The MX-5 celebrates its 30th birthday but like the rest of us, the world’s most popular roadster just keeps getting better with age, writes Geraldine Herbert It is now forty years since an American motoring journalist named Bob Hall suggested to Kenichi Yamamoto, Mazda’s head of research and development that what Mazda needed was an affordable two-seater roadster. A fan of British Sports cars of the 1950s and 1960s Hall had long dreamed of a car that would combine basic sports car fun with Japanese reliability. In 1981, Hall became a product planner at Mazda and Yamamoto gave the green light for the new roadster -the MX-5 was born and was launched in 1989. Mazda had re-invented the roadster at a time when the affordable, open-top sports car had all but disappeared from showrooms. The Appeal of this lightweight roadster Thirty years on why does the appeal of this lightweight roadster endure? For Matteo Licata an Italian Car designer and the founder of roadster-life.com the lure is simple “it expresses my optimism and openness to life, the joy of travelling immersed in the environment, not just looking at it from an air-conditioned cocoon”. Over the past few years Matteo has owned all four generations of the Mazda MX5 and for good reason, “It’s fun at every speed, distinctive yet without any image issues: as it doesn’t wear a luxury badge and doesn’t cost much, it doesn’t generate envy. Those who notice it on the road are mostly fellow enthusiasts” Since the MX-5 first launch, it has turned heads and become an object of desire. But it not only looks good the MX-5 has also stayed remarkably true to its original concept. Affordability a key selling point Brendan McGarry, a self-confessed petrol-head and past proud owner of a first generation MX-5 believe that while the affordability of is one its selling points, what really separates the MX-5 from the competition is the driving dynamics. “It’s a car that teaches you to really drive, it is fast enough to challenge you but never so fast as to be dangerous,” says Brendan. “The rear-wheel drive and nimble chassis encourage you to push a little harder through a corner, learn how to apex properly, hang the back out a little but then when you go too far it’s utterly forgiving as you collect it up and...