Motoring mogul David Simistertakes the small but speedyMazda MX-5out for a birthday ride in the picturesquecountryside of North Wales.

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Y ou might not know it yet, but

there’s a reason why they call the

limestone cliffs that linger over

Llandudno the Great Orme.

The official website of the café complex

sitting at the top of this stunning piece

of seaside geology recommends that you

reach it either by a Victorian tramway or

Britain’s longest cable car ride, but both, I

reckon, sell the place short.

If you want to enjoy the journey then

you’ve got to head for the twists of turns

of the access road instead. That’s what

makes it great, and there’s no better way

to enjoy it than in an open-top sports car.

St Tudno’s Drive is like a stretch of tarmac

that’s been stolen from a mountain pass

in the Alps by people who love driving and

then draped over a British backdrop for our

own enjoyment, so exciting are the series

of crests and hairpins which catapult you

from sea level to an eatery almost 700

feet above. It’s places like these that make

motoring exciting, and the whole of North

Wales is awash with them.

Don’t think my trip to one of the most

captivating corners of the British Isles

was just for fun, though; I was here for

a birthday bash, because it’s 20 years

since the first examples of Mazda’s MX-5

started arriving on our shores. Time flies

when you’re having fun.

You have to remember what small

roadsters were like in 1990 to appreciate

the original MX-5’s impact - apart from

the front wheel drive Lotus Elan, there

weren’t any - and after years of no sports

cars at all drivers were suddenly treated

to a soft-top, rear wheel drive roadster

which reminded us of decades ago when

everybody drove around in MGBs, Triumphs

and Austin-Healeys. It might have been a

shameless copy of the original Lotus Elan,

but nobody cared because they loved it.

Two decades later and almost every

car company now offers its own sports

car, but even though the latest 2.0i

Sport Tech version is a little flabbier than

the lithe original it’s still an absolute

delight to drive. It’s something it actually

seemed keen to show off on the way up

the Horseshoe Pass, an inviting road

heading between Ruthin and Llangollen.

By combining its flick-of-the-wrist gear

change with inspiringly precise steering, it

just goes where you want it to.

If anything I reckon it’s actually better

than Britain’s own old sports cars, because

unlike them the MX-5 actually works and

means you can spend your weekends in

the countryside, rather than the garage.

Just make sure you share the driving

with whoever you take along for the ride,

otherwise they’ll forget it’s a driver’s car

and start going on about the interior

being too cramped, the boot too small and

the ride too firm.

It’s also got the same problem most

convertibles have when it comes to roof-

up visibility, but I reckon the Mazda’s

folding fabric roof is easier and faster

than the metal most of its rivals come

with. You can have metal origami as an

optional extra, if you insist, but while you

get added security it’s slower to shelter

you and it weighs the little lightweight

roadster down.

While it does have just the two seats

it’ll still do everything you’d expect a

£20,145 car to do, and although I wasn’t

expecting it in something so single-

mindedly sporty it was great to have

toys like cruise control, a CD autochanger

and a Bluetooth system at my fingertips.

But you’ll forget all of them on a cross-

country blast, because even when it’s not

its birthday the Mazda’s partying, and

you’re always invited.

That’s the feeling I got when I spotted

a group of MX-5 owners out on their own

adventures in one of Snowdonia’s more

remote valleys, because they all smiled the

smile you get when you’ve got a sports car

at your disposal. Even though they owned

MX-5s from the model’s early days they all

agreed on that what they own is so much

more than a way of getting to work and

back. It’s a go-kart with a CD player.

There are roomier, comfier cars out

there but if you drive simply because you

enjoy it you can’t go far wrong with an

MX-5, particularly if you’re the sort of

person who deliberately takes the long

route just so they can go over the Llanberis

Pass on the way.

It might be 20 years old, but the Mazda

MX-5 isn’t as good as the British sports cars

of yesteryear. It’s much better than that.

Photography by Cornelia Kaufmann

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