August 2018 - Classicaraddict

Time to Confess… Cars or Bikes

I have a confession, some of my friends might want to disown me after this…

Yet, it is time to come out…

Most people assume that I love bikes more than cars, even many of long-term friends still think this, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Within the biking fraternity, there is an assumption that any bike must be more fun than a car. For those who think this, I suggest trying a Suzuki Gs 500. Then you will know that watching paint dry is more fun than riding one of those. I think it might be better to say that generally, bikes are more fun than most cars.

Yet, whilst I do love bikes…

For me cars, well classic ones are more than just a mode of transport. For instance, my little Suzuki Vitara is not only work’s vehicle but also my friend. She has transformed how I do my job and if I was not impressed before it snowed I was certainly after. Every time I sit in her I smile, then I have to put fuel in her and the smile becomes a little smaller. I’ve had an old beaten up Mercedes estate car that somehow was special. I’ve owned some cars that are so bad I lost the will to live, for instance, a Hyundai Lantra estate. After driving it to South Wales I pulled into a local supermarket and when I came I’d forgotten where I’d parked it. How bad does a car have to be that after driving it for 4 hours you cannot even remember what you had been in?

I’m writing this after buying a bargain Mazda MX5, a car that somehow has already wormed its way into my soul. It reminds me so much of my much-missed Triumph Spitfire. Yet with the bonus of being reliable and dry. Driving should be fun; the safest cars are often the ones that engage the driver at lower speeds. Anyone who has driven a classic Mini knows this or the much-maligned Metro. They are safer because the driver is engaged in what they should be doing. With the added bonus the more passionate driver is rewarded with car that is fun at legal speeds.

For me, cars that do this are more fun than bikes, the view over the bonnet of a sports car sends a shiver through the soul of the enthusiast.

So I’m sorry to confess, but at heart, I’m a car guy and not a bike one…

Mazda MX5 First Driving Impressions

What is an MX5 like to drive?

Having not had a convertible in almost 2 years and a two-seater one in almost 8 years, having the roof down is such a joy. But, then if you have ever gone topless, you will know that.

In my first blog post, I wrote about how I was not impressed 12 years ago after borrowing an MK2 1.6 MX5 for an hour or so. This experience put me off them for a long time. A few years later I did get to drive a much later MK2 1.8 model with low profile wheels and tyres and a six-speed gearbox. Sadly, I could only drive it at 40 mph…. But it did seem a lot better.

After buying my MX5 (Bel) on impulse, and at the time on a purely rational basis what is she like to drive? In one word, sublime. Write I’m done now…

OK, a little more, let me explain.

First, Bel is a driver’s car, she talks to the driver who wants to listen. The experience is completely immersive. Most cars, well modern ones are like driving less interesting video game, and by doing this, they make the passionate driver want to slit their wrists. The other type of car seems only to become interesting at speeds that either mean an instant ban and you are travelling too fast for the safety of others.

Bel is not like that, at normal and legal speeds she is fun. I do a lot of driving on tight, narrow Cornish back lanes. Often getting close to the speed limit is far too fast. Here her poise and well-balanced steering is a joy. On faster roads, she is lovely and stable at 80 mph, at 100, very skittish. I will add that I only hit that speed for about 3 seconds before dropping back down to more legal speeds. Sorry officer.

They have been described as minimal when compared to modern cars they are. Compared to my much-missed Triumph Spitfire, even a basic spec MX5 is loaded with such features as no leaking roof, stereo, a handbrake that works, etc, etc… It is only a question of perspective… Not only does all that tec weight a lot, it is more to go wrong.

One such feature that is outstanding and is important for driving a convertible in the winter… Her heater is amazing, the best I’ve ever felt. Toasted feet on the coldest of days, or nights.

I still think that space wise they are cramped and carrying capacity is a joke, compared to my Spitfire there is hardly any at all. I would argue that some bigger touring bikes can carry more. A little creative packaging will be required when I go away to see my mother later in the year.

Yet… Those downsides are nothing compared to the driving experience.

What are MX5’s like to drive?

Amazing… They are driver’s cars.

Project MX5

I have an addiction, a lifelong one. Ever since the age of 4 months old I’ve loved cars, well old cars. Sadly, for me, modern ones just don’t hold that much interest… Except now at the age 46, yes really, how did that happen? I find myself driving cars that at were new when I was younger.

I’m writing this as the latest product of this expensive habit is being tested for it’s first MOT in my hands. The car in question is an 18-year-old Mazda MX 5 Isola. One of the lesser special additions of the most popular sports car ever made. For Ford fanatics, yes, I know the Mustang has sold millions and millions. But apart from perhaps one or two models have they ever really been a considered a sports car. A muscle car, pony car certainly but not a sports car.

Every petrolhead knows that back in the 1970’s and early 1980’s Mazda started looking at the small sports car market. They wondered if they could take the essence of the classic British sports car, front engine, rear wheel drive and joyful handling. This combined with just enough power to have fun, but not so much to become a handful. Let’s be honest just making it reliable would have been a major improvement…

This they did, and the result was the MX5 being launched in 1989 to much acclaim, with the affordable two-seater sports car was back after almost a decade. Now I should make a confession here, about 12 years ago I borrowed an MX5 to picked up a fuel pump for a friend’s MG MGB. I had the chance to drive it alone… And despite trying to like it, I just couldn’t. In fact, a month later I went and bought Triumph Spitfire 1500. A car that I loved very dearly for 5 years, but certainly was a classic British sports car with both rust and the ongoing personal development program that is such an essential part of the experience.

I always said that I should have bought an MX5, but never could. Until last week that is. After being asked to start a car for a friend, an MOT failure, one that she was trying to get rid of, but not get ripped off with. I duly started the car, drove it around the car park and felt that there was a good car just waiting to get back on the road.

A couple of days later I found myself handing over not that much for the car and taking it to a safe place where I could work on it. The half-mile drive was so much fun, a grin was on my face.

I’ve just driven the car far further than have since buying it (about 4 miles) to the place I always take my cars to. The garage is firm but fair and are all petrolheads.

The heat wave has gone, it is the finest Cornish mizzle. So of course, I had the roof down as I threaded her through the winding back lanes.

From being a hater, or perhaps not fully appreciating just how much fun an MX5 can, I think I might have been converted, no pun intended.

I now await nervously for the result… How much more will I need to do to get her back on the road…

PS….

IT PASSED…