2001 Mazda MX5 1.8iS review from UK and Ireland

One off weird problem. Came out to the car in the morning and it fired up immediately as usual. However, it coughed and stalled, then refused to restart. Tiny boot-mounted gel battery has virtually no reserve capacity so it went flat after a minute or so of intermittent cranking. Left it for the day (and got a lift to work). Came back that evening and put a set of jump leads on from my neighbour's car. It fired up immediately and has been fine ever since! Dealer checked it over and found nothing amiss.

Fun, good looking little soft top with a decent turn of speed and with amazing handling.

Real old-school fun car with a rorty engine note, hairtrigger throttle response, and a classic front engined, rear wheel drive chassis which responds exactly as such a thing should. Sharp, but not intimidating, with very quick steering and an absolute refusal to understeer. Reels in all kinds of more expensive machinery given a good set of challenging B-roads.

It makes me laugh to read about the all electric hoods on more expensive rivals. The manual system on the 5 is so easy it renders such a heavy and complex contraption completely unnecessary. The hood can be raised or lowered in about 5 seconds without leaving the driver's seat. Push a button on each of the two catches near the top of each A-pillar and pull the catches back, then simply lower the roof over your left shoulder. To refit, pull it up into place from behind you, make sure the catches are lined up with the holes and click them shut. Less than 5 seconds to drop the hood and less than 10 to refit it. Who needs electrics?

Apart from a weird starting problem that occurred once and never came back, it's been totally reliable. Doesn't need a drop of oil between services, returns an average of 30 mpg (not great, but not bad) and sounds fantastic. But the best thing is it's the only one of today's soft tops that captures the essence of what the traditional 60's British sports car was about. Lightness, simplicity, amazing balance, seat of your pants chassis communication, and of course, enough power to leave the average car standing, without being so quick as to be prohibitively expensive to run or insure. It's also a totally useable everyday proposition with a cracking heater, no leaks or damp smells, supportive seats, and the same level of toys as you'd find on any mid-spec repmobile. 60's fun with Noughties reliability and quality.

Why, oh why didn't the British think of it?!