Having come to terms with the inevitable departure of my Fiat Panda 100HP, I figured it was about time to treat myself to something I'd always wanted: a proper lightweight, rear-driven sports car. 

I’ll admit first that the car I really wanted was a Toyota GT86 – its connection to the ‘AE86’ Corolla really appeals, as does the variety of aftermarket bits – but I couldn’t make the numbers work on one of those. Older examples were either too expensive to buy with the cash I had or were modified in poor taste; later, low-mileage facelifts were few and far between and marred by eye-watering interest rates if financed through a Toyota dealer.

So my attention turned to the brand-new 2.0-litre Mazda MX-5 we had on the Autocar long-term fleet at the time. I knew I definitely couldn’t afford that car (and its flat-grey paint didn't appeal to me anyway), but my colleagues’ unending praises pricked my ears up.

I had always admired the Mk4 MX-5. I was 16 when I first laid eyes on one on my way to school, and it still looks as good today as it did in my daydreams while I should have been learning GCSE French. If anything, it has become better with time, with the increasing rarity of such compact cars making it stand out all the more.

Crucially, Mk4 MX-5s are more abundant than GT86s, so there are better deals to be found. Just as I started my search for a new car, my local Mazda showroom listed a 2021 example in my near-ideal spec: an updated ‘ND2’ with the overhauled 2.0-litre engine, Bilstein dampers and a rag-top roof. And, despite having covered only 15,000 miles, it was among the cheaper examples in the nation.

Before the dealer had uploaded any pictures of the thing, I paid a £100 holding deposit – fully refundable, in case I didn’t gel with it – and arranged a test drive. But I needn’t have worried about the refundability of said downpayment: I agreed to buy it within the first 100 yards.

Five days later, my Panda was gone and I had signed my soul away to finance the little roadster.

Buyer's remorse?

This being the most expensive purchase of my life thus far – and the longest commitment to boot, given I’m locked into finance payments for longer than I was at university – I felt regret and unease at first.

I knew an old Porsche Boxster might have been more fun for less outlay, and I still desperately wanted a clean GT86.

Four weeks and a fresh set of tyres later (Goodyear Eagle F1s, replacing the knackered Bridgestones that were originally fitted), I was off to Wales for a weekend zipping around the hills with a few mates and colleagues.

The remorse soon ebbed away. With a decent sound system for sampling my hours-long playlist of cheesy Noughties hits and nestled in what I’m convinced is the world’s toastiest heated seat, my MX-5 made the four-hour cross-country slog much easier than it would have been in my old Panda.

Once I’d finally made it to Brecon, the decades of MX-5 indoctrination suddenly made sense. It’s very easy to turn your nose up at something celebrated so intensely for so long, but I’d implore MX-5 non-believers to give one a go on roads like these.

The engine, surely loosened by the previous keeper, loves revs. There's a delightful gargle from under the bonnet as the tachometer climbs, before you slice the gearbox up a ratio and go all over again. And, it's worth noting, you can have all that enjoyment well within speed limits. With 181bhp and 151lb ft, there's just enough grunt on offer for the MX-5 to feel quick without having to walk the tight-rope of legality that you do in many more powerful machines.

I'll long treasure the memory of nailing my first heel-toe downshift to the soundtrack of The Ketchup Song without even thinking about it, totally immersed in the twists and turns of the brilliant Beacons.

Everything was just right: the low-set seating position; the bang-on pace of convoy leader Sam Phillips in his Renaultsport Clio 182 Trophy; the beaming sunshine filling the cabin; and burning my forehead clean off...

I've never known a euphoria quite like that I experienced over the 800 miles spent in the Mazda that weekend.

The good times continued as summer progressed (and my grim sunburn finally healed). The MX-5 visited the Caffeine and Machine near Winchester, picked up a healthy coating of dust in the car park at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and looked amusingly incognito amongst all the modified machines at Bicester’s Rollhard show. Every mile accrued in the process was an utter joy.

Among the biggest positives I discovered over the busy summer was the MX-5's frugality. It cracks 50mpg on motorway runs and just under 40mpg in mixed use. That’s despite me making full use of the rev range – it spends most of its time on country lanes buzzing along in third gear – and having to battle through economy-killing London traffic before getting to good roads.

The biggest surprise of all is just how sociable the MX-5 experience is. Other cars let you out at junctions; children take a second look at your car while they’re being dragged across the street by their mums; people are a lot more forgiving when you act like a prat.

I suppose it’s partially because the MX-5 is generally pleasing to look at but in an unintimidating way. People coo, rather than “cor”. But maybe it's also because, with the roof down, the world can see the human – ie me – behind the wheel, rather than the amorphous box on wheels. You end up feeling much more connected with your surroundings and everyone seems that little bit friendlier.

Insurance woes

All that said, the rapid nature of my MX-5 purchase soon came back to bite. Having turned 25 and gained a second year of no-claims bonus, I was expecting a positive result when it came time to renew my insurance in August.

That would have been just as well, too: swapping my policy from my old Panda 100HP to the Japanese roadster back in March cost me about £400. Extrapolating the extra months, I calculated I would have paid about £1800 for a full year's coverage on the Mazda. 

So you can understand my frustration when, having expected something of a dip, I was actually quoted a renewal price of just under £2000. 

No bother: I had heard that members of the MX-5 Owners Club get access to specialist coverage through Peter James Insurance, so I signed up to the club - for £46 - and gave the broker a ring.

Disappointingly, even though I live on the outskirts of London, and despite securing the car with a steering wheel lock, my postcode was deemed simply too much of a risk for them to bear. Damn and blast. 

Cue one last-ditch call to my current insurance company to have a moan and try to bring that price down. I'm pleased and astonished to report that they were actually helpful. 

Removing my mum from my list of named drivers saved £250 on the spot (despite her holding a spotless licence) and declaring that I drive other cars as part of my work yielded another £200 off. Throw in an extra discount as a goodwill gesture and I'd managed to cut the price by a full £556, to £1434.

I’m still frustrated by the end result – it is a lot of money – but I suppose I am a young person driving a vaguely nice car in one of the nation's crashiest neighbourhoods.

Two's company, but then there's the luggage

Otherwise, only one issue has tarnished my time with my MX-5. It's one I probably should have seen coming when I bought it, were I not such a misanthrope.

Back in March, I was a singleton, untroubled by the paltry 130-litre boot. After all, it could swallow my rucksack and a weekend bag without the faintest hint of a squeeze, and what more could you need? Right?

Not quite: I've since met my new girlfriend, and soon after the dreaded talk about making it 'official', we agreed to go on a weekend away in Devon.

I had warned her about the size of the boot, encouraging the use of soft luggage and leaving my steering lock at home. But even then, it was unbelievably tight. It was thanks only to her tremendous Tetris skills that the trip didn't collapse at the first hurdle.

I'll admit to feeling some shame as we drove from Tesco to our Airbnb with her buried under a mound of plastic bags. There was just zero chance of getting our food shopping in the boot alongside our clothes.

But then the MX-5 did what it does best. With the roof down, sea breeze wafting in and seat heaters cranked, she was soon won over. 

She even granted me permission to open up the taps and make the most of the local roads, reminding me all over again why I fell in love.. with the car, that is.

The MX-5 has since ferried us to various Christmas markets up and down the country, as well as to the Cotswolds for a day.

The view from the passenger seat is that the MX-5 is a “sweet” car, comfortable enough not to frustrate on those longer runs, and with a good enough stereo to keep our singalongs going on longer roads. More boot space would be nice, but it would hamper the “cute” looks. 

A car for life, not just for summer

Any concerns I might have had about parking a soft-top convertible outdoors, without access to a hosepipe to keep it clean, have been assuaged over the past nine months.

The MX-5's fabric roof is reassuringly hefty and its finish hasn’t been affected by my admittedly middling level of care.

Through sub-zero frosts, whip-crack winds and sopping-wet storms, I've become convinced that my MX-5's top will endure just as well as the rest of the car.

Driving it is just as enjoyable when it's tipping it down outside. Sure, I can't get the roof down as often, but greasy roads widen the envelope in which I can make the most of its wonderfully balanced chassis. The chatty steering and roly-poly damping telegraph the limit of grip very effectively, giving plenty of confidence when conditions are far from ideal.

To flip a seasonal adage about dogs, I feel this isn’t just a car for the summer but one for life. It has become a part of my family just as much as any four-legged companion might have, and I can’t see myself getting rid of it unless life demands something more practical.

If, like me, you're in the market for a sports car to enjoy while circumstances allow, I'd strongly recommend an MX-5. Don't snub it because it's something of a cliché or – ignoring the RF, which brings several compromises – because you're unsure whether a soft-top would work for you.

It really is as fun as the vox populi suggests, yet it has been as easy to own as any identikit supermini.

It's imbued with a sense of integrity that I might not have got with something older or more interesting, such as an MG TF or Toyota MR2, so I'm not worried about big bills on the horizon.

There is one very minor niggle to resolve – a bit of a whooshy noise from the rear-right wheel that I suspect to be caused by either a bearing or some trapped debris – but it doesn't affect the drive and isn't all that loud, so I'm not worried. Buying approved-used gave me a 12-month warranty, which I'm hoping will cover any remedial works.

Other than that hiccup, I'm already looking forward to the year ahead – and, of course, for sunshine to return. 

I'm even looking into taking it on its first track day. If you have any suggestions for a circuit that would best suit the MX-5, your correspondence would be much appreciated.