Mazda Eunos 1.8 S-Special - Rust Free
I occasionally get phone calls from potential buyers asking if I have something a bit special for sale. Well I have: its a car from my own collection and its now available.
I imported this from Japan back in 2017 and it was first registered in Japan in April 1997. Its a Mk1 Mazda Eunos 1.8 S-Special finished in Montego Blue with dark grey cloth seats and black trim. It has power steering, electric windows, air conditioning, Kenwood CD player, stainless steel door speaker surrounds and matching sill tread plates. It has a colour matched genuine Mazda hard top fitted. Its covered an indicated 133,450km (83400 miles).
The whole point of importing this car from Japan was that it was rust-free and had never had any of the usual rust repairs needed on a typical older MX5. This one was really, really good and I sold it to a chap in the Midlands who garaged it, looked after and slowly improved it further. The one thing he didn’t do was actually drive it very much, covering just 1500 miles over the next 4 years. In 2021, he asked me if I might be interested in buying it back and I did so, thinking that this would be a good addition to my own car collection. I added another 300 miles or so to it before storing it inside – until a few weeks ago when I decided that with more cars being added to my collection, I may have to let this one go.
The mechanical specification of this car is pretty good. As its one of the later ‘Type II’ cars, this means it has a lightened flywheel, later improved 16-bit ECU, a later Torsen2 limited slip differential with shorter ratios (for better acceleration) along with extra underbody bracing. There are no oil/water leaks and engine, gearbox, dif and brakes are spot on. Its just had a major service which included new cam belt (the cam belt and water pump were last replaced in 2017) along with new auxiliary belts, a replacement Cam Sensor ‘O’ ring seal, ignition timing re-set, new oil, filters etc. Its also just been MOT tested (with no advisories). Its recently had new front brake pads, a new rain rail, replacement Wipac polycarbonate headlights with halogen H4 conversion (much better than the original sealed beam units). The boot is spotlessly clean and it has its original jack, wheel brace etc along with the original BBS centre cap removal tool and a locking wheel nut key.
Suspension along with arms and subframes are all in exceptionally clean condition in a way that you rarely see on an MX5 these days. Its fitted with a set of Bilstein dampers, again in good condition. The engine bay is equally clean and tidy with no rust and no leaks anywhere. Bodywork and paintwork are very good indeed with no rust anywhere – sills, wheels arches, wings etc are all rust-free and in excellent condition. Its never been welded underneath and is in original, sound condition. All of the original spot welds and seams are intact and again, its rare to see an MX5 Mk1 in this kind of condition. Its had some underside treatment (of the most vulnerable bits) with Dynax S50 though the car hasn't been out in the rain or used on a wet road since its import into the UK anyway.
Inside it has standard cloth seats (valeted since the photos here were taken) with black carpets and trim. Everything is in clean undamaged condition. Its fitted with a gear knob from a Mk2 and a Nardi airbag steering wheel – even though it doesn’t actually have an airbag: the previous owner simply preferred a thicker rimmed wheel. The only other point worth mentioning inside is that there are a couple of hairline cracks in the dashboard padding in front of the passenger. It has a pair of original Mazda carpet mats fitted too. Electric windows and lock have been cleaned and lubricated. Its fitted with a dark blue mohair Mk2 soft top complete with glass window and this is in good condition. The Kenwood CD Radio sounds good and it has an electric aerial fitted. The boot is spotlessly clean and it has its original jack, wheel brace etc along with the original BBS centre cap removal tool and a locking wheel nut key.
When the car was imported, it had a set 14” BBS wheels fitted; I have just replaced these with a set of extremely rare 15" BBS wheels but these are much better than the standard type. There are the ultra rare BBS RG034s and these differ from the standard items in that they are forged for strength and are some 20% lighter (allegedly a mere 5kg each). In any case they look terrific and are fitted with a good set of Toyo Proxes.
Its brilliant to drive: feels really solid with good performance and handles really well. Its fitted with a Cobalt stainless steel exhaust from the cat back. Its no louder than standard under normal driving but sounds good under hard acceleration. It pulls well in all gears; in fact it will pull from 1000rpm in fifth gear and mid range acceleration is really strong too. Ride quality is good ie not rock hard, while handling is just as you would expect and its just excellent fun on a good twisting road.
I have two keys for it along with a big pile of receipts etc. Its an exceptional car and its not cheap at a firm £9500. I’m not desperate to sell this and I know it will continue to increase in value over the coming years so I’m looking for the right buyer for this one. I’m happy to answer any questions of course. The photos here are a mix of some taken with the original 14" wheels and some with the 15” BBS RG024 fitted.
STATUS: Available now
I imported this from Japan back in 2017 and it was first registered in Japan in April 1997. Its a Mk1 Mazda Eunos 1.8 S-Special finished in Montego Blue with dark grey cloth seats and black trim. It has power steering, electric windows, air conditioning, Kenwood CD player, stainless steel door speaker surrounds and matching sill tread plates. It has a colour matched genuine Mazda hard top fitted. Its covered an indicated 133,450km (83400 miles).
The whole point of importing this car from Japan was that it was rust-free and had never had any of the usual rust repairs needed on a typical older MX5. This one was really, really good and I sold it to a chap in the Midlands who garaged it, looked after and slowly improved it further. The one thing he didn’t do was actually drive it very much, covering just 1500 miles over the next 4 years. In 2021, he asked me if I might be interested in buying it back and I did so, thinking that this would be a good addition to my own car collection. I added another 300 miles or so to it before storing it inside – until a few weeks ago when I decided that with more cars being added to my collection, I may have to let this one go.
The mechanical specification of this car is pretty good. As its one of the later ‘Type II’ cars, this means it has a lightened flywheel, later improved 16-bit ECU, a later Torsen2 limited slip differential with shorter ratios (for better acceleration) along with extra underbody bracing. There are no oil/water leaks and engine, gearbox, dif and brakes are spot on. Its just had a major service which included new cam belt (the cam belt and water pump were last replaced in 2017) along with new auxiliary belts, a replacement Cam Sensor ‘O’ ring seal, ignition timing re-set, new oil, filters etc. Its also just been MOT tested (with no advisories). Its recently had new front brake pads, a new rain rail, replacement Wipac polycarbonate headlights with halogen H4 conversion (much better than the original sealed beam units). The boot is spotlessly clean and it has its original jack, wheel brace etc along with the original BBS centre cap removal tool and a locking wheel nut key.
Suspension along with arms and subframes are all in exceptionally clean condition in a way that you rarely see on an MX5 these days. Its fitted with a set of Bilstein dampers, again in good condition. The engine bay is equally clean and tidy with no rust and no leaks anywhere. Bodywork and paintwork are very good indeed with no rust anywhere – sills, wheels arches, wings etc are all rust-free and in excellent condition. Its never been welded underneath and is in original, sound condition. All of the original spot welds and seams are intact and again, its rare to see an MX5 Mk1 in this kind of condition. Its had some underside treatment (of the most vulnerable bits) with Dynax S50 though the car hasn't been out in the rain or used on a wet road since its import into the UK anyway.
Inside it has standard cloth seats (valeted since the photos here were taken) with black carpets and trim. Everything is in clean undamaged condition. Its fitted with a gear knob from a Mk2 and a Nardi airbag steering wheel – even though it doesn’t actually have an airbag: the previous owner simply preferred a thicker rimmed wheel. The only other point worth mentioning inside is that there are a couple of hairline cracks in the dashboard padding in front of the passenger. It has a pair of original Mazda carpet mats fitted too. Electric windows and lock have been cleaned and lubricated. Its fitted with a dark blue mohair Mk2 soft top complete with glass window and this is in good condition. The Kenwood CD Radio sounds good and it has an electric aerial fitted. The boot is spotlessly clean and it has its original jack, wheel brace etc along with the original BBS centre cap removal tool and a locking wheel nut key.
When the car was imported, it had a set 14” BBS wheels fitted; I have just replaced these with a set of extremely rare 15" BBS wheels but these are much better than the standard type. There are the ultra rare BBS RG034s and these differ from the standard items in that they are forged for strength and are some 20% lighter (allegedly a mere 5kg each). In any case they look terrific and are fitted with a good set of Toyo Proxes.
Its brilliant to drive: feels really solid with good performance and handles really well. Its fitted with a Cobalt stainless steel exhaust from the cat back. Its no louder than standard under normal driving but sounds good under hard acceleration. It pulls well in all gears; in fact it will pull from 1000rpm in fifth gear and mid range acceleration is really strong too. Ride quality is good ie not rock hard, while handling is just as you would expect and its just excellent fun on a good twisting road.
I have two keys for it along with a big pile of receipts etc. Its an exceptional car and its not cheap at a firm £9500. I’m not desperate to sell this and I know it will continue to increase in value over the coming years so I’m looking for the right buyer for this one. I’m happy to answer any questions of course. The photos here are a mix of some taken with the original 14" wheels and some with the 15” BBS RG024 fitted.
STATUS: Available now
