Some design ideas

Having collected my new donor car yesterday, the first thing I did was head online for inspiration. I wanted to start picturing what I wanted my Rocketeer MX-5 to become.

Back in 1999, I owned an NB fitted with a full body kit, so part of me is tempted to relive those glory days. Then again, I'll be knocking on the door of 50 by the time this car is finished, so perhaps a little restraint is in order!

I remembered the Mazdaspeed version of the NB MX-5, a rare sight in the UK with only a handful believed to be here. I've always liked its styling because it's subtle rather than over the top. I'm not interested in huge wings or an aggressive aftermarket look, but the Mazdaspeed body kit gives the MX-5 just enough extra presence and muscle without losing the clean lines that make the car so appealing.

When it came to the colour scheme, I wanted to carry over a theme from my Caterham race car, which wore Porsche Voodoo Blue with a RAL 1016 yellow triple stripe. Armed with a bit of AI and a few Photoshop skills, I mocked up several concepts to see how the idea might work on the Rocketeer.  I'll sit with these designs for a few days to see if this is the direction I want to take the car in.

Mazdaspeed Bodykit inc Porsche Riviera Blue (metallic) with yellow triple stripe

Same colour scheme overhead angle

The rear showing Rocketeer twin exhausts

Now I've been in discussions with the team at Rocketeer about potentially creating a bespoke rear dual exit exhaust (rather than the two side exhausts that are common with the Rocketeer setup).  Example image below:-

Rocketeer custom dual centre exit exhaust mockup

However with the inclusion of of the triple stripe, it looks a bit busy along the centre line, so I'm undecided at the moment on this.

I'm also feeling a little undecided about the triple stripe, as it perhaps looks a bit too "shouty"... I'd like my Rocketeer to look purposefully quick, without looking too 'boy racer'.  I need some time to think this through properly.

I bought an MX5!

A week has passed since my last post... Gary (the seller of the MX5) messaged yesterday morning, and told me that the car had passed it's MoT, with the MoT guy apparently hadn't seen a car as clean as this for many, many years.  I decided to go and see it that evening.

Had a good look over the car, and wasn't entirely sure...  I'm not sure, why I wasn't sure... But I had a brief chat with myself and reminded myself that this car was not a Ferrari, was quite old, but was in great condition, was low-mileage and looked like it would be a great donor car.

So we went for a quick test drive, all seemed in order... We agreed a price, shook hands and said I'd be there this evening to collect!

I'm finally home at almost 10pm, and am the proud owner of my fourth Mazda MX5. 

Short video of the car below.

On the drive home, some things came to mind quite rapidly!
I'm quite pleased and proud with my purchase
The interior is quite small
My seating position is quite high
The CD changer is redundant
Having a windscreen mounted sat / nav iPhone isn't really suitable.

And so, the journey to building what might well be the ultimate NB2 MX5 has begun!

The (almost) perfect donor

Now with the garage space to fill...  I put a 'WANTED' post on the MX5 owners club... Specifically looking for a rust free, ultra-low mileage NA car....  I had couple of responses, which we're not really what I was looking for...  And one response which had a good feel about it.  

It was an NB2, with LSD, bilstein shocks, heated leather seats, air con, and had only covered 7,565 miles!  It was rust free too, and had the factory hard top...  BUT it was an NB, and worse it was red!

We had a brief chat over the phone, and the car was being offered for a price point which I considered acceptable for it's age, so I asked the seller (Gary) to send me some pictures.

Here she is in all her glory

The rear - stayin' alive comes to mind!

The external pics looked good, and the chassis pics even better...

Original chassis rails - rust free!

Front Chassis Legs - immaculate!

Original spot welds on rear arches

And only 7,565 miles

So the structural condition of the car looked good, and the low mileage was almost unbelievable...  but there were a couple of minor paint problems, mainly from where the car had been sat under a car port for the majority of it's life, which are consistent with a vehicle that had been left dormant.

Extremely faded wing mirrors

Some mottling on the bonnnet

Flaking paint on the hard top

Having seen the pictures, I was still a little undecided... Was it the right car?  Did I really want an NA?  Did I want a red sports car?!  There was lots going on in my head!

Nevertheless - the car needed an MoT, so I agreed with Gary that once the car had an MoT, I'd go and view the car and take it from there...

Welcome to the blog

Hello!  And welcome to the first post of this blog.  

I'm rapidly approaching 50, and back in my younger days I owned three Mazda MX-5s: a white NA, a grey NB (which deserves a story of its own in a future post), and finally a green NB. It seems some passions never really disappear. This blog follows my journey to owning my fourth MX-5, but this time it's something rather special. Instead of a standard car, I'm commissioning a 3.0-litre V6 powered Rocketeer MX-5, and documenting every step along the way, from choosing the right donor and planning the specification to taking ownership, driving it, and making the most of everything that follows.

A bit of background about me / my car life:-

I've been very lucky over the years having had some lovely cars, and back in 2014 I created a previous blog about building a Caterham R500.  Looking back with rose tinted glasses, I thoroughly enjoyed the build process, modifying and enjoying the car, road trips, meet ups, track days and the ups and downs of the car ownership experience.  Having been on quite a few track days (the only place for a car of that calibre) for three or so years, it came to a natural end with the desire to become a 'racing driver'

Me in my Caterham R500 at Cadwell Park

In 2017 I decided to race Caterhams, participating in the Caterham Academy Championship, Roadsport in 2018 and the 270R championship in 2019.  Winning two titles and coming a gnats whisker away from three in a row, I decided at the end of 2019 to hang up my racing overalls and call it a day.

I was 2019 Caterham 270R Champion!

Covid-19 then happened, and for some reason I lost my love for cars... That was until 2024 where I had a health scare, and decided life is too short, and went a bought a beautiful Ferrari 458 spider in red.  The car was absolutley beautiful (one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful car), but it was a fairly 'low spec' car and I decided to acquire all of the lovely Ferrari carbon goodies to make it one of the best examples in the UK!  The main downside to Ferrari ownership is the brand is so mileage sensitive, that it discourages you from driving it, plus the servicing and warranty extension costs were truly frightening... Anyway, cut a long story short I was moving home at the beginning of this year (2026), and decided it best to sell the 458 (which I kinda regret on one hand, but on the other I'm happy with my decision).

My Ferrari 458 Spider

So... having moved home, and letting the dust settle (a bit!)... I have an empty garage to fill...