Twenty-one-year-old Adam Garth is a man in love with his country and his Mazda MX-5. So what could be better than combining the two and completing a 23,000km tour of Australia in his beloved drop-top?

 

What do you do for work, and where did your love for cars begin?

I work in auto sales and customer relations, and I have loved cars all my life. I love driving, detailing or simply looking at cars.

What year and spec is your MX-5? Is there anything remarkable about your model?

It’s a 1997 1.8-litre MX-5 in Neo Green, and it’s stock except for a Momo Team 300mm steering wheel and an X-Force stainless steel exhaust.

What drew you to the Mazda MX-5?

I decided that I wanted to own one after driving my dad’s 2005 NC1 MX-5. In January 2019, I was at Kollector Cars in Leichhardt, NSW, and saw this green ’97. The next weekend, I bought it.

What prompted the trip around Australia?

I had been working for a few years, I’m about to start studying at university in 2020, and I was keen to travel. I decided that taking the MX-5 would make for some great memories.

In brief, what route did you take?

A full anticlockwise lap from Sydney, sticking to the coast on sealed roads, and heading as far as Cairns, Perth and Tasmania.

How do you fit everything you need for such a trip into an MX-5?

You just have to pack light and be ready to sacrifice some creature comforts. Nonetheless, I still have a spare wheel, 10 litres of both water and fuel, clothes, food and cooking equipment, some spare parts, and a couple of cameras.

What was the highlight of the trip?

There are so many. If I had to pinpoint one place, Cairns and the surrounding area was stunning. Scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef was only a short boat ride away. It was fantastic!