Polkky
Well-Known Member
Nope, it's not another Miata or an MX-5. See, it says so on the back of the car!
After selling my bike I started looking for another summer toy. It was to be a convertible as I hadn't owned one yet. First I looked through E36's but somehow gradually started looking for something smaller and more fun. Samulis then threw me into the direction of fetching an MX-5 from the UK and that's exactly what I ended up doing. I had already booked tickets for a quick trip to London in the beginning of my summer holiday but now I changed the flight time there to be a few days earlier.
I glanced through the market for a few weeks and contacted at least ten different people about their cars. Most of them didn't answer, some cars were too shady, but this red one was spot on from the start. The guy selling it answered in 10 minutes, showed me more pictures and sent the service history during the first hour after contacting. I told him that I'm coming to the UK next (last) Sunday and his car would be the first for me to check out.
I flew to Gatwick and got my rental Astra (yeah, driving an Astra even on holiday) and started heading North.
My destination was up behind Manchester so an almost five hour drive was waiting. I eventually got to the seller's place and met the man. He ended up being a fantastic elderly gentleman asking if I want coffee before I even got there (that's a big thing for a Finn ). He was a retired RAF pilot playing with two MX-5's and model air planes during his retirement days. We checked the car out on the yard and I crawled around it knocking on the panels. I knew there were a few non-critical, non-visible rust spots and the metal around them was intact. Everything seemed fine, the car worked on the test drive and we even found the right price after almost five seconds of haggling so I bought the thing.
I had to take the rental car 60km away since no place closer was open on a Sunday evening. We agreed that I'd take a train back and he'll bring the car to the station. After this I started my drive home. It was 10 P.M so my drive for the evening consisted of 60ish kilometers to the closest hotel but that was less driving for the coming days.
At the hotel parking lot
The following day I took off at 7:45 A.M with Stonehenge as my destination, I've always wanted to go there. It was 300 kilometers to get there which was a really good way to get to know my new car. I even drove top down for a while, although it was way too cold for that :lol: The last 40 kilometers before Stonehenge were some very awesome country roads, I really had a blast there.
After Stonehenge I drove to Portsmouth just to see that Mx5parts.co.uk was closed and from there to Dover and the ferry to France. It was 9:30 P.M when I got to France and something like 11 P.M when I got to Bruges where I again took the first hotel available, luckily with a warm garage.
The following day, Tuesday, I set off after breakfast at 8:15 A.M. I had thrown ideas around about driving straight to Stockholm, Sweden because the hotel nights were quite boring alone. It would be a 1620km trip and my friends just laughed at me through Whatsapp.
It was sort of a challenge accepted-situation and drive to Stockholm I did. It was quite a drive through the night: it took 21 hours all in all to get from Bruges to Stockholm. As I had changed my ferry booking during the night I drove straight to the harbour and set off to Finland in two hour's time. That evening, yesterday that is, I came home with my new toy after a mere 2600km drive.
So, the details:
-1.6, 115hp
-180 000km on the clock now
-Working A/C and power steering
-Flawless mohair roof and rear window plastic
You'll have to excuse the bottles on the floor. I had to keep myself busy while driving.
It's quite rust free, I've only found a little bubbling paint in two or three places. The suspension arms and all that seem quite intact. The thing it needs the most, has been needing it for the past five years, is a cambelt change. That is five years over due and I'll get to that with R.A. ASAP. Otherwise just basic maintenance, changing bushings etc. and making it my dear toy.
Proof pic
Special thanks to samulis for the help!
After selling my bike I started looking for another summer toy. It was to be a convertible as I hadn't owned one yet. First I looked through E36's but somehow gradually started looking for something smaller and more fun. Samulis then threw me into the direction of fetching an MX-5 from the UK and that's exactly what I ended up doing. I had already booked tickets for a quick trip to London in the beginning of my summer holiday but now I changed the flight time there to be a few days earlier.
I glanced through the market for a few weeks and contacted at least ten different people about their cars. Most of them didn't answer, some cars were too shady, but this red one was spot on from the start. The guy selling it answered in 10 minutes, showed me more pictures and sent the service history during the first hour after contacting. I told him that I'm coming to the UK next (last) Sunday and his car would be the first for me to check out.
I flew to Gatwick and got my rental Astra (yeah, driving an Astra even on holiday) and started heading North.
My destination was up behind Manchester so an almost five hour drive was waiting. I eventually got to the seller's place and met the man. He ended up being a fantastic elderly gentleman asking if I want coffee before I even got there (that's a big thing for a Finn ). He was a retired RAF pilot playing with two MX-5's and model air planes during his retirement days. We checked the car out on the yard and I crawled around it knocking on the panels. I knew there were a few non-critical, non-visible rust spots and the metal around them was intact. Everything seemed fine, the car worked on the test drive and we even found the right price after almost five seconds of haggling so I bought the thing.
I had to take the rental car 60km away since no place closer was open on a Sunday evening. We agreed that I'd take a train back and he'll bring the car to the station. After this I started my drive home. It was 10 P.M so my drive for the evening consisted of 60ish kilometers to the closest hotel but that was less driving for the coming days.
At the hotel parking lot
The following day I took off at 7:45 A.M with Stonehenge as my destination, I've always wanted to go there. It was 300 kilometers to get there which was a really good way to get to know my new car. I even drove top down for a while, although it was way too cold for that :lol: The last 40 kilometers before Stonehenge were some very awesome country roads, I really had a blast there.
After Stonehenge I drove to Portsmouth just to see that Mx5parts.co.uk was closed and from there to Dover and the ferry to France. It was 9:30 P.M when I got to France and something like 11 P.M when I got to Bruges where I again took the first hotel available, luckily with a warm garage.
The following day, Tuesday, I set off after breakfast at 8:15 A.M. I had thrown ideas around about driving straight to Stockholm, Sweden because the hotel nights were quite boring alone. It would be a 1620km trip and my friends just laughed at me through Whatsapp.
It was sort of a challenge accepted-situation and drive to Stockholm I did. It was quite a drive through the night: it took 21 hours all in all to get from Bruges to Stockholm. As I had changed my ferry booking during the night I drove straight to the harbour and set off to Finland in two hour's time. That evening, yesterday that is, I came home with my new toy after a mere 2600km drive.
So, the details:
-1.6, 115hp
-180 000km on the clock now
-Working A/C and power steering
-Flawless mohair roof and rear window plastic
You'll have to excuse the bottles on the floor. I had to keep myself busy while driving.
It's quite rust free, I've only found a little bubbling paint in two or three places. The suspension arms and all that seem quite intact. The thing it needs the most, has been needing it for the past five years, is a cambelt change. That is five years over due and I'll get to that with R.A. ASAP. Otherwise just basic maintenance, changing bushings etc. and making it my dear toy.
Proof pic
Special thanks to samulis for the help!