When I was 18 I bought my first car which was a '96 Rover Mini Cooper 1.3i. Was a lovely car, the whine of the straight cut gears always haunts me as the best sound ever. Unfortunately it was riddled with rust and couldn't afford to repair it so had to sell it. The buyer drove it on to the trailer and the exhaust was so low it hit the lip of the trailer and the whole exhaust came off from the manifold to the tip.
After the Mini was a flop I started hunting for a new car and came across something that is quite rare now-a-days as they end up in scrap yards. Second car was a Suzuki Baleno GS and it had a 1.6 litre SOHC engine with ~90bhp. No TCS, no ABS, power steering, factory bucket-style seats. Whenever people asked what car I drove and I told them, their first reaction was "What the fuck is that?". It was a nice car and I owned it since June 2013 but in the past 1-2 months it's had loads of issues so I decided to trade it in for my new car
The new car is a 1998 Mazda MX-5 NB 1.8i convertible which I decided to purchase today (10/04/14) and fell in love with it the moment I test drove it. The car is solid, no rattles, bangs, squeaks etc. The rear arches need some TLC but nothing I can't fix. Over the next couple of months I'll lower it, throw some new wheels on, stainless steel exhaust system, new paint. I'm torn between keeping it naturally aspirated or turbocharge/supercharge it. More pictures on the way when I pick it up Tuesday!
I have to say this is my favourite car to date.
Not surprised that the MX-5 is your favourite car to date; I've owned a couple and loved the simplicity of them. Jump in, turn the key and grin 
