JSC Speed's 1993 Mazda Miata Project Car

What does Mazda's fine racing heritage mean for JSC Speed? Well, I'm an avid autocrosser and enjoy participating in track day events (High Performance Driver Education, or HPDE, for short) and was looking for an fun, good handling and economical car to campaign in these endeavors. The Miata fits the bill perfectly. Because there are so many Miatas on the road (and in the junkyard and race shops) cars, chassis, OEM parts and aftermarket support is plentiful; Mazda even stands behind their motorsports advertising campaign by offering drivers that take their Mazdas to the races OEM parts at exceptional discounts through their MazdaSpeed Motorsports Development program. So in April of 2007 I began scouring the internet for a suitable Miata. My criteria were easy: No rust, a running engine and under $2000. I had the intention of adding $1000-$2500 in parts to the car to make it safe at the track and competitive in the SCCA STS2 autocross class.

There are a lot of resources available on line to prospective Miata owners. The FAQ's over at Miata.net are invaluable. Some of the basic things to watch out for are the well documented short nose crank failure from the 1990-1991 models and rocker panel rust on all cars. Most 90-91 cars that are still running have had the SNC issue resolved, but a few are still out there (somehow).

I had looked at no fewer than 16 examples ranging from piles of rust to immaculate garage queens. In December '07 I ended up getting something way over my initial budget: A semi-track-prepped 1993 Miata for a touch under $5000! When I picked up the car I took a minivan with me and filled it (completely) with extra wheels, tires, seats, head, intake manifold and tubs of spare parts. I sorted through the parts, sold off what I didn't need or want and stored what I wanted to keep. I ended up getting almost $1000 out of what I sold (and still have more that needs to get listed for sale).

The previous owner had already spent a lot of time and money to get this Miata from stock to a safe track day car. He had added a Hard Dog Hardcore Double Diagonal roll bar, Cobra racing seats, Schroth 6-pt harnesses, Jackson Racing cat-back exhaust, and a Fat Cat Motorsports suspension (all stuff that I would have done anyway!) so he could use it at Watkins Glen International (WGI) for HPDEs. The powerplant had been recently resealed and had a new timing belt, plugs and wires. The AC was deleted and the power steering was deactivated. This 155,000 mile old Miata still has a lot of life left.

After a good bit a cleaning the old roadster looks pretty good!