Mashup: Mazda Miata With An RX-7 Rear End-Looks Good
When you first hear about someone grafting an RX-7 back end to a Miata, all kinds of horrific images pop into your brain. It doesn’t even seem possible to pull off. But when you see the Miata with the RX-7 tail, there is a certain synergy in combining the two, and it looks kind of good.
This Miata/RX-7 mashup looks almost factory fresh
These images popped up on a Yahoo! Japan auction site. From the rearview, it blends together almost too well. “It works,” as they say.
Pulling off a mashup like this is not easy, even when you’re dealing with the same manufacturer’s pieces. Being a first-gen Miata, it updates the looks of the popular sports car.
And if you fall in love with it you’re in luck. You can buy it, but you’ll have to import it from Japan. Oh, and you’ll also have to deal with right-hand drive. But converting it to left-hand drive still sounds like a much easier proposition than crafting an RX-7 tail to a Miata.
The Miata rear quarters slope down a bit
From certain front-end angles, the rear quarters slope down a little too much. It could be that to get everything to match up the builder had to position the quarter panels like this? But we wonder if cocking the panels up just a tad might have eliminated that sloping-down situation?
But we’re being picky. It is amazing how well this came out. This Miata also has a sprinkling of aftermarket body items. Things like the vented front fenders and front air dam.
It also features a low, cambered suspension, aided by Cusco suspension. With the glass front fenders and tail replacement, we’re assuming this was a theft recovery or totaled car. But that’s OK as long as the bent stuff was replaced and everything was pressed out.
You can always check out Miata trunk shut lines to see if it was hit hard
With the decklid bonked into the middle of the rear quarters, it is sometimes easy to tell if a Miata has been hit hard. Those shut lines will get wider or narrower at one corner relative to the others. That’s something anyone looking for a used Miata should look for.
And speaking of used, this Miata has just under 100,000 miles on its ticker. That’s not terrible mileage, but this is no creampuff. It is powered by a 1.8-liter engine so it is probably a 1994 or later Mazda. That gives it 128 hp, assuming no mods were applied to it. Too bad it isn’t a rotary engine instead.
The Miata’s stock tallights are listed in the Museum of Modern Art
Interestingly, the stock Miata taillights can be found listed in the Museum of Modern Art catalog. A gift from Mazda, the company must have been proud of its design. You can look it up as object number 242.1998.1.
If you’re thinking about doing this yourself, be forewarned. While finding a used Miata is fairly easy, finding a wrecked RX-7 won’t be. And complete RX-7s aren’t cheap. Still, we’d love to see one here with our own eyes.