Bought new, currently with 40k miles on it, I'm in the process (roughly midway through) of restoring it inside and out. In fact, it's in the shop this very minute for all of the mechanical upgrades required for the final mechanical work: a supercharger.
As you can see, the exterior is done: repainted (original color) and new soft top, plus the tires are fairly new. The original interior is shot, however, through rain damage and neglect over the years and needs new seat upholstery and carpeting. Also, I'll probably upgrade the original Bose sound system to a double-din touch screen to permit me to Bluetooth stream music from my phone, make and receive calls and navigate. Finally, when the paint is good and cured, I'll install a luggage rack over the trunk.
The ultimate goal is a road-trip worthy car I can take, say, to drive the Pacific Coast Highway. I think the NB is still the most attractive MX-5 Mazda has ever produced, and I'm viewing the restoration as a poor man's Lotus or Porsche. When I bought it in 2000, it was fully loaded w/ a 1.8L in-line 4 cyl. engine, 6 speed manual transmission, anti-lock breaks (newly offered then) and a stiffer, 'racing' suspension. That last remains an unfixable problem, though. At my age, 300 miles in a day is more than enough for me to feel, to borrow from James Bond, both shaken and stirred. So that road trip, if it ever happens, is going to be nice and leisurely.
