There was football and the Winter Olympics on the TV, not to mention the first of the new series of The Apprentice. And it was a very very cold February evening, with snow forecast, but that still didn’t stop plenty of keen MX-5 fans turning up at Donalds Mazda main dealers showroom in Ipswich on the evening of 22 February.  The evening was billed by Donalds as a chance to celebrate the MX-5 and they had invited not only the members of the clubs Eastern Area but also a large number of their own customers.  The end result was a fun packed evening both informative, entertaining and with another chance for those present to get their hands on the new 3rd Generation MX-5.  Food was also provided and a prize draw held with the money paid being donated to the NSPCC.

Donalds are still a fairly new name in the area for Mazda and this was an opportunity for them to get to know some of their own MX-5 customers a bit better and one thing they did learn is that most of us are cleverer than we look.  The opportunity to play a version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ? with the promise of various vouchers as prizes saw the grey matter of several people being tested.  Had anyone been able to reach a million Donalds had a satnav system on offer.  Well we didn’t quite make it but there was one £250,000.00 and more than 1 winner getting £125,000.00 which resulted in several hundred pounds worth of service vouchers being dispensed. 

A very good technical talk was given on the new 3rd Generation MX-5 and rather sneakily the pub type quiz that followed a little while later in the evening had the questions based on the tech talk.  I wish I had being paying proper attention ! 

Those in attendance were given the chance to swat up on the Owners Club as the clubs history display banners had been brought out of storage for the evening.  Non members were offered the opportunity to take away the club flyers and a couple of special edition Eastern Newsletters so they could get an idea of what the club are all about.

One of the high lights of the evening was a very tasty red 3rd Gen MX-5 which the dealer had modified somewhat with a new front and rear, side skirts, 18 inch alloys and lowered suspension.  A car much admired and we think the subject of some haggling over on the night.  Not surprising really, as it looked everything that a shiny red sports car should.

Overall a great evening out and much thanks must go to Donalds Mazda for putting it on.