Eliminator V2 1.6 and 1.8

Has anyone heard of these? A Miata with about 1000 lbs stripped off and a purpose built roll cage.

www.steelcityclassics.com/inventory

about halfway down the page.

Facebook page for Salvage Won:

https://www.facebook.com/SalvageW0N/timeline

Never heard of them, but after looking at them I think I prefer the looks of the Exocet, even though that's not an oil painting either.

BTW, first link is busted, should be .com, not /com.

Yeah, I got the link fixed. I am liking the wheels.

Just ran across these guys myself. Personally, I like Locost-based kits (Caterham, etc) better. But I do think it's cool that they seem to have pretty much just stripped a Miata down to it's bare bones and build it back up. I'd add one to my fictional stable.

I saw the first prototype in person last summer and got pretty excited--as an auto dismantler these guys can pick up wrecked Miatas wholesale, strip them, add suspension and safety bits, then sell them on as very inexpensive, street-legal track weapons.

At the time they were hoping to prep and sell a couple of cars per month beginning that fall, with prices starting from $5,000 or so. Now it looks like they're still trying to settle on a final build configuration, and the prices are climbing with each new feature they incorporate. The Steel City link above says "Turn Key starting at $16,500"--which is triple what I thought they would list for, and way more than it would cost to DIY a similar beast.*

*UPDATE--Though final pricing has not been announced, SalvageWon says that turnkey cars sold through Steel City will cost a lot more than the standard Eliminator package.

In reply to penultimeta:

I think you have confused the intended 'Kit" prices with the "Turn Key" price...sort of apples to oranges thing. As with any start-up you have something in mind but during development things change as you identify issues, work out processes, and finesse the design.

FYI...They are currently only using clean title cars that have body damage not "Salvage title" ones. These are not a cheap as you might think for good runner/drivers.

Could someone DIY one for cheap? Sure. Would it look as cool as this turn-key....maybe...If your name is Andy Nelson or Ed Malle. Me, not!

Interesting. It's a look that actually kind of grows on me but I wonder if its as well thought out/functional as the Catfish or Exocet.

The Catfish on the Flyinmiata site whiskers is pretty dang sexy

Looks familiar. All this took was about 12 hours and a few drill bits. No skill needed. Could have done it in a few hours if I had not done it one spotweld at a time and just cut the panels off.

Lots of local people will build you a cage over the rollerskate for a few thousand. Maybe start with a Spec Miata cage and add a few bars.

Unfortunately, you need a fairly rust free car since the bit you are keeping is the bit that most often rust on a Miata.

What these guys need to be selling is the cage.

I am a bit skeptical about the 1000 pound weight loss once you toss the cage on.

JFX001 wrote: Yeah, I got the link fixed. I am liking the wheels.

Those look like Enkei RS05RR wheels:

http://www.evasivemotorsports.com/Blogpics/AY0F3456.jpg

They start @ $532 each on Tire Rack for 18x8.5".

SalvageWon posted a big update about this project the local Miata forum:

"Hi guys! We've been waiting for the right time and place to do one of these build threads. We’re close enough, so let's roll. Other than generic Facebook posts we have held off from posting or promoting SalvageWon and the Eliminators until we got things sorted and closer to completed kit pricing. We don't have that yet, but it won’t be long until the next updates are made to the cage jig and nose bar and we’ll be ready to publish kit pricing.

"First, I'd like to be clear on what an Eliminator is and what it's about. An Eliminator is intended to be a 90% solution, and it is comprised of 90% solutions. Any single item on the car could have been done better, but Eliminators are about low cost and DIY. Eliminators are also about continuing the on-track success of the '90-'05 Miata. Historically, you could buy faster, more expensive cars for motorsports but the Miata has always performed 'higher than its buy-in' relative to other options and that is precisely what these Eliminators represent, cheap, easy fun.

• Eliminators are built on NA or NB chassis, and stand ~42" high (without wing). The cage does meet the SCCA/NASA 2" inch helmet rule

• Eliminators weigh about ~1650lbs. Final weight depends on donor and config

• (I'll skip all of the Miata-specific upgrades stuff that would normally go here because you guys know Miatas)

• Eliminators are NOT CAD/CAM designed or highly polished, precise racing machines. They ARE carefully considered, SCCA/NASA legally caged cars, with a cohesive design and plenty of opportunity for someone to 'make it their own' beyond simple paint/wheel/shock decisions. These cars will never be presented as perfect and they do not try to be, they are about DIY, learning new skills, and of course driving something fun.

• Eliminators are NOT the absolute-lowest cost solution. We tried that with our very first car in 2011, which was a silver cut down '90 with a modified standard type Miata rollcage. The result functioned well enough, but when you see pics of that car still floating around from MATG 2012, you will see it wasn't pretty or even particularly neat looking. The Eliminator .v2 and new .v3 cars go WAY past the 001 car in every way. .v2 and .v3 are lighter, more rigid, offer more interior room which allows for wide seat options (way more than spec miata), and of course we think they are MUCH better looking!

• SalvageWon does NOT sell complete Eliminators. Turn Key cars are sold by Steel City Classics (SCC) out of Birmingham. When someone buys an Eliminator from SCC, SCC commissions SalvageWon to build a car. SalvageWon locates a car, does a full refurb including Mazda maintenance items plus coilovers, wheels, tires, brakes, seats, steering wheel, quick release, headlights, tail lights, mirrors, etc, etc and the car is sold to SCC and then on to their customer. Interestingly Steel City Classics does not seem to be selling, or even marketing the complete cars to the DIY or trackday crowd, or even a Miata crowd for that matter. SCC’s market is VERY different in the way that they primarily deal in collector cars. You may ask why a company who focuses on collector cars started to commission builds on Eliminators and that story goes back again to the 001 car. The owner of SCC caught a ride in the 001 car a few years ago and “had to have it” so it was sold. When all of his car collecting buddies saw it they “had to have one too”. So in a sense, SCC’s customers had to add some of these neat little accessories to their Garage Mahals as much as SalvageWon needed to build the first few cars start to finish to enhance the design of the kits.

"As the complete cars are now out there running around, it’s neat to see the favorable response from gear heads of all walks: Motorcycle guys love them because of the open driving experience. Autocross guys love them because Miata. Weekend fun car guys love them because Miata. Hot rod guys love them because Miata (although they may not realize it, or admit it if they do) and because chances are slim that they’re not going to park next to another Eliminator at the local cruise-in…

"ALSO!! We are in negotiations with GRM to have some space at The Mitty so we can do a 24 hour build from a complete Miata and we love to see you guys there! Please Please Please stop by our goat show and say hello!"

I'm sorely tempted to do this treatment to a Subaru. This one looks all butch and all, but it's not clear to me why one needs to go butch with a Miata. Now the same treatment on a Subbie would seem more appropriate with the AWD and all. Seems to me that if you took 1000 lbs, off of a N/A 2.2 or 2.5 Imprezza, it'd probably end up as fast as a stock WRX and could be made to handle considerably better.