ROAD TEST DRIVE AVAILABLE AT YOUR HOME (for fuel money). TRACK TEST DRIVES AVAILABLE AT A TRACK TO SUIT YOU (£350 for you to drive for half the day including entry fees, fuel, wear and tear on tyres etc). ALL TEST DRIVE COSTS REFUNDED IF YOU BUY THE CAR.

The previous owner had done a great job of making it into a quick and daily-useable road car and one that was track-ready straight away for a novice-to-intermediate track driver. It has now been significantly upgraded and is suitable for an experienced or very experienced track driver. Or just use it as a highly enjoyable fast road car.

Turbo conversion done by MTEC. Just a simple TD04 running 13psi for a very progressive and controllable 250hp or 10psi for 210hp. G19 manifold and downpipe. 2. 5" exhaust. Malian backbox with reduced 3” tailpipe. Tuned by Alex Hickson who also double-checked the tunes after I'd bought the car. The only tweak he felt the need to do was to lean out the AFR at some low-load conditions. Not put this tune in yet, but no doubt it will improve slightly on the 30-33mpg it presently gets on the road, driven as it should be. It has been deliberately left “only” at a happy, healthy and reliable 250hp while the chassis has been further improved, making a beautifully balanced car to drive on the edge on the track once you've dialled in the suspension settings and tyre pressures. Or a very competent road car with the suspension set softer and on road tyres.

Walbro high pressure fuel pump and coil pack, ME442 ECU with USB connections (and many functions including launch control if that's your thing), Bosch EV14 640cc injectors, NGK plugs, Millers oil, Stoney Racing coolant hoses, MTEC aluminium radiator, RAM air filter and induction pipe with effective heatshield, MTEC intercooler kit, Skidnation coolant reroute, Serrano oil cooler kit with thermostatic valve for fast engine and heater warm up and to avoid over-cooling the oil, Competition brand stage 4 paddle clutch capable of handling much more power, lightened flywheel, oil catch cans, more.

Engine mounts are one solid and one poly. Poly diff mounts with metal void fillers. These make for instant transfer of power to the rear wheels when the throttle position is changed, and reduce gear lever wobble and axle tramp to almost zero. They also increase NVH*.

£1, 962 worth of MeisterR GT1 digressive coilovers with height and 32-way damper adjustment. Higher tensile Skidnation alignment bolts and lockers. Set for 320mm rear from centre of wheel to top of wheelarch and 310 front - so it has the recommended 10mm of rake. Just amazing on the road at that height. Fine over 99% of speed humps. Even ok into my farm drive without grounding. If you were ever to go full race car with it and stop using it as a road car you'd be able to go lower if you wanted, with a further gentle roll of the arch lips.

Whiteline anti-roll bars with strengthening blocks for the body.

Brakes are Wilwood 4 pot fronts with PBS ProRace pads, Sport rears with Yellowspeed pads (and Titanium bleed nipples!). Braided lines, RBF600 fluid. Fully functioning handbrake. The brakes are MEGA. No fade ever, even when driven once by a BRSCC driver, who I think will do well next year in his 1. 6 MX5. He’s 20, spends a lot of time on a serious simulator working for race teams, and is ridiculously quick, and (almost) stupidly brave. He loves this car, partly because, after the first lap, the brakes just behave perfectly, and exactly the same, each time you come to the same corner on the next lap. This makes him confident to try braking a yard later, or changing his angle of approach, or the amount he trail brakes to rotate the car. He’s quicker without ABS, whereas I’m a mere mortal, and need it.

FUJI 4. 1 clutch type limited slip diff refurbed and strengthened by McNeil Engineering. Locks up earlier and more so than other LSDs I've had on MX5s. Poly bushes and metal void fillers. If you go to Cadwell and get airborne at The Mountain, you should get the notches welded.

Extra exhaust mounts, all with upgraded poly bushes and strengthened hangers.

Refurbished and powder coated subframes and arms. £400 worth.

Gold standard rustproofing by Northants MX5 (details on their website. £1, 500 worth.

The best Delrin doors bushes available (not the ones in pics).

AEM X wideband AFR and boost gauges.

Black 8. 25" x 15" Ultralite UL12 wheels x 2 sets. One set with Toyo road tyres, one set with good R888s. Tyre rack also available so you don’t need to drive on the road to the track on the 888s as, on the road, you don’t want the combination of high-spec suspension AND stiff tyre sidewalls. About £1, 600 worth of wheels and tyres, accounting for wear and tear.

Flat door panel on driver's side so the armrest doesn't hit your elbow.

Excellent mohair soft top with heated glass window.

Black front splitter and rear ducktail.

Leather Momo steering wheel.

Black leather seats with red inserts.

Downpipe is part-wrapped and also has a heat-resistant pad to reduce heat reaching the gearbox.

Front part of the exhaust also has a pad to reduce heat reaching the gearbox.

Inconel heat shielding in the gearbox tunnel, reducing in-car temperatures in hot weather, especially on track.

Stronger 6 speed gearbox with rebuilt gearshift including new oil, brass bottom bush and high-spec rubber boot. This further improves the already top class MX5 gearchange and reduces sounds and heat coming into the passenger compartment, as do the pads on the downpipe and exhaust.

The 6 speed gearbox also makes for 22mph per 1, 000rpm in top gear, compared with 20mph with the 5 speed, so the car is quieter and more economical on the road. It is also a close ratio box, so you're much more likely to find the perfect gear for every corner on road and track.

Stainless underbody braces, plus doorbars and
TR Lane roll bar (which clears soft and hard tops). Together, these replace and increase the stiffness an MX5 loses by being a lovely convertible. This makes the car safer, as well as allowing the suspension to do what it’s designed to do, and what you’ve set it to do, instead of having to randomly compensate for a floppy body.

The car happily does long sessions on the track. The driver usually gets tired before the car does. Strangely, just as you're about to catch the much more expensive car in front of you, it'll go into the pits. to hide. 911s seem to do this a lot.

On the road the handling is just amazing. B roads become playgrounds (but watch your speed, of course!). On the motorway, if you need to get out into a gap in the outside lane, there's no need to change down. Just stay in 6th and gently ease the throttle open.

Comes with vented and plain bonnets and boot lids with and without ducktail (with quick release electrical connectors).

To be made ready for use as a road car again after a track day you soften the coilovers (1 minute), and put the road wheels and tyres back on (15 mins?), and go home in relative comfort, such that a 68 year old with a dodgy back can happily have further fun driving home.

There will be more that I've forgotten to tell you. To understand the breadth of the car's ability, you need to see it and be driven in it, or, if you have insurance, to drive it on the road.


Options to consider:

Near-new high-quality BC Racing coilovers instead of the GT1s - REDUCES the price by £500.

Spare gearboxes. £75 for a 5 speed. £395 for a 6 speed. Should not be needed unless you up the power beyond 409hp to match the capabilities of the brakes and chassis.

Choose 2 out of my 3 bucket seats (one is very narrow), with harnesses. £400 or all 3 for £600.

Semi-permanent slimline hardtop fittings. £50.

Accelerator pedal extension for heel and toeing. £50.

Multi spoke (Arctic?) 15” wheels with Nankang NS2Rs. £300.

Mazda wheels with slick tyres. £300.

Less stiff engine mounts. FREE if I keep the ones currently fitted. If you went with the least stiff option I have, 40% uprated rubber ones, you might feel able to use the car as a daily driver, while only minimally compromising it for the track.

Expensive long/ short gear shifter. Has the 5 speed to 6 speed bush mod. Needs more mods to work perfectly on the 6 speed box. Makes the move from gear lever to steering wheel a level left to right instead of also up and down. £250.

Small AMP flat-bottomed steering wheel with high quality NRG quick release. The size of this puts the top of it exactly where the indicator warning lights are normally visible in the dashboard, so a repeater light is being made to go on top of the steering wheel surround. The indicators no longer self-cancel. £150.

* People who know me might disagree.