fatbloke wrote:
How different do I have to make the bloody thing so that it doesn't look like and MX?
If you're looking for an honest answer and no offence meant, to me there are four aspects that give your car away as an MX5 as it stands, none of which couldn't be fixed with varying levels of difficulty:
1/ That hard top. It's unique to the MX5 and once the eye takes its shape in, the brain of anyone who's ever seen one fitted to an MX5 will instantly make the id;
2/ The wheels. Tyres that wide weren't available in the sixties, not even for racing cars, so wheels were necessarily narrower in those days. Fat wheels and tyres just shout 'MODERN' in an Ali G accent, which is fine if you only want onlookers under the age of 17 to appreciate your sick ride;
3/ The interior. Although the MX5 dash was designed to look retro it's still too modern and immediately marks the car out as a Mazda, especially in a convertible where everyone can see it in all its black plastic glory. The seats are also clearly a 90's design;
4/ The colour. Presumably it's still in grey primer which rather hints at 'bodykit on a budget';
So, what can you do to stop it looking like an MX5 in a party frock?
Sell the hard top. Stick with a soft top and think about modifying the shape. Look at loads of pictures of early convertible Ferrari's and identify design cues that could be included - the shape of the rear window for example - and have a top made or modified by a trimmer to look the part.
Wheels. Very personal thing, wheel choice, but what happened to these beauties?
Fit them with narrower, high profile tyres and three-eared spinners and they'll say sixties style icon not max power overmodded modern.
Replace the interior completely. Ditch all the black plastic, fit period looking seats, make a flat-panel dash with no centre console (my plan for a future 250swb project is to use the donor's instruments but house them behind holes cut in a flat panel with thin perspex between, think Fiat Coupe), hide the heater controls, fit an old fashioned handbrake where you can't quite reach it, strip everything out of the doors leaving them skeletal, make perspex side screens to replace the leccie windows, etc, etc, you get the idea.
Once all that's done spray it in Rosso Barchetta (
fantastic choice imho) and enjoy the fact that sweaty truckers will no longer be shouting 'Oy, you in the Mazda'...
Shame about the dodgy letters on the numberplate! Could be worst, JS or RH 
[/IMG]
