Our Classics
Murray (and his MX-5) wave goodbye to Classic Car Weekly’s office
Forgive this little self indulgence, but it will probably be the last time you read about my little Mazda. After nearly four years at
CCW ( but who’s counting?), I’ve decided to leave for pastures new. I formally started working for
CCW in 2014 as a fresh-faced staff writer straight out of university. I moved back to my hometown of Peterborough, helpfully where
CCW is located, and I needed a set of classic wheels to get around in.
I wanted something that was engaging (preferably fun-wheel drive), reliable, and that could be bought with my student overdraft. So I set out searching for the obvious choice, a Mazda MX-5, with a fistful of bank loan cash.
I found NNM locally, and after a test-drive, it was mine. I was amazed by how much fun you could have for £1000. I know many of you might not think that it’s a proper classic, and I could argue until I went blue in the face about its provenance, but it’s the perfect starter classic.
I’ve been mulling over how to sum up my time with the Mazda in the pages of CCW, and I just can’t pick one single favourite memory, so I’ll highlight a few.
Production editor (he was features editor then), Mike Le Caplain, and I were despatched to Saint Saturnin to cover the Classic British Welcome in France in 2014. It was my first time driving on the wrong side of the road, but I can only recall nearly killing us just the once, so it was pretty successful. The MX-5 was masterful – not that quiet, but comfortable and fun and Mike and I enjoyed the sun with the top down.
Another epic foreign jaunt involved editor, David Simister. We went to the Nürburgring in 2015 for the AvD Oldtimer. He had previously driven there in his Mazda (a trip that involved the use of a condom – don’t ask) and I decided that I wouldn’t be able to live with myself unless I could do the trip, too. It’s an easy enough schlep across there, with not a great deal to see – until you get to the Eifel mountain range. As I was born in Cambridgeshire, one of the flattest places on earth, I wasn’t sure what to make of it all. Lancashire lad David advised me that the massive mounds I was seeing were called ‘ hills’, and boy, did I like them. I can’t recommend a trip to that neck of the woods highly enough. The scenery is picturesque and you can also take your car around the Nordschleife – a feat worthy of the trip in itself.
It hasn’t all been continental jollies, though – I attended the MX-5’s 25th anniversary bash at Gaydon in 2014. I’ve never seen so many MX-5s in one place, and I doubt that I will again. I also took it to California – the one in Norfolk, that is – last year as part of a CCW tour. And then there was that time in 2015 when I went for a blast alongside Welsh Rally winner, Barry ‘ Whizzo’ Williams, and his race-spec Mini.
The MX-5 may be leaving these pages, but it won’t be leaving me any time soon. And don’t think that this is quite the end of me and CCW just yet, either – I’ll still be popping up with news stories and reviews every now and then.
And for anyone who’ll miss the presence of the MX-5 in CCW’s Our Classics pages, don’t forget that editor David still has his Eunos Roadster!