Not quite a classic in the same way as an elan.

No, which has it's benefits when you leave it for a few days without using it and come to start it

Went for a test drive in one that had been improved and it was awful but not driven a standard one that had not been improved but i thought it would be much better.

Ah, "improved". There are lots of them out there that have been "upgraded" with 17 inch wheels, lower suspension, stiffer springs etc. Some of the 17 inch wheels weigh twice what the carefully chosen light weight ones the car came with.

The result is that they ruin the handling that Mazda managed to give it.