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Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/21/20 2:12 p.m.

I didn't even know this car was coming up for sale until someone mentioned it was on BaT. FM isn't involved in this sale at all, but I figured I'd spread the word in case someone is looking. It's currently priced at well under market for these cars. It's only got about 2500 miles on it since we did the conversion, and about 16k on the chassis.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-mazda-mx-5-miata-29/

mr2s2000elise
mr2s2000elise Dork
1/21/20 2:16 p.m.

I was going to tag you there, but didnt know your handle.

glueguy
glueguy GRM+ Memberand Dork
1/21/20 2:18 p.m.

wow that's purty

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/21/20 2:30 p.m.

FYI, it would not shock me to see this thing pass $40k especially as we're not building cars anymore.

AngryCorvair
AngryCorvair GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/21/20 2:34 p.m.
Keith Tanner said:

FYI, it would not shock me to see this thing pass $40k especially as we're not building cars anymore.

got tired of waiting for my invention to go big, eh?

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/21/20 2:42 p.m.

I put it off as long as I could!

We had to do some hard math, and the resources were just better spent elsewhere. Nobody here was very excited about that but it was the right choice from a business point of view. We still sell the parts.

RossD
RossD MegaDork
1/21/20 3:45 p.m.

Well, just sit back and watch the prices of Shelby Cobr-....ah, wait, V8 Flyin Miata go Flyin high!

fiesta54
fiesta54 HalfDork
1/21/20 3:56 p.m.
Keith Tanner said:

FYI, it would not shock me to see this thing pass $40k especially as we're not building cars anymore.

Oh man that's a bummer.  Definitely understand the business side of it but sad to see that aspect go.

Stampie
Stampie GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
1/21/20 5:36 p.m.

Sure are a lot of reportlies and said tos in that ad. 

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/21/20 5:48 p.m.

The Bring A Trailer style is really kinda annoying. They could have a picture of a red car and BaT would call it "allegedly red".

codrus
codrus GRM+ Memberand UberDork
1/21/20 5:50 p.m.
Keith Tanner said:

The Bring A Trailer style is really kinda annoying. They could have a picture of a red car and BaT would call it "allegedly red".

Style?  Or just legalese/avoiding responsibility? :)

 

yupididit
yupididit UberDork
1/21/20 6:39 p.m.

Wait so the possibility of me buying a turnkey fm nd rf v8 is none? 

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/21/20 6:46 p.m.

Not none. There's one out there. One.

Which breaks my heart.

AnthonyGS
AnthonyGS Dork
1/21/20 7:48 p.m.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Still so tempted to build my own starting next year for the big 5-0.  

I'm starting to find lots of 16s for less than 17k.  I wonder what recoup is on an ND drivetrain?  

 

 

MrChaos
MrChaos GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
1/21/20 8:26 p.m.
AnthonyGS said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Still so tempted to build my own starting next year for the big 5-0.  

I'm starting to find lots of 16s for less than 17k.  I wonder what recoup is on an ND drivetrain?  

 

 

on ND1's likely not much, since spec is running on ND2 drivetrains iirc.

AnthonyGS
AnthonyGS Dork
1/21/20 11:16 p.m.
MrChaos said:
AnthonyGS said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Still so tempted to build my own starting next year for the big 5-0.  

I'm starting to find lots of 16s for less than 17k.  I wonder what recoup is on an ND drivetrain?  

 

 

on ND1's likely not much, since spec is running on ND2 drivetrains iirc.

I thought the new spec cars were NCs with Roush heads?

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/21/20 11:43 p.m.

Every Miata ever built has a spec series. The NDs are Global Cup Cars. 

z31maniac
z31maniac MegaDork
1/22/20 6:44 a.m.
Keith Tanner said:

Not none. There's one out there. One.

Which breaks my heart.

I'm guessing to charge enough to make the conversion worth it, means the number is high enough people wouldn't buy it?

ZOO
ZOO GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
1/22/20 8:16 a.m.

Too bad about the "appearance package" -- otherwise that car is perfect.

pinchvalve
pinchvalve GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/22/20 8:27 a.m.

That much grunt in a Miata would be an issue for me, I'd want it seam-welded, with bigger brakes, on coil-overs, and definitely a roll bar. Oh wait.

kb58
kb58 SuperDork
1/22/20 9:30 a.m.

In reply to Stampie :

Yeah there is an awful lot of disclaimering going on, to such a degree that I half expected to see "selling for a friend." Talk about distancing himself from the product, and it does make one wonder why he's doing that. I mean, did he even drive the car?

lnlogauge
lnlogauge HalfDork
1/22/20 9:46 a.m.
kb58 said:

I mean, did he even drive the car?

 

2500 miles since the conversion. No, he did not. 

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/22/20 9:58 a.m.

That disclaimering is not from the seller. That's BaT. They take an ad full of hard data and make it sound all reaaaaaallly sketchy. Great site in a lot of ways, but if you're trying to sell something it always comes across as if the site doesn't really believe the documentation you provide. There's no allegedly in this car. 

z31maniac said:
Keith Tanner said:

Not none. There's one out there. One.

Which breaks my heart.

I'm guessing to charge enough to make the conversion worth it, means the number is high enough people wouldn't buy it?

Not so much that, it's that building conversion cars is very much a side business. FM has been evolving to be more efficient at serving retail customers and developing new parts. Running an auto repair business (which is technically what the conversions are) is a very different sort of business that needs a different type of inventory, a different type of ordering, etc. The two modes of operation were getting in each other's way. Long time customers may remember that a bit over a year ago, it took us a week to ship a simple package, inventory on the website was all jacked up and it was very difficult to do proper QC on shipments. The shop was taking much needed space away from inventory so we had parts stashed all over the place. That has changed, but the cost of the change was the retail/manufacturing business winning against the wrenching. The guys who were doing conversions are now doing full-time R&D and our product line is showing the benefits.

The real way to do it would be to open up a separate business that buys the parts from FM. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought of doing that myself. 

AngryCorvair
AngryCorvair GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/22/20 11:10 a.m.
Keith Tanner said:

The real way to do it would be to open up a separate business that buys the parts from FM. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought of doing that myself. 

Do you prefer Keitholl, or New Shel?

codrus
codrus GRM+ Memberand UberDork
1/22/20 11:17 a.m.
Keith Tanner said:

The real way to do it would be to open up a separate business that buys the parts from FM. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought of doing that myself. 

If you do I'd like to hear about it. :)

 

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