One of the ironies of being a motoring journalist is: not needing to own a car. I got through 15 years of working at two of SA's leading motoring titles without owning wheels. Though, being a petrolhead, it meant that I always longed to do so.
A few years ago the yearning grew strong and I had stashed away enough birthday money to start shopping around. Criteria on my list included: rear-wheel drive, manual transmission, not too expensive to maintain and it must cope well with track outings. I came across a few attractive options but one car kept ticking all the boxes… a Mazda MX-5.
I have always been a fan of the little roadster from the East. The simplicity of the recipe along with excellent engineering from Mazda are some of the traits that appeal to me.
However, the MX-5, or Miata, as it is known, does not enjoy the same following here in SA as it does in other parts of the world, which means there isn't a multitude of cars on offer.
I located a car in the Cape. The owner was asking a low price for it, and when I saw it I realised why. The car has been stored for many years and at some point the roof was left open. It was full of leaves and covered in bird poo.
My initial response was to run. But when the car started on the turn after being parked for over a year, I had second thoughts. The 1,6-litre motor even sounded sweet. A few days later a deal was struck and I was the proud new owner of a first generation (NA series) 1989 Mazda MX-5.
As expected of a car this old, which had been neglected, some TLC was required. But the relative lack of special care was what impressed. I had a major service conducted along with an overhaul of the braking and cooling systems. After that visit to the "doctor" the MX-5 was almost as good as new.
Since I was documenting the progress I created projectmx5SA for friends to keep track. I started to use the car on weekends and slowly worked on the interior and exterior appearance.
Life was good in my "new" car. Driving around with the roof stowed and the sun pouring into the cabin made simple weekend drives quite special. For some bizarre reason Simon and Garfunkel's Mrs Robinson played in my head every time I drove the car.
After many weekend excursions I ascertained the mechanicals were all up to spec and that it was time for the MX-5 to make its racetrack debut. I signed up for a street-car track day at Killarney Raceway.
The racetrack outing proved an absolute blast. The little car didn't skip a beat as we pounded over 30 laps that day. MX-5s are made for driving and the underpinnings are well-suited to track work: four-way disc brakes, double-wishbones at each corner and a limited-slip differential all scream RACECAR. I knew that day the MX-5's true calling was to go racing.
In the run-up to the 2016 season I had the car race-prepped with the help of a few generous sponsors, not least of all GT Graphics. The car was prepared and ready to go racing in a matter of weeks and we registered to compete in the 2016 Fine Cars club-level series held at Killarney.
At our first outing in 2016 we were slightly off the pace, but still in the mix. Most importantly, we were having loads of fun.
It had been years since I raced and a return to competition made me feel alive again. There is very little that compares to racing wheel-to-wheel and I recommend every petrolhead try it at least once in their lifetime.
In just our second outing we netted an overall win for the day. Not bad going for a car that was essentially stock standard. As the year progressed we upgraded certain items for safety and racing duties. Excellent reliability meant we finished every race of the series, grabbing silverware at almost every outing. I was also relishing the regular boxing sessions with the only other MX-5 in the field.
The car became a crowd favourite and easily recognised thanks to its own Facebook page.
When the season drew to a close we were classified third in the championship. In 2017 I signed up again for the same series and had another successful, fun-filled year behind the wheel.
It may not be the most powerful or the fastest car on track, but an MX-5 does so many things right that even though you may be slower than a race-prepped Golf 1, the fun factor is extremely high.
• Sudhir Matai is a Cape Town-based automotive consultant. Look for Banzai Matai on Twitter and Instagram for more of his adventures...