Did you get your Mazda MX-5 RF invitation?

22 August, 2016

 

That’s right Miata fans, if you want one of the awesome-looking Mazda MX-5 Retractable Fastbacks (RF), you’re going to need to be on Mazda’s emailing list. Mazda displayed the RF-model MX-5 at various auto shows as a concept, and, as it received a great deal of praise, they’ve decided to produce 1000 of them to test the waters — but they’re only being offered to those ‘worthy’ of the ownership. 

For me, the RF model was the styling revamp that the MX-5 needed. I don’t like soft-tops, and the styling of the later MX-5s aren’t what I’d call ‘manly’. With the addition of the fastback, the MX-5 now has a new road presence worth talking about. With a lower ride height and a set of aggressive wheels, the MX-5 could out ‘manly’ a few muscle cars.

The RF will be offered in both a manual and automatic transmission. Still, the factory 1.5-litre and two-litre variants don’t produce any power worth mentioning. The RF model will only come in the Machine Gray with a black roof panel colour, as seen here in the images, and will feature Auburn Nappa leather on the inside. 

A second dose of Dash

When the car arrived in Wellington in December 2018 it was duly taken along for entry certification. Vehicle Inspection NZ (VINZ) found some wrongly wired lamps and switches — not too bad — but, much more significantly, some poor welding repairs. As the structural problems were probed more thoroughly, we realized the previous owner’s restoration would not do and we needed an upgrade. Dash had made it into the country but it would take some time and money before he would be free to explore any of New Zealand’s scenic highways.
We took the car to our new home in Johnsonville in the northern suburbs of Wellington and I pored over the car in detail to figure out what was next. There were lots of new parts on the car and a very perky reconditioned drivetrain but the chassis needed serious work.

Lunch with… Jim Palmer

In the 1960s, Hamilton’s Jim Palmer won the prestigious ‘Gold Star’ four times and was the first resident New Zealander home in the New Zealand Grand Prix on five consecutive occasions. He shared the podium with Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, and Chris Amon. The extent of his domination of the open-wheeler scene in New Zealand will probably never be matched or exceeded. Yet he’s always been modest about his achievements.