mx5cartalk.com

Hi All,

A little background... I previously owned a Nitrodann enhanced (boosted) na6. It was my pride and joy until I sadly sold it about year and a half ago as my first kid came along and I decided I needed a more practical 2nd car and got an old Merc w123.

Having a 2nd car that could also fit a baby seat came in handy a few times, but I missed having a sports car and so I recently sold the w123 to look for something else. So right now, we only have 1 car and it is ok, as the days my wife needs the car we just work around it.

I am strongly contemplating getting another "fun" car and the mx5 is at the top of my list (seeing that having 1 commuter car currently works). What I am worried about is if we have another kid, will there be situations where having a 2nd car with baby seats is necessary? Like each kid going to a different destination?

I would like to hear first-hand experiences from anyone who has been through a similar situation (2 or more young kids). Did you keep your mx5 and it worked out? Or did you eventually sell it to get a baby-seat capable car?

Currently looking at mx5's, and maybe older vtec civics as a baby-friendly option (criteria is affordable, moderately fuel efficient, small, and fun).

Ahhh Jesus

Youre talking to the odiginal guy with a babyseat in an mx5 on this forum.
Surely there were peeps who got baby seats in mx5 before me but tbey werent part of this forum.

I got mine installed in 1999.
Ive still got the car. My son now goes to Uni.6
Ive always had a work around. It became harder when no 2 came along.

You can inly do it in NAs as the NBs come with airbags.

Anyone can do it. Just depends on how willing you are to compromise & put up with work arounds. Especially when kids start wanting to bring friends home. But you knly have 1 spare seat.


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You sold the Merc but you still have one car - is that right?
I assume that one car is a small sedan that can take a baby seat/capsule?
The problem is when your wife has the 'small sedan' and you still have to move yourself and two others around the place?
How about something like this. Too expensive?

https://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/deta ... 9416/?Cr=7

Forget MX-5s and kids seats- not safe. A car weighing under 1100kg and no side airbags etc or for that matter no airbags at all. Just because someone may carry a very small child in an MX-5 it does not make it smart.

I only got an mx-5 after I didn't have to drive my kids around. Now I have two of them (MX-5's that is.) Kids are grown up. Youngest kid at 21 is driving my old Vienta that I used to transport him around in in his baby capsule. Life is long. Thanks Rocky, the GTI looks nice, although a two door.

Thanks for the replies.

I didn't intend to use the mx5 with a kid seat, but now that you've mentioned it is possible... Though I do understand that it is not a good idea and only for emergencies.

I have thought about many alternative cars, and the Golf mkv was one of them (thanks for the link). However, I think I want an "older" car for that "raw" feeling. I did test drive a tuned clio cup182 though, and would have bought if it wasn't for the sticky interior plastics/rubbers and 4 year timing belt changes. It was an amazing car.

And yes, I did think about waiting until kid/s are older and buying one then (along with seeing the world etc), but who knows if these cars will still be around by then. And i just can't wait that long

Maybe it's just a mid life crisis...

I have a photo of Mk1 sitting in his car seat, in the Bug-eyed Fright, no top, no heater, Canberra winter . Pulled up at the traffic lights, can only imagine the conversation in the car beside me ! 40+ years later, he seems none the worse for the experience. Actually, he was well rugged up, and the car seat protected him from the wind, so he was quite happy.

If you can get the correct seat fitting attachment, I see no reason not to use it - perhaps a car with more safety features would be a better choice, but where are you drawing the line? If it is not safe for your kids, why are you driving it? Do you take your wife for a spin in it, and risk her life too? Who will look after your poor orphaned kids?

Better flick that deathtrap, and buy a Volvo instead ...

I take my son out in my MX5 pretty regularly, he is 2 and he loves it and it's good fun taking him. If your partner is happy to drive the Mazda when necessary you will be able to make it work even with 2 kids. Realistically though it will be pretty painful for the first few years because you can't fit much luggage in the Mazda like stroller etc.

We have 2 family cars (wagons because they are extra practical for us) and the MX5. Personally if we only had the one family car and I was going to get a fun car it wouldn't be an MX5, there are plenty of fun cars that are going to be a little more practical.

Myself and young daughter toted about in an astina before moving on to the mx5's.
A beautiful timeless shape.

We'd get about...


Now with the impending release of the mighty 'twogun', aptly named by daughter, all the kids are waiting in line...

Nephews strolling over for a look after first acquiring twogun.
Start 'em young and give them a passion that will keep their hands dirty but minds clean!

A large car seat fits easily into an MX5. The base plate on a BD rollbar makes a good mount for the rear strap. In an NA you don't have to worry about an airbag but ...

There's no way in the world I would take a child out onto the highway or into a large town or city in my car. I have only ever used this for tooling very slowly around our own little seaside village where everyone drives at 30-40k.

Greenmachine is right about 40 years ago. Many on this forum will not even remember carrying passengers in the back of utes- there was no rule to bar it. I recall putting a seat in the back of a 4wd about 30 years ago- it was not something that would have caused any concern then. At work I wondered why one of the managers paid for extra safety features for a co supplied car. Now the safety gear is expected. You did those things decades ago because we did not know about car safety and the engineering that was going to change for the better.

Its staggering to look at the dreadful toll on GP ( F1) drivers in the 60/70s - fine , talented men dying because of poor engineering and lack of insight by the organisers. And today F1 vehicles are demonstrably safer - thankfully .

Yes, I now have two kids (almost 3 and almost 7) who have both ridden in my NA MX5. When I only had one kid he was in the MX5 quite often, but now it is very rare for either of them to ride in it, due to the need to transport two kids together most of the time. I drive the 5 maybe once a fortnight.

I note some above posts suggesting that MX5s are too dangerous for kids. Using this logic no one should be driving them, surely? It is no riskier for a kid in a kid's seat than the driver in the driver's seat, especially since the kid's seat does offer a little bit of extra protection, and the kid doesn't have a steering wheel in front of their face waiting to smack them in a full frontal.

The difference between me riding in an MX5 and carrying a kid in one is that I'm an adult and I understand and accept the risks. The kid does not have an informed choice. I am imposing the risk while the kid carries the greater consequences.