Mazda Eunos VR-Ltd 1.8
This Mazda Eunos VR-Ltd 1.8 is now offered for sale by Goodwood Sportscars. Its a 1996 model finished in Excellent Green Mica with black leather seats and trim.
Spec includes electric windows, power steering, a Momo steering wheel, stainless steel speaker surround s and sill tread plates and an immobiliser. Its covered around 220000km which is about 135000 miles and has just had a fortune spent on it.
Bodywork is pretty good with no rust and wheel arches, sills and wings are all good. Its had repairs to the sills and wheel arches previously and all are solid if not perfect. Underneath, there are two or three repaired areas but again, its all strong and sound. There is the odd stonechip and area of paint that isn’t as well finished as it might be but its still a smart and solid, good looking car.
The VR-Ltd was a special edition produced for the Japanese market in two 'flavours'. These were known as the Combination A and Combination B varieties. The 'A' was finished in Vin Red and 700 were produced wjhile this one, the 'B', was finished in Excellent Green so they are quite rare cars. They feature the later ‘Type II’ upgrades which include an improved ECU, lightened flywheel, extra chassis bracing, a Torsen lsd with shorter dif ratios and lots of minor tweaks and upgrades, all fitted as standard by Mazda. Power is up from its standard 130bhp to 133bhp. Not a lot but the combined net result of this lot is that they just drive a bit better than a standard 1.8 and performance is a bit snappier with noticeably quicker in-gear acceleration.
Its sitting on a set of original VR-Spec 15” Enkei alloy wheels, all fitted with good tyres. The soft top is a black mohair one from a Mk2 and has a glass window and it also has a tonneau cover and a wind blocker fitted.
Inside, the black leather seats are in good order with a few creases in line with its age but no holes or splits. I have just replaced the complete dashboard (the last one was badly cracked thanks to sun damage). Everything works as it should, other than the air con, which is tired and probably needs a re-gas at least. Its fitted with anew Pioneer DAB stereo along with Focal door speakers; however the DAB aerial hasn’t been fitted so its just standard FM radio. All sounds good though.
Where it gets interesting is regarding the amount of new parts recently fitted along with various upgrades which improve the car massively. Within the last 10-12 months, its had:
New water pump, rollers and cambelt
New CAS ‘O’ ring seal and cam cover gasket
Various coolant hoses replaced along with a full coolant change
New front and rear crank oil seals
New clutch, along with new slave and master cylinders and hard lines fitted.
New radiator
An IL Motorsport stainless steel exhaust system from the cat back
New Meister R adjustable suspension complete with protective covers. These are adjustable for both height and stiffness.
Replacement camber bolts
The complete braking system was overhauled with new calipers, new brake discs and pads and the old rubber hoses were replaced with new stainless steel braided items and of course the brake fluid was replaced. Both handbrake cables have been replaced too. The braking system overhaul alone was £1500.
New battery.
Full service including new oil, filters and new oil in both dif and gearbox.
This lot cost an absolute fortune but as a result, the car drives just beautifully. The exhaust is a touch louder than standard but it seems to have woken the car up and the engine feels exceptionally strong. In fifth gear, it will pull cleanly from under 1000rpm and is happy revving to 7000rpm and beyond. Gearbox and clutch are just as they should be and brakes are particularly strong.
Thanks to the Meister R suspension and a recent new wheel alignment set up, this handles really well – much better than a car on standard suspension. The car feels incredibly responsive with superb handling and steering feel and I still reckon fitting upgraded suspension like this is one of the best performance upgrades you make make on any MX5/Eunos.
The car has just been through my 80+ point checklist and has been well prepared. Its been serviced and MOT tested again (the latest MOT expires in August 2027) and it comes complete with two keys and immobiliser fobs and a good collection of paperwork and old receipts. I know this car well as I have owned it twice in the past and its a lovely example. Its not perfect and I would strongly advise any potential buyer to watch the Youtube video I have produced which show its minus points (mainly paintwork related) in more detail. Here’s the link to that: https://youtu.be/XvbUVUKehTQ
This is a really quite lovely car and its particularly good to drive and price is £6500.
STATUS: Available Now and a deposit secures it.
Spec includes electric windows, power steering, a Momo steering wheel, stainless steel speaker surround s and sill tread plates and an immobiliser. Its covered around 220000km which is about 135000 miles and has just had a fortune spent on it.
Bodywork is pretty good with no rust and wheel arches, sills and wings are all good. Its had repairs to the sills and wheel arches previously and all are solid if not perfect. Underneath, there are two or three repaired areas but again, its all strong and sound. There is the odd stonechip and area of paint that isn’t as well finished as it might be but its still a smart and solid, good looking car.
The VR-Ltd was a special edition produced for the Japanese market in two 'flavours'. These were known as the Combination A and Combination B varieties. The 'A' was finished in Vin Red and 700 were produced wjhile this one, the 'B', was finished in Excellent Green so they are quite rare cars. They feature the later ‘Type II’ upgrades which include an improved ECU, lightened flywheel, extra chassis bracing, a Torsen lsd with shorter dif ratios and lots of minor tweaks and upgrades, all fitted as standard by Mazda. Power is up from its standard 130bhp to 133bhp. Not a lot but the combined net result of this lot is that they just drive a bit better than a standard 1.8 and performance is a bit snappier with noticeably quicker in-gear acceleration.
Its sitting on a set of original VR-Spec 15” Enkei alloy wheels, all fitted with good tyres. The soft top is a black mohair one from a Mk2 and has a glass window and it also has a tonneau cover and a wind blocker fitted.
Inside, the black leather seats are in good order with a few creases in line with its age but no holes or splits. I have just replaced the complete dashboard (the last one was badly cracked thanks to sun damage). Everything works as it should, other than the air con, which is tired and probably needs a re-gas at least. Its fitted with anew Pioneer DAB stereo along with Focal door speakers; however the DAB aerial hasn’t been fitted so its just standard FM radio. All sounds good though.
Where it gets interesting is regarding the amount of new parts recently fitted along with various upgrades which improve the car massively. Within the last 10-12 months, its had:
New water pump, rollers and cambelt
New CAS ‘O’ ring seal and cam cover gasket
Various coolant hoses replaced along with a full coolant change
New front and rear crank oil seals
New clutch, along with new slave and master cylinders and hard lines fitted.
New radiator
An IL Motorsport stainless steel exhaust system from the cat back
New Meister R adjustable suspension complete with protective covers. These are adjustable for both height and stiffness.
Replacement camber bolts
The complete braking system was overhauled with new calipers, new brake discs and pads and the old rubber hoses were replaced with new stainless steel braided items and of course the brake fluid was replaced. Both handbrake cables have been replaced too. The braking system overhaul alone was £1500.
New battery.
Full service including new oil, filters and new oil in both dif and gearbox.
This lot cost an absolute fortune but as a result, the car drives just beautifully. The exhaust is a touch louder than standard but it seems to have woken the car up and the engine feels exceptionally strong. In fifth gear, it will pull cleanly from under 1000rpm and is happy revving to 7000rpm and beyond. Gearbox and clutch are just as they should be and brakes are particularly strong.
Thanks to the Meister R suspension and a recent new wheel alignment set up, this handles really well – much better than a car on standard suspension. The car feels incredibly responsive with superb handling and steering feel and I still reckon fitting upgraded suspension like this is one of the best performance upgrades you make make on any MX5/Eunos.
The car has just been through my 80+ point checklist and has been well prepared. Its been serviced and MOT tested again (the latest MOT expires in August 2027) and it comes complete with two keys and immobiliser fobs and a good collection of paperwork and old receipts. I know this car well as I have owned it twice in the past and its a lovely example. Its not perfect and I would strongly advise any potential buyer to watch the Youtube video I have produced which show its minus points (mainly paintwork related) in more detail. Here’s the link to that: https://youtu.be/XvbUVUKehTQ
This is a really quite lovely car and its particularly good to drive and price is £6500.
STATUS: Available Now and a deposit secures it.