The little Mazda just didn't endear itself to me, so with spring approaching it was time to sell up and move on.

I've been struggling to write this end-of-term report for the MX-5. Not in the same way that my friend and colleague Jack Wood did for his beloved and sorely missed Porsche Cayman, but because I couldn't quite articulate why the MX-5 and I never 'clicked'. Now, I know that sounds like the sort of rubbish excuse you'd give to someone you've been on a blind date with but you just don't fancy, but as petrolheads we all know that sometimes you just don't gel with certain cars, and so it was with me and the Mazda.

It all started off pretty well. I liked the compact dimensions, I liked the retro wooden Nardi steering wheel and the noise from the rorty sports exhaust the previous owner had fitted, and once I'd fitted four tyres of the same make, the handling was consistent, if not particularly amazing. That's when the problems started...

If you believe everything you read, the mk1 Mazda MX-5 is one of the best-handling cars you can buy. Forums, road tests and friends all led me to believe that this car would out-handle much more expensive cars, that the feedback through the wheel would be like running my hands down the road surface itself, and that the honest, willing motor under the bonnet would deliver every last bit of power to the road all of the time, all of this while putting a huge grin on my face.

However, it never really worked like that. Even with four new tyres on the car, the handling was not what I'd been led to believe. I'd tip it into a turn, the body would roll comically and whilst the car would indeed make it through the corner at surprising speeds, I never felt like I was in control - more like hanging on for dear life! The steering feedback was also a huge disappointment. It was decently weighted at slow speeds but as soon as the speed rose, any sense of communication with the road disappeared. Going into fast corners, I found myself hanging onto a thin, slippery bit of polished wood, wondering what was happening at the front wheels, because there certainly wasn't any information coming through the steering wheel.

It was about three months into my time with the car when I began to seriously wonder whether I'd bought a bad example. It hadn't done particularly high miles and had been impeccably maintained, but it just wasn't pushing my buttons and I slowly stopped driving it. No more early morning hooning just for the hell of it, no more taking the long way home; the car just sat forlornly at the back of my house while I wondered what to do with it.

I bought the car expecting to upgrade it as I went: new shocks, anti-roll bars, brakes and so on, much like many owners of MX-5s have done. Indeed, I know one owner who has a stripped-out, upgraded MX-5 that's a real weapon on track, and it was his example that inspired me to buy my own. However, the handling on mine felt so bad that I became loathe to spend any money on trying to improve it, in case it didn't make much difference! Why throw away 600 quid on coilovers if they're only going to make the car handle as it should have done from the factory, rather than enhance the handling further?

Right about this time, someone else voiced doubts about the MX-5's driving credentials. Motoring journalist Chris Harris wrote an infamous column on the shortcomings of the MX-5 for the Evo website, which sparked intense debate amongst the petrolhead fraternity. I didn't feel quite the same level of antipathy for the car that Harris did, but both his column and the ensuing discussions in the comments and on various internet forums gave me encouragement that I wasn't completely insane in doubting the driving experience of the MX-5.

There were things I liked about the car, though. The gearchange was excellent once the 'box was warmed through, with a short, positive action. Heel and toe was a joy, with the pedals perfectly spaced and the engine quick to rev. The brakes were a bit wooden and lacking in feel but easily powerful enough to stop the car quickly, and that lack of feel made it a great car for experimenting with left-foot braking without jerking your head forward with every dab of the middle pedal. With the top down, it was very enjoyable to drive on sunny days, and I absolutely loved the retro cool of the popup headlamps.

I'd originally intended to hang onto the Mazda as long as possible, and extract as much fun as I could from the little roadster, but as spring came and sunny days became a more regular occurrence, the temptation to sell the MX-5 became too much to resist. I hadn't fallen for the car in the way that I'd hoped, and whilst I could have spent a few thousand pounds to turn it into a road and track weapon, I couldn't bring myself to do so. Particularly not when there were E36 BMW M3s going for similar amounts of money… but that's another story.

So, my time with the Mazda was up, and unlike Jack and his Cayman, in the final reckoning I just didn't love the car.

• Tweet