Mazda MX 5 Car-Model-2

Mazda MX 5 Car-Model-2

In 2010 the movie American, there's a scene where a catholic priest tells George Clooney, “Journalism can't make you rich”, implying that he knows, the latter is not the photographer, he claims to be, but something much worse.


Truer words have rarely been spoken, especially when it comes to the private sector, the motoring journalism. It will not make you rich, but, on the other hand, if you've turned a hobby into a business and that the heat does come with certain abilities.

The first and most importantly, take the drive to almost every new car and that includes some of the best. Also visit some of the incredible places, meet interesting people and gain insight about the inner workings of the automotive industry.

Your really enjoyed it until it became apparent that this job was quickly turned into a hobby i couldn't indulge in any of the more practical reasons, aka pay cuts because of falling sales and advertising revenues.

This brought me in a position i had not been, since the previous century: i was out in the market for a vehicle.

I had sold my cherished Alfa Romeo 156 cousin/a dear friend a few years back, because I couldn't stand watching it like sitting in the garage, i had no time to take it out and my better half, had no driving licence.

Having driven a different car almost every day for more than a decade, i now had to get used to living with the same vehicle, day in, day out. Think of it as the automotive equivalent of the settlement of a woman with numerous one-night stand: he'll have to be real good for you not to be really pleased with it.

Even if money were no object, i'd really have a hard time deciding. As it happened, the money was certainly an object, and, meanwhile, is concerned with the better half learned how to drive, so he needs a factor.

In the end, i settled for a Kia Venga small MPV. The price it was a steal, the car was extremely spacious, practical and loaded to the gills with extras (six airbags, ESP, partial leather seats, retractable mirrors, too) and, with only 3,400 km (a little over 2,100 km) on the odometer was as good as new.

Its 1.6-liter four-cylinder has been cheerfully and yet frugal, was driving compatible to save the sharp irregularities that the ministers in the rear torsion suspension, the view is excellent.

After more than a year of living with it, i'd rate the Venga A a+ as an extremely relaxing, and a reliable little car to spend a hassle-free life with.

I'd give it a D in the entertainment section. Not his fault, really, the same as it did exactly what it was designed. The problem was that I did none of the things i wanted.

My list of “must-haves”, containing a steering wheel with real feedback, sporty handling, the ability to put the electronic sleep if i wished, and, preferably, rear-wheel drive.

Being on a tight budget, smaller, spending all the time as the rise of the means to meet, say i (not) exactly to choose will be difficult. The BMWs within reach comes with a gazillion miles on the odometer, and/or a patched date - the rest is just the very elderly or absurdly overpriced. A Mini would be fun, but Cooper, weak, and Cooper S decent, the situation is very steep for my pocket. The list is long and the search result.

Apparently, i had great expectations. Needless to say, i was depressed.

Through the help from an old friend. He happens to have a friend who was selling, is exactly the type of car i was looking for. It was a compact, low -, rear-wheel drive, a short-throw six-speed manual transmission and a mechanical limited-slip differential.

There was no service book, but said a colleague for the sponsors of the car being of service carefully and some scratches and dings put me off as a cream leather interior with Nardil wooden rims, wheel and gear lever identified in tip-top condition.

It was a Mazda MX-5 with approximately 160,000 km (100,000 km) and a 1.8-liter engine. Even if his 140PS output wasn't fabulous out of asphalt, low weight made for it, it had enough low-end torque and oversteer, it was easy to persuade and control. It was well within my budget allocated, having a family car, being a two-seater was not a problem.

Mission accomplished - or so i thought, but you'll have to wait for the next session to learn what it is...