It won’t surprise you to hear that the concept of a ‘perfect’ auction car is often kicked about the PH corridors, usually after a long lunch in the Dog and Handgun. Not in purely selfish financial terms, of course (that would result in a one-dimensional and ditchwater dull parade of lightly soiled Bugatti Veyrons) but rather what sort of car best encapsulates PistonHeads in all its multi-faceted and aggressively opinionated splendour.
The current long list offers several prime contenders. High-mile, manual Aston Vantage? Check. Well-kept 306 GTI-6? Check. Stunningly pretty Nissan GT-R? Check. Appealing affordable Cayman? Check. All could be said to occupy a space close to the average PHer heart and speak to the values of a website that’s been chugging happily along for virtually the whole time there have been websites to visit.
But the one that stands out for us this week (or indeed next week, because that’s when bidding kicks off) is this 2018 Mazda MX-5. Any example of Japan’s greatest-ever export (sorry, PlayStation) is obviously held in high regard, but it is the proud addition of a BBR badge that elevates the car to the kind of hallowed status that causes the PH brain trust to blow out its cheeks and silently ponder a bid.
Why is that? Well, there are the usual MX-5 assets: it’s a modern, compact, lightweight, rear-drive, petrol-powered sports car that majors on fun - and these are about as numerous in 2025 as the Higgs boson is in your bedroom. But on top of that, you get the kind of expertise and model-specific savvy that only seems to originate from the industrial units of Great Britain. In short, BBR does what all exemplary tuners do; it takes a very good car and makes it better and faster and more desirable without sacrificing the things that made it very good in the first place.
Moreover, BBR is notable for not limiting your tuning options to the one it considers best. It will merrily supercharge or turbocharge your MX-5, or simply fettle what is there. This example takes the exhaust gas approach to forced induction, and that means you get 250hp from the 2.0-litre unit, which, as intended, takes the ND’s performance from ‘adequate’ to pleasingly ample.
But while speed certainly matters, it’s the additional tinkering in the chassis department that serves to unlock the MX-5’s virtuoso, flyweight talent. In our experience, BBR springs and adjustable dampers - not to mention the uprated anti-roll bars - harmonise with the higher output like chips complement fish. The result is one of the best ways to have fun on any road and at virtually any speed. What could be more PH than that?
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