Top Gear James May with the Mazda MX5
Happy birthday to you squash tomatoes and stewed squash tomatoes and sushi is many happy returns to the mazda mx-5 it’s hard to believe that the little japanese roadster that shook the world is already 10 years old and into its second incarnation but i’m afraid it is at the same time i’d like to report that it’s a long way from senile dementia this is mazdas birthday
Present to its prodigal child a limited edition of 7,500 mx-5s finished in innocent blue and fitted with a few special treats there’s a 6-speed gearbox the first ever on a uk mx-5 some carbon-fiber titbits on the dashboard and deeply fashionable color keyed seats some japanese engineers have been mucking around in a shed improving the suspension with new dampers
And anti-roll bars trouble is while they were in there they had a couple of sar keys as well and then they decided to buff up the alloy wheels now they look as if they belong in my trophy cabinet except i haven’t got one of course so they’ll just have to stay on the car when the first mx-5 came as is when they made earlier car boats immediately proclaimed it as
Shameless ripoff of some horrible plastic lotus from the 1960s and it was but a couple of important differences distinguish the diminutive mazda from the great old brit first of all it didn’t leak whereas all old british sports cars leaked like the prime minister’s entry and smell like damp dogs inside as a result and it didn’t break down overall it was much more
Well much more made in japan really but it was actually styled in america in california where the great british sports car was much missed mazda saw this and in its great oriental wisdom decided to make a new one but a new one that was really like like an old one now at this point we should keep a minute silence for the old notice of land and its owners here’s
What meanwhile the mx-5 has sold over half a million but this is the first worldwide limited-edition mazda mx-5 the project leader the honourable takeo cugini says that this car is already a motoring reg and he’s pretty right i’ve been driving around in this car for hours now desperately trying to think of exactly the right way to describe it and i’ve come up with
Something it’s brilliant yeah all right i know you could have thought the van it’s not very good but i really can’t be bothered thinking up clever dick expressions at a time like this go away all right it’s brilliant because it’s not too powerful 138 horses and it’s not too grippy so the sort of phone you’d have in a supercar at insane speeds are yours in the
Mazda at sensible ones so it’s more fun more of the time it’s a very intimate car it’s not just at the cockpit cuz it’s you it’s because the steering and the gear change a linked straight to your brain you’re invited to the mx-5 birthday party at every corner is that good enough good now go away now look i don’t want to irritate you if you already own the standard
Mx-5 but this one’s better the new suspension bits make the steering even sharper and the ride just a bit more supple the mx-5 remains a bit frenetic along motor ages and a bit noisy too but then if you’re on the m1 in your mx-5 you’ve ever taken a wrong turning or you’ve come out in the wrong car this car belongs on real roads six hundred anniversary mx-5s are
Destined for the uk and if you’re quick you can have one for twenty one thousand one hundred pounds now i’ve been out in the fresh air all day and i might be getting a bit delirious but i reckon this is the finest small roadster money can buy those of you with mg s will now be checking stuff at the telly but think about it if mazda hadn’t reinvented the affordable
Sports car all those years ago would we ever have had an mg f or a fiat barchetta or a bmw z3 we should be grateful to it
Transcribed from video
Top Gear James May with the Mazda MX5 By LEESVIDEOMOVIE