One of the concerns of classic car owners is how we fuel our cars in the future. Many of us are reluctant to convert to electric and traditional petroleum fuels could be difficult to get hold of in twenty years time.
Bio fuel is one option that would mean we could carry on pretty much as we do today. A recent journey in four Mazda MX5’s will hopefully encourage us to consider this as an option.
To celebrate 35 years of the Mazda MX-5, four Mazda MX-5s – one of each generation – drove a 1,000-mile route from Land’s End to John O’ Groats using sustainable fuel. Powered entirely by a 100 per cent biofuel from SUSTAIN, the world’s best-selling two-seater sports car became the first car to complete the end-to-end drive across the UK using sustainable fuel.
Launched at the 1989 Chicago Motor Show, the Mazda MX-5 has always been the benchmark pure lightweight sports car with driver engagement at the centre of its appeal. To date more than 1.2-million MX-5s have been produced at Mazda’s Ujina plant in Hiroshima, with over 135,000 of these being sold in the UK. The four cars completing the 1,000-mile drive were from the Mazda UK Heritage Fleet – a 1990 1.6-litre Mk1 from the car’s launch year in the UK, a 10th Anniversary Mk2, a 25th Anniversary Mk3 and a 30th Anniversary Mk4 – each one representing a key landmark in the MX-5’s history.
Each generation Mazda MX-5 completed the journey using SUSTAIN 100 RON E5, which is a second-generation biofuel from Coryton that contains zero fossil fuel and is manufactured from agricultural waste and by-products from crops which can’t be used for consumption. With no modifications to the cars required, the drop-in fuel utilises carbon that already exists in the atmosphere, which the plants absorb as they grow, recycling it, rather than releasing additional CO2, as fossil fuels do.
The Land’s End to John O’ Groats drive is just one example of Mazda’s commitment to demonstrate the role sustainable fuel can play in de-carbonising motoring. Since June 2023, the Mazda UK Heritage Fleet has been fuelled by SUSTAIN Classic 80 sustainable fuel, which is commercially available to the public. While in 2022, the Mazda MX-5 was the first-ever vehicle to drive 1,000 miles across the UK and lap a circuit in each home nation powered by sustainable fuel.
The four classic Mazda MX-5s that drove from Land’s End to John O’ Groat’s will join six other MX-5s at CarFest 2024 as part of the event’s track show, where they will again be powered by sustainable fuel from SUSTAIN.
The article about the MX5 and John O’Groats was interesting if not new. I think readers who were not aware of the availability of synthetic fuel might like to know what the cost is, today. Whilst it may decrease in relative cost in future years with greater production, it is expensive today.
I agree but like so many things, the more people who use it the cheaper it becomes. In the USA these Bio fuels are much more readily available. Thanks for sharing your views.