MX5 Turbo: The end is nigh...

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Parent Category: Old projects

Category: MX5 Turbo

Created on Friday, 04 November 2011 11:08

Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 22:04

Published on Friday, 04 November 2011 11:08

Written by Dale

Followers of the BTG Facebook page and our classified ads might already be aware of how close I am to an almost heretical act. I am actually considering SELLING the turbo MX5 that has been this website's signature car for several years.

From humble beginnings this little car taught me a lot about both driving and modifying a vehicle for the racetrack. With thousands and thousands of €€€s poured into this little beast, and the laptimes and performance better than ever, you might wonder why on Earth I'm thinking about selling it.

Well, the reason is actually scarily simple. I simply cannot trust the UK insurers to hold up to their end of the deal... as a resident of both the UK and Germany, I operate both a UK-plated car and a German-plated car. The German insurance companies cover the Nordschleife without argument or quibble. The same cannot be said of the UK companies. They disregard the Nordschleife's public road status during touristenfahrten and use their own definition which prohibits driving on a 'prepared course'. If pushed to the limit they will cough up money for third-party damages, but most often they will also sue you personally for breaking their 'prepared course' contract and reclaim their costs from you personally. You can read more about it here: Nurburgring Insurance

It's a nightmare scenario, and one that's also becoming a reality for many regular visitors of the 'Ring - Brits, Norwegians, Swedes and Swiss to be precise.

So what are my options?

I can't put the 1990 Eunos Roadster on German plates - as a Japanese Import the car doesn't even exist on the official database here. None of the modifcations come with an ABE or TUV certificate either. So I can't retrofit them to a standard German donor car and pass TüV. The Turbo MX5 just won't go on German plates (if my understanding is wrong, tell me, please!).

The plan is to sell the MX5 (see the advert) and replace it with a standard car. Probably (due to market forces) a RHD car from the UK with a Certificate of Conformity.

The downside will be starting again on a long-road of modification and reliability testing. The upside will be starting a new project car from the beginning and covering every modification on BTG as a fresh project.

So put your heads together; what would you buy to meet these criteria:

• Official European import (CoC papers, no Japanese or American imports)
• 200bhp-ish
• Rear-wheel-drive preferred
• LSD preferred
• Circa €3000 maximum purchase price
• 10 years old maximum or 100,000km

Have fun fantasy shopping, and let us know what you'd pick in the comments or on our FaceBook page.

Awesome pics by the prodigy; dennisnoten.com

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