Mazda MX5 Bolt on REBODY Kit

[fuoriserie]

Hi guys, would like to have your feedback and constructive criticism,.... or approval, on a bolt on rebody kit for an Mx5.


A friend has asked me to sketch, a retro inspired bolt on rebody for his old Mx5, and having seen the RETROFORZA Ferrari inspired design, I thought about using the old Aston Martin GT4 Zagato design, but with a modern twist......

Do you think Retro design would fit, or a more modern design would work better?, he wants a coupe....

These are a my first very, very rough sketches of the design, but I'm working on few others.......still at a sketch stage for the moment.

Thanks in advance for your comments

Italo

Edited by fuoriserie on Tuesday 12th June 09:53

[dugt]

i think your concept looks great
Id buy one have your thought about which mark mx5 you would base it on

I also thought of putting a bike engine under the front of an mx5 but now im just dreaming

[fuoriserie]

dugt said:

i think your concept looks great
Id buy one have your thought about which mark mx5 you would base it on

I also thought of putting a bike engine under the front of an mx5 but now im just dreaming

Thanks..., the idea was to base it on the very early models, due to cheap prices for used examples, but I think it shouldn't be a problem on the Mk2 series.

[I want an Elise!]

Those look grand ! I'd have one !

Would go nicely with a thundering great V8 or somesuch motor shoehorned under the bonnet !

[fuoriserie]

I want an Elise! said:

Those look grand ! I'd have one !

Would go nicely with a thundering great V8 or somesuch motor shoehorned under the bonnet !

I'm sure that could work.......

[I want an Elise!]

fuoriserie said:

I want an Elise! said:

Those look grand ! I'd have one !

Would go nicely with a thundering great V8 or somesuch motor shoehorned under the bonnet !

I'm sure that could work.......

[Mr Burns] Eeeeeeeeexcellent.... ! [/Mr Burns]

[fuoriserie]

Where can I find earlier Mx5 pictures with 17 in. wheels?, I would like to sketch more real and detailed sketches, as image overlays ?

Can anyone give me some info? websites or other? , maybe someone has an mx5 fitted with them in this forum?

I appreciate your help
Thanks
Italo

[fuoriserie]

just found the pictures on the" Show us your car thread " in this forum, and in the classifieds section..........

Need to read the forum posts better............

[Munter]

Other good news is people have been known to drop the lexus V8 into the mx5.....

I still love the retroforza body as it appears to be relatively "simple" but your sketch is a lot more modern and agressive so should appeal to others!

[fuoriserie]

Munter said:

O
I still love the retroforza body as it appears to be relatively "simple" but your sketch is a lot more modern and agressive so should appeal to others!

Wait for my new batch of rough sketches.......

[T40ORA]

Errmmm. It doesn't look like the top comes off?

[fuoriserie]

T40ORA said:

Errmmm. It doesn't look like the top comes off?

You're correct, not on this sketch, because the idea was to make as a closed coupe hatchback........but you could design pretty much anything.........

[kambites]

Cool. I like the idea of a slightly more aggressive, coupe, version of the mx5.

Presumably it should be possible to make it significantly lighter than the roadster? Then all it needs is a turbo and/or larger capacity engine and you have a rather more practicable competitor for the Exige.

Edited to add: Ah, bolt on - so using the MX5's chassis? Not much chance of it weighing significantly less then

Edited by kambites on Thursday 14th June 08:58

[fuoriserie]

kambites said:

Cool. I like the idea of a slightly more aggressive, coupe, version of the mx5.

Edited to add: Ah, bolt on - so using the MX5's chassis? Not much chance of it weighing significantly less then

Edited by kambites on Thursday 14th June 08:58

You can always get rid of a few old panels, while adding the new ones...... or upgrade the engine..

[fuoriserie]

A very rough, but more realistic sketch based on the original Mx5 illustration.............and yes I did shorten the rear a bit.........

[Kinkyboots]

I think it looks amazing - if it was affordable there is no question about, I would get it

Edited by Kinkyboots on Friday 15th June 21:15

Edited by Kinkyboots on Friday 15th June 21:16

[DennisTheMenace]

Not sure me self , needs pop up lights to damage idiots that walk out infront of you ...
like these bad boys

[MX-5 Lazza]

Probably better to base it on an early Mk1. They are much lighter so would suffer less from a bolt-on body. Also they don't have air-bags. The problem with using a donor car with airbags is that the airbags will have to be kept in which case the airbag sensors in the front bumper will have to stay too.

I think it looks pretty good but I can't see it ever working in reality. There are too many problems changing the rear that much. The rear wings are not bolt-off so would need to be cut off and that includes the whole of the boot opening so the kit would have to be a complete rear-end. Also the chassis mounting points for the rear bumper would have to be kept so I'm not sure you could shorten the rear by that much and still have workable crash protection at the rear.

[fuoriserie]

Thanks for feedback and constructice critisism, this will enable me to rework the design, and incorportae some of the points discussed in here.

Is the rake of the winscreen on the Mk1 identical the mk2 ?, it looks the same, but can anyone confirm it ?

The sketch was done on the mk2 because the illustration is more detailed, and easier to make sketch overlays, but I would like to think it possble, to fit both models.

I will rework a few new sketches soon.......

Cheers
Italo

Edited by fuoriserie on Sunday 17th June 10:33

[MX-5 Lazza]

As far as I know the rake of the windscreen is identical. In fact the only major changes are on the external bodywork, the chassis underneath is pretty much the same. The Mk1 hard-top can fit on a Mk2/2.5 with only minor adjustments so the cockpit shape is identical.