Mazda’s MX-5 – long seen as a youngtimer of choice – has been voted the next ‘classic icon’ by a jury of 3500 classic owners.
The little two-seater, which secured 7% of the vote, is cast by many as the spiritual successor to the British sports car, adding reliability to the familiar mix of a simple attractive design, rear-wheel drive and an open top. In fact the MX-5 Club was voted OC of the year in Classic & Sports Car’s Club Awards last year.
In the Footman James survey, it was closely followed by the awesome Bugatti Veyron (with 5%) and the Audi TT (with 4%) – the original concept of which survived virtually intact on the production car.
Moderns such as the Aston Martin DB9, Fiat 500, Audi R8, Lotus Elise and Jaguar XKR, XF and XK garnered 3% of the vote, in the survey that aimed to predict classics of the next 50 years.
Andy Fairchild, Footman James’ managing director, said: “2012 marks the 50th anniversary of many classic icons including the Lotus Elan, MGB and Ford Cortina. It is fascinating to obtain an insight into what classic vehicle owners deem to be the classics of the future. With regards to which ones can claim iconic status in 50 years time – I guess we will just have to wait and see!”
