The answer + vintage look

This would have been much easier with a Miata front end.

Also, don't ever fabricate your own double-wishbone cross-member. Just. Do not.

Theoretically that's a Toyota front end. I think? It should handle like an Supra minus 1500 lbs, whatever that means.

Do what this guy did:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/beast-both-worlds/

Stick both of them in a garage and don't let them out until they are the same car!

There was a white Miata with the Pit Crew kit on the Dallas Craigslist for the past couple months.

Of course now that this thread comes up, it's either sold or the listing expired.

NickD wrote:

mtn wrote: I think the way to do this would be like Keith's friend (Ottawa? Is that his name on here?) who did it with a custom Porsche Color. Basically, retro-ize an NA Miata. Take off the emblems. Paint it like an Elan. Get rid of the door mirrors and put little chrome ones on. 914 seats or similar. Minilites.

This one?

That's exactly what I thought of when reading the title.

Any crazy body swap or kit build is going to be a couple year project with hundreds of hours involved.. if you're up for that then awesome! But if you're looking for something to drive sooner, I think Keith's vintage look NA Miata build is awesome.

Cool vintage look interior:

and an awesome paint color coupled with vintage wheels:

NickD wrote:

mtn wrote: I think the way to do this would be like Keith's friend (Ottawa? Is that his name on here?) who did it with a custom Porsche Color. Basically, retro-ize an NA Miata. Take off the emblems. Paint it like an Elan. Get rid of the door mirrors and put little chrome ones on. 914 seats or similar. Minilites.

This one?

Thats the one!

Yeah, the 707 is what I was talking about.

I want to replicate it almost to the T, although I'll hopefully end up with one that is for sale here on the board soon that is a 1.8 (uglier dash), and I won't have paint in the budget.

Take an Opel GT, cut the front and rear ends off, widen them 3", and graft them onto a Miata.

I need to update the 707 build thread, we had custom gauges done that look awesome.

http://revlimiter.net/blog/2014/02/gauges-for-project-707/

I like the steelies on 707 better than the Porsche wheels.

But other than that I love it. I'll probably end up copying a lot of the ideas.

I have a 1990 Miata and love it. I also love the 50's and 60's sports racers/cars. Over the years I've tried to combine a vintage look with the Miata. I've tried building a space frame for the Miata divetrain, and tried to fit a fiberglass body to it. And, I've stripped the body off a Miata and tried creating a body to fit it.

I never achieved the look I wanted. The Miata's engine is pretty tall. The firewall and seating position is farther forward then the rear biased cars that I like the looks of. The MEV DBR looked intriguing. But, to clear the engine the body lines had to be modified substantially.

I'm going to keep driving my stock NA. In the mean time I built a space frame for C4 Corvette suspension and am fitting a Cheetah Roadster inspired body.

Good luck with your project!

Rev9 can get you a lot of miata specific retro looking products from japan. Pricey, but available. I like the pitcrew kit but i think several others look better and cost less like the barchetta bumper or s2 racing bumper

What about something like the Ginetta G4 ?

Looks a like sorta Miata sized:

Yeah, dump the Miata engine and use the subframes. The Miata engine is nothing to brag about and being able to change the wheelbase opens your options.

As someone who knows both of your old cars intimately, I am in a unique position to...... Nah, I'm just another shmoe who wants you to build what I haven't had time to do

It's probably more than you want to take on, but to me a great project would be to do a tube frame chassis with modern suspension and driveline for a bug or ghia. The shell on those cars just lifts off, so even though it's a unibody design, it contains elements of a body-on-frame that are advantageous to builders. There's a guy in the UK named Rorty who publishes plans to put a mid-engined Audi V8 in one of those, but I've never liked the idea of a motor in the backseat- even if it's well-covered. So I think that a great project would be to use the motor/tranny combo that you did on Frankenfiat and use it to build the ultimate Ghia.

Here's a whole thread for inspiration:
http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread.php?5488-post-your-Vintage-Retro-Classic-Style-Miata-MX5-Roadsters

I think there is a lot that can be done to enhance the retro appeal of the NA without a crazy body swap. I am trying to dig through my bookmarks to find a specific NA -- built by an Italian guy with a DIY hand stitched interior (it may be in the link above, I am hunting).

My dream build would be BRG paint, tan top, wire luggage rack, RS Watanabe or Panasports, retro interior, wire tucked engine bay, stroker motor + ITBs...

In reply to Kreb:

Beck 550 spider if you go that far. My neighbor just bought one...1450 lbs with 190 hp

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem:

Doesn't Beck have antiquated suspension though? Also, it's kinda nice to have a proper - as in permanent, hardtop.

In reply to Kreb:

Beck 904 then.

MrJoshua wrote: I need to dig up the pics. I put a Miata subframe under the rear of a spitfire with stock Daisy's and it barely stuck out beyond the fenders. So little that you probably could have given the suspension the 3-4 degrees camber spitfire's always have and had the tires clear. Miata subframes under the GT6 would be incredible

Found the best one I have:

That car had a Miata Subframe in the rear only. The tires were 195/45/14 Toyo Proxes T1S.

Can't remember what kit this was but I think it was still available last time I looked.

EDIT: Found it.

Holy Crap, that's nice!

Chadeux wrote: Can't remember what kit this was but I think it was still available last time I looked. EDIT: Found it.

Couple more Italia pics. Pics were taken at an Auto-X on the Cumberland, MD airport in 2006. No idea who the owner is/was.

I've seen Italias before and I was surprised that the blue car was one. That photo was clearly taken from its best angle.

I've worked on a few Italias. We actually built one with an LS3 about a year ago :) With the right attention to detail, they can look really good. A fellow named Jack Gosney built one that was fantastic. You have to space out the rear wheels to make it work.

IIRC the original Italia is no longer available, and the new one is not as classic.

There is another "retro" that might actually be kinda cool... How does with track/wheelbase compared to a 60's Beetle? Could you put on one of those cheesy fiberglass bodies?