3000 miles in my Mazda MX-5: a roadster for life, not just summer

I live in a London flat without a garage. Naturally, I’ve bought a manual-gearbox, soft-top sports car…

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