Vehicle Description
1992 Mazda Miata Convertible
The Monster Miata was the creation and product of Monster
Motorsports, a defunct California company, (once associated with
LaForza Industries, another defunct company). The Monster was a
Miata with a Ford 5-liter cast-iron block/heads OHV pushrod engine
and a Borg-Warner T-5 transmission. The swap was easily
accomplished - almost unbelievably the entire engine and
transmission fit into the Miata as though it had been designed by
Mazda for it, (everything fits under the stock hood!). That and
some appropriate springs, cooling, and exhaust made up the basic
technical package and the cost started at several thousand dollars
and the car. The much heavier Ford engine did add about 4
percentage points to the front/rear weight balance - and the car
takes a corresponding amount of care to drive in turns. Somewhere
over 275 Monster Miatas were claimed to be built by Monster
Motorsports. A couple of hundred unofficial conversions were made
by other companies, and kits remain available from them to this
day. RX-7 conversions are also possible since much of the chassis
is shared.
For consignment, a sporty skate from the Mazda camp right out of
1992 with unique but subtle badging inside and out which identifies
the car to anybody getting close enough to notice. The appearance
of the entire car is very stealthy until you start it up: deaf
"opponents" won't know what hit them. Everybody else would get an
aural shock. Builds like this harken back to the days of Carroll
Shelby and the marriage of a small block Ford V8 to the lightweight
AC chassis. Gobs of power, tons of good looks and with the press of
the "loud pedal", miles and miles of smiles. Our consignment before
you is one of approximately 20 built as a Mega Monster Miata, so it
not only got the 5.0 Liter Ford V8 and the 5-speed manual
transmission but also the added boost of a Kenne Bell twin screw
supercharger. Mix in this being the brochure car for Monster Miata,
as well as a magazine feature car and sporting a mere 3,957 title
verified actual miles on this little yellow stinger and you can put
that in your pipe...and smoke the competition.
Exterior
Sunburst Yellow bathes the curved hidden headlight panels on this
sports car. Small enough to be thrown around corners, and powerful
enough to be able to handle it, she's in low mileage form and well
cared for in rust free condition. Garaged all its life, our owner
lovingly cared for this example with its Monster Miata fiberglass
front fascia with larger cooling inlet and lower fog lamps. Just
above are the low profile integrated pop up headlamps which lead
back to the factory aluminum hood now with louvers cut in to assist
with engine bay cooling. Round and round she undulates as it forms
the Miata which in German means "prize" or "reward", particularly
down the sides with the Monster Miata added front and rear fender
flares as well as rear quarter panels. Up top is a factory hardtop
which is easily removable for some open air track time or you can
pop up the factory black soft top and change personalities yet
again. Bringing up the tail end is an added rear spoiler and just
below are the factory tail lamps as well as the custom center dual
outlet exhaust in the rear neoprene valance. The Sunburst Yellow
retains its depth and shine but displays with a few touch ups and a
notable crack in the right front fender flare. White stripes in
decal form race rearward from the front of the hood and finish off
wrapping under the rear fascia. Ground all of this are Monster
Pro-Lite aluminum alloy wheels with staggered blackwall rubber on
the corners.
Interior
Smooth black leather covers the sleek door panels on the inside, up
top and down low are custom leather panels in black with diagonal
yellow stitching. More black leather drapes the Monster Miata
supplied bucket seats with smooth bolsters and deep tuck and roll
inserts along with door panel matching yellow stitching. On the
driver's seat there is some wear off of the bolster color along
with fine age wrinkling. These smooth black bolsters on the sides
and integrate at the top of the seats with melted in headrests. A
black factory center console is the original, sporting a padded
armrest, ashtray, and a black shifter boot that has a hint of
yellow stitching. As it rides to the dash we have a small storage
box, an Alpine AM/FM/CD radio, temp sliders and eyeball A/C and
Heat vents. Black and gray molded vinyl play on this rounded dash
front, with the black making the eyebrow in front of the driver,
which houses the instruments and is fronted by the rally steering
wheel. A Sunburst Yellow DOT approved Monster Miata 4-point roll
bar has been added for extra safety. A sea of black carpeting
floods the floors and looks just great with the yellow stitched
Miata on the black carpeted mats.
Drivetrain
Under the hood things get interesting...and then some. Long gone is
the peppy 4-cylinder powerplant and now a Ford 5.0 Liter V8 is
residing between the factory Sunburst Yellow inner fenders and
shock towers. This mill is fed by EFI and makes approximately 400hp
with the added boost from the Kenne Bell twin screw supercharger.
This supercharger makes around 6.5lbs of boost ensuring longevity
of the engine. A Tremec T5 5-speed manual transmission is on back,
and all is well preserved under here. Nearly all shows as new under
the hood and in the rear, we have a Thunderbird limited slip 3.08
rear axle that helps get it on with a press of the accelerator.
Zoom, zoom, zoom as Mazda says, but Ford says Vroom, Vroom,
Vroom!
Undercarriage
Up on our lift we note some slight surface rust but certainly no
invasive rust and all structurally sound unibody construction well
sorted, beefed up, and sported out. Rear wheel drive with
independent coil springs all over and power discs on all 4 corners
but far from what was onboard when it left the Hofu assembly plant.
The upgraded ride components now sport RX-7 R1 suspension parts
including, 5 lug hubs, uprights, spindles and forged aluminum
A-arms. The brakes have also been upgraded to RX-7 R1 power disc
units and we note the addition of front and rear swaybars with high
performance bushings. Nice floor pans and rockers and no real oil
leaks to speak of so the garage floor will remain clean. Headers
snake their way outward from the V8 mill and drop down then flow
rearward sending spent fossils through Flowmaster mufflers before
ending in the center mount custom tips.
Drive-Ability
Slipping inside I had shades of doing the same in my TR-6. Although
this car assured me it was going to start....and start it did with
a thunderous V8 roar. Our test track was no match for the endless
power, superb handling and perfectly unbiased braking. I'll be the
first to admit that a change of my jockeys was in order after my
drive as I did get a little goosey with my right boot. Overall, a
wonderful and FAST experience with all functions operating as they
should.
A wolf in sheep's clothing that harkens back to the days of turnkey
high-performance cars that continue to be produced today. The
exception here is that the Mega Monster Miata stays true to its
racing roots with a powerful V8, great suspension and stop on a
dime braking. Visit out Hallowed Halls, setting in behind the wheel
and be prepared to crush nearly any bit of competition that comes
your way...all the while maintaining the mild mannered looks of a
track day Miata.
VIN DECODE
JM1NA3512N1317656
J-Japan
M-Mazda
1-Passenger Car
NA-M1
35-Convertible
1-1.6L B6P
2...for more information please contact the seller.