Interest in Miata-based kit cars?

Thanks Jaynen

I didn't mean to include my own car in the pics

Pat

mblommel said:

FlightService said:

 

This one is not as sexy from this angle

 

It looks like it's melting.

The black one on their site looks better because it hides that stupid vent in the back and that one looks like it has too small of wheels on it. Why people go to the trouble to build these cars and then not find right offset/fitment wheels is beyond me

Wheel/fender scale is too small IMO- fix: 

The problem isn't the wheel size, it's the tire size. GTOs are not supposed to run on low profile tires, they're supposed to have sidewall.

There's also way too much space between the door and the rear fender - it's like someone added 8" there and took a foot out of the front. The whole cockpit is too far forward. The Z-car based GTOs are a lot more effective because the fundamental proportions of the donor are right.

FE3tMX5 said:

Wheel/fender scale is too small IMO- fix: 

THAT looks great.

So far, the only Miata based kit I really lust after is the MEV DBR-1 kit.  The one downside is it's RHD only.

Ian:

I just don't see where it would tax your skills to convert the car to LHD.

Wow, that chassis is...minimalist.

Keith Tanner said:

Wow, that chassis is...minimalist.

I drive a Spitfire... and owned a classic Mini - which I have already proven has the crash-worthiness of tin foil... so a minimalist chassis isn't a concern. 

NOHOME:
The main issue would be swapping the bodywork from RHD to LHD.  Not sure I'd want to do that.

I was thinking more that you're going to have trouble keeping all the wheels pointing in the same direction. I'd love to know what the torsional rigidity is. I suspect the answer is "low".

RHD front clips for Miatas are available in the US. It wouldn't be all that hard to convert the donor. It's probably just the front subframe (V8R can provide you with one) and the steering rack.

That rear 3/4 view of the Mazda kit looks a bit heavy and awkward.

I like my 50 year old kit car better, aesthetically.

I just realized I think those wheels are Photoshop.  Just done well enough to not catch your eye at first but enought to throw the visuals off.

In reply to FlightService :

You're referring to the red "GTO" car with the gold 5-spoke wheels?  Yeah... now that you mention it, I can just barely see it.

There are two versions of that pic on this page, one with 23" tires and one with larger photoshop work. FE3tMX5 posted the latter.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

No, they're right, they're both photoshopped.  Unless the front/rear calipers are identical and they took the time to line up the valve stem holes, and the tire markings, and the spokes, and...

thanks for the pics of the MGB earlier, I'm prepping for a miata swap of my own, and it eases the mind a little bit. I'm getting ready to put a datsun 1600 body on a miata chassis. The wheelbase is within .5", and the cars are the same overall length,  but the track width is much different. I'm hoping to have the two cars side by side this week for some more accurate measurements, but my junkyard trip seemed promising that this could work. Should be easily my largest and most stressful undertaking yet, or fairly simple. I don't see it being anywhere in between.