Although the new, 2016 Miata was out in time for last year’s SEMA show—at which Mazda unveiled the MX-5 Global Cup Racing Version—the ND Miata otherwise didn’t make a big splash at the show. This coming SEMA is the first at which we should see more of the ND Miata, since it’s been available to customers—and, thus, tuners—for months now. Mazda isn’t leaving all the Miata massaging to outsiders, though. The company is itself cooking up two special versions of its roadster.Mazda’s two alternate takes on the Miata are the MX-5 Spyder Concept and the MX-5 Speedster Concept. The Spyder, Mazda says, “captures the character of a vintage roadster.” That’s about all the info the company is giving out at this point, except to reveal that the car features a special leather interior and its paint color is Mercury Silver. From the one (half) photo, we also can see that the Spyder has brown soft top that looks to sport canvas … [Read more...] about Spyder and Speedster: Mazda Creating Two Special Miatas for SEMA
Speedster
Mazda Prepares for a Miata-rific SEMA 2016 with Speedster and RF Kuro Concepts
If one of Mazda’s concept Miatas for the 2016 SEMA show looks a bit familiar, you’re not mistaken. The Miata Speedster concept, pictured in white above, is returning to the tuner show with a few modifications. It’s now called the Speedster Evolution, and Mazda says it boasts a curb weight of just under 2000 pounds, or nearly 100 pounds less than last year’s Speedster concept.Mazda hasn’t yet shared how exactly it cut out that extra weight. Other than the diet, there isn’t much else different about the Speedster, which remains a sleek-looking variation on the MX-5 with its carbon-fiber deflector in place of a windshield and tonneau cover. It is now painted in a color called White Ether, and it looks to have different wheels and tires compared with last year’s concept.Mazda’s other concept is fresher. The MX-5 RF Kuro is based on the new-for-2017 Miata RF retractable-hardtop variant. It is not quite as extreme as the Speedster; … [Read more...] about Mazda Prepares for a Miata-rific SEMA 2016 with Speedster and RF Kuro Concepts
Mazda MX-5 Miata Speedster, Part Deux: This Time with Even Less Weight
Mazda says the annual SEMA show gives its designers the opportunity to “let their imaginations run wild.” That’s not exactly the case for the MX-5 Miata Speedster Evolution concept for this year’s show, which is simply a new version of the same Speedster concept Mazda showed at SEMA last year. Even still, we’re okay with it, because the Speedster’s cool factor hasn’t worn off yet.The 2015 version of the Speedster was already an extreme interpretation of the small rear-wheel-drive roadster. It weighed just over 2000 pounds and did away with the standard Miata‘s windshield and softtop in favor of a small air deflector and a tonneau cover behind the front seats. But Mazda decided that the Speedster hadn’t gone far enough and went back to the drawing board to cut even more weight.For this new version, Mazda replaced the instrument cluster with a digital display, exchanged the stock battery for a lightweight lithium-ion battery … [Read more...] about Mazda MX-5 Miata Speedster, Part Deux: This Time with Even Less Weight
Less Is More: The Mazda Miata Speedster Is Purity on Wheels
Cribbing the same formula that created the iconic Porsche 1600 Speedster more than half a century ago, the Mazda MX-5 Speedster concept is designed to emphasize the raw fundamentals of driving and little else. Wearing a small wind deflector in place of a windshield and finished in a bespoke shade named Blue Ether, the MX-5 Speedster concept clearly is intended to heighten the intensity of the man-and-machine ethos that already defines the production MX-5 Miata.Weight savings is key to the speedster philosophy, and this MX-5 addresses the tenet via several methods. Unsprung weight is reduced via custom 16-by-8-inch Rays Extreme Gram Lights wheels wrapped in Kumho Ecsta V710 225/50 tires (with vintage-style lettering!), while carbon-fiber doors, synthetic interior leather trim, and custom carbon-fiber Mu-Len Delta seats all contribute to a claimed weight savings of 250 pounds. As it sits on the stand at SEMA, the MX-5 Speedster weighs in at a sprightly 2080 pounds. … [Read more...] about Less Is More: The Mazda Miata Speedster Is Purity on Wheels
Miatas Gone Wild: In-Depth with the Mazda Miata Speedster and Spyder Concepts
From the February 2016 issue There’s nothing subtle about the Miata-based Speedster and Spyder concepts Mazda built for the 2015 SEMA show. The Speedster is a grab-the-Sawzall-and-cut-your-way-to-lightness exercise that would make a gastric-bypass surgeon proud. The Spyder, for its part, achieves exotic status by flaunting its own impracticality. Neither car has side windows, and neither is an original idea; the previous-generation MX-5 spawned similar concepts, the Superlight at Frankfurt in 2009 and another Spyder at SEMA in 2011. Yet because they are Miatas and we are red-blooded auto enthusiasts, we cannot look away. Exterior The Speedster quite obviously tips its hat to those racing machines from the era in which men actually wore hats. Gone are the A-pillars, windshield, and convertible top, supplanted by a carbon-fiber front deflector and a hard tonneau cover under which two helmets can be stored. Also excised in the name of lightness: the … [Read more...] about Miatas Gone Wild: In-Depth with the Mazda Miata Speedster and Spyder Concepts
2016 Ford Mustang Galpin Rocket Speedster: Fisker’s Dream Mustang Loses Its Lid
2014 L.A. auto show, Henrik Fisker made big news as he showed a sexy, carbon-fiber-bodied Ford Mustang–based concept called the Rocket, which became a production reality with the help of Galpin Auto Sports of Van Nuys, California. Now, roughly nine months later—surprising no one—Fisker and Galpin have announced that the Rocket coupe (which we drove already) will be joined by a rather more extroverted variant, the topless Rocket Speedster, which made its debut on the Concept Lawn at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Élégance.With a tonneau cover over the rear seat (which has not been deleted), the Speedster looks suitably exotic, thanks to fairings behind the front seats flanked by mesh vents that allegedly allow air to pass through the space rather than letting it become a huge pocket that increases drag. Remove the cover and the top still works, too, we’re told, so technically this is more like a regular convertible than a speedster in the … [Read more...] about 2016 Ford Mustang Galpin Rocket Speedster: Fisker’s Dream Mustang Loses Its Lid
Porsche 1600 Speedster
From the June 1956 issue The new Porsche 1600 is one of the world's truly fine cars. Every hour you spend with it adds to your appreciation of the excellence of its design, workmanship, and performance. It's a supremely good machine in traffic or on the open highway and a world-beater on winding roads. It makes you hunger for a handy Alp to slide up and down all day. As a precision instrument for maintaining high average speeds regardless of terrain, it's a revelation. At no increase in price over its 1500 cc predecessor, the 1600 offers six percent increases in horsepower and displacement and a five percent increase in torque. Calculations based on the car's pulling power and tractive resistance indicate that the actual output of the 1582 cc, 96.5 cubic inch engine is more, not less, than the factory-advertised 70 bhp figure. The Speedster, as the roadster model is called, lists at $2995 at U. S. port of entry and can be driven away for about $3200 after all fees … [Read more...] about Porsche 1600 Speedster
2008 Callaway C16 Speedster
Callaway is a name synonymous with wild styling, Corvettes, and, of course, speed. (Well, golf clubs, too, but we digress.) And the newest automobile to wear the famous name of Reeves Callaway, son of golf-club-business founder Ely Callaway, is the 2008 Callaway C16 speedster. It embodies all those things, especially the speed part. Indeed, with its 700-hp supercharged V-8 and a claimed top speed of 210 mph, the C16 speedster may be Callaway's fastest street car in his three decades of business. Designed by longtime Callaway architect Paul Deutschman, the C16 speedster is the third in Callaway's Corvette-based C16 series, along with the C16 coupe and C16 cabrio. Obviously, the speedster is more closely related to the cabrio, only with every body panel modified in some way "to speak to style and aerodynamics" (as if the other C16s don't speak to style or aerodynamics). To save you the time, we did a side-by-side photo comparison and didn't find many dramatic changes from cabrio … [Read more...] about 2008 Callaway C16 Speedster
A Mighty Wind: Bugatti Rumored To Be Considering Limited Run of Veyron Speedsters
In his recent reporting on the Bugatti Chiron, which could pack 1500 horsepower, hit 288 mph, and have swing-up doors, Automobile Magazine’s Georg Kacher stated that the Veyron successor has been delayed until 2016, and with the Veyron’s 450-car run just about finished, a very limited run of speedsters based on the model could be built to “keep the workforce busy.” That is, of course, to say nothing of funneling millions upon millions of bucks into Bugatti’s coffers.The report provided no hint of what sort of modifications would be made to the car to turn it into a speedster. How much might the windshield be chopped for Speedster duty? Would it have an occasional-use roof panel? Would it use the Veyron name? Will Bugatti replace all the hair lost when owners inevitably perform top-speed runs? Nor did the report give an estimate of how many millions of dollars such a thing would cost.Predictably, when we inquired, Bugatti was mum on the topic, … [Read more...] about A Mighty Wind: Bugatti Rumored To Be Considering Limited Run of Veyron Speedsters
Rare Rides: The Corvette Callaway Speedster From 1991 – Fast and Dangerously Teal
From a forgotten sidebar of automotive history, today’s Rare Ride is perhaps a bit more obscure than normal. Just 10 total examples of the Speedster were produced, making it exceptionally rare. And while the front clip says, “I’m still a C4 Corvette,” the rest of the car underwent quite a transformation at the Callaway shop.Slip on your stonewashed Jordache jeans and get ready for this rapid Rare Ride.Listed right now on eBay is a fine example of the Chevrolet Corvette Callaway Speedster. This silver beauty is a creation of the Connecticut-based Callaway Cars company. While it’s known mostly for modification to Chevrolet vehicles, it also transforms Alfa Romeos, Range Rovers, and Aston Martins on occasion.For this particular design, Callaway applied the body kit from the Corvette Sledgehammer (already in production) and chopped the C4’s roof.The sides and rear of the passenger compartment have a wraparound glass area and … [Read more...] about Rare Rides: The Corvette Callaway Speedster From 1991 – Fast and Dangerously Teal