seaside promenades.it all ways makes people look,and you feel good i will own one as long as i have my driving licence im 72 and it makes me feel young again.

My wife and I had toyed with the idea of a roadster and, quite by accident, saw a shiny black Eunos Tokyo Limited for sale on a road where I turned around. She said "I want that one!" I could see why--creme custom interior covered the interior, barely a piece of black plastic to be seen. Rather high mileage at 180,000 km, but a check over found nothing amiss and a good, strong engine. This car had been well maintained. Riding on Avon Z3Vs, which were surprisingly good, these have been replaced with Dunlp SP Sport Fast Response.

This is indeed the quintessential British sports car without the reliability issues. It immediately took me back to my teens when I occasionally got to service MGs and Austin Healeys. Driving this car makes me feel half my 52 years!

Unusually, this car is equipped with the four speed automatic and, frankly, I long ago gave up with manuals. This one is exquisite, with silky smooth shifts, fast down shifts, and seems well mated to the 1.8 engine. Be a bit wary of the auto, however, as it is a rare creature that was not sold in the EU, a point driven home when we holed the oil pan and ended up stranded in the French Alps for three weeks. I finally bought a whole transmission from a breaker in Southampton who kindly shipped the pan to me in France. Problem sorted.

The Eunos is, as the previous reviewer noted, cheaper to buy and more expensive to insure. In my case, under £2,000 for the car and £230 a year for fully comp insurance. I can live with it. Parts are a doddle and readily available. I've replaced springs and shocks, disks and brakes, and a few other bits and pieces to bring it back up to a new drive. Probably another £2,000 for all this. I've kept it original, however, in spite of the temptation to customise it up a bit with all the stuff that is available. Somehow, it seems best to keep it Spartan and Lotus-like.

Driving--the car is surprisingly practical for ordinary driving, even on the motorway, if you don't mind a bit of noise and road feel. I have a Rover 75 for when I want to be really pampered--like Scotland in the winter! Handling is nimble and agile yet predictable and reassuring. Power is more than adequate and quicker than just about anything else on the road. It's not a muscle car and, in fact, it's real gift is effortlessly gliding through curves and hills like it's on rails. Fuel economy isn't great for its size, say upper 30s most of the time, but there you go. My car is rather stiff in the ride, as expected, so some country roads can require a bit of resolve as it will skitter, leading you to think it's going to lose its grip, but it never does. Again, the pleasure isn't from speed but from the open top and, hopefully, an attractive partner who is also feeling half her/his age! My car does not have ABS but the brakes are sure, predictable, and powerful enough, particularly with grippy pads. Some care is called for in the wet, even with excellent tyres, as too much power will toss the rear end out on a curve and, in a straight away, it's pretty easy even at speed to spin the tyres. I would guess that ice or snow is a big no-no.

The top is a pleasure to use--easy up--easy down without any complications. It's tight, unlike a Lotus, and leaks have not been a problem. The controls are all solid and robust, unlike my Golf, and easy to find whilst driving. The electric windows, if so equipped, are a bit of a weakness with a tendency for the cable driven mechanisms to bind up and fail. Inconvenient when it rains and they decide to give up the ghost. Recommend replacing the entire motor and drive units if you notice the window going slowly or struggling--it isn't going to get better with age. The units are about £70 and readily available. If you replace the shocks your mechanic may inform you that the holes in the top of the tower are notched while the new shocks are round. Tell him it's okay to drill it out round. The only necessary maintenance has been to flush out the heater core which is probably about shot and still marginal for heating capacity. This is a pretty major job to change out, but fairly straight forward. Also, note if the one you buy has had the batter changed from the glass mat, sealed battery to something more conventional. Standard batteries do not generally secure down with the clamp as they are slightly too large and, as the boot is not coated with rubber or a drip tray, there is a risk of corrosion as well as small risk of gas build up from a conventional battery. Not being properly secured you'll find the battery playing ping pong over dips and bumps in a frightening way. A proper size battery is available from MX-5 stores from one of two makers at a reasonable price of around £70. It looks small, and is, but has over 400 CCA which is higher than the original battery.

Not many drawbacks. Ground clearance on the Mk1s is pretty low and we sometimes drag the bottom over speed bumps or on rutted dirt tracks. Be sure to watch this. I advise against lowering the suspension in hopes of improving handling--it's already splendid. Although the chassis is surprisingly rigid for a rag top, it stills sounds tinny when closing the doors and cars with some miles are going to have a few rattles here and there. Replacement keys can be difficult although there are services that will laser cut keys from the serial number of your original (this is what I did). Also, I have learned, that blank Ford keys can be cut to fit as well. The boot lid can be opened from the car interior from inside the centre console--I disconnected the cable so a key is required at the boot to open it.

That's pretty much it. The car is legendary for a reason. It's affordable, reliable, and about the best fun you can have with your clothes on.

Had my v-spec import just over a year now it`s my main car, apart from a couple of rear calipers (car at time of purchase was 13 years old and 39,000miles the calipers can get stuck on little used cars and new rear shocks. complete reliabilty. The fun factor never goes away, PAS and AC are nice to have. The car is so easy to drive nice shift, and very good brake feel
Would recomend as a first RWD car. the feel for what the car is doing is awesome. Can be played with without thinking it is going to bite!!

Impulse buy, saw it, had to have it, mid-life crisis or not, our Eunos import is the business. She has 108k on the clock but goes like a dream. The drive and handling are second to none, but with those pop-up lights and alloys she is a real head turner. If you are thinking of one of these, think no more...buy it. Ours sits waiting for the weekend, just like me. Looking for faults is futile with my rose-tinted glasses on because I just love the car. I checked out reviews before buying, and it`s true, parts are plentiful and cheap if needed. The scope for personalising is endless, and running costs low. The "firm" ride took some getting used to but the handling is crisp. Fantastic car.