NEW TRAVELS, OLD MEMORIES

For years I had been thinking about one day buying an MX-5. When my dear wife Ine passed away in 2015, the time when we had rented a beautiful red 1993 MX-5 NA for the day became a treasured memory. For old time's sake, it would have to be an early red roadster just like that.

On my retirement, I'd bought a classic motorcycle, returned to work part-time and gone on annual walking trips following the route from Holland to Santiago de Compostela in north-western Spain. It was on 2019's trip, from Limoges, France, to the Spanish border, that I hurt my back and had to return home much earlier than expected. With time to spare, I found myself browsing cars.

Late one evening, I saw a red, one-owner 1993 MX-5 NA for sale with only 38,000km (24,000 miles). I'd looked at MX-5s over the years, but always been disappointed by rusty bodies, dirty interiors or poor mechanicals. So I had my reservations, but I called the seller immediately. I took a lot of extra painkillers for my back, because this couldn't wait...

The car had been owned by the vendor's recently deceased father in-law and the children had made the difficult decision to pass it on. It had always been parked inside, meticulously maintained and rarely driven in the rain.