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The Answer to Everything
I have a weakness for the Mazda MX-5 (Miata/Roadster elsewhere). They are the best British sports car ever made that happens to have been built in Japan.
Back in the day it's said that Mazda grabbed an MGB and a Lotus Elan and took them apart and did what they did back then; made it better. The MX-5 was born. They have that character of an old British sports car without the extreme nailiness.
Another thing they don't do is power, which puts a lot of people off. They really don't have very much at all, meaning you have to work them to get to speed then drive to it's limits to keep it there. Which is where the simply magnificent chassis and it's light weight shine. It's dancing on this limit that the MX-5 does it's party trick of being massively entertaining to drive whilst not even breaking the speed limit.
There is an expression that the MX-5 is the answer to every UK driver's motoring needs, and it sort of is. When you break down what you want, there is always an MX-5 in there, because, quite frankly, they do just about everything brilliantly. Well except be fast, but that's not really the point, and there are ways around that if you so desire.
I've had two. My first was the first rear wheel drive car I'd ever owned and was my introduction to track days. I kicked the crap out of it, and not only did it take it, it was the definition of bulletproof and cheap to run.
Later I bagged a mk2.5 which replaced a much faster Impreza WRX. You'd think that'd be a real come down, yet it never was and I didn't regret it for a second. Replacing the MX-5 with a Lotus Elise I did regret, but that you can read about elsewhere in this blog.
In the interim I found my brother a mint, and I really mean mint, low mileage mk1, which I drove and it made me realize that in all honesty, I preferred it to the Cayman.
Which brings me to now, when I've realized that once again the MX-5 is my answer to everything, and I've just bought my third. Unable to bag a mk1 as good as my brother's, I've ended up picking up a low milage 'smiley faced' mk3.5. Let the hairdressing begin!