It’s time to dig into the Speedhunters archives for another 10 year retrospective. This week we’re heading back to the canyons of Southern California to check out a very sweet 1999 Mazda Miata.
Jeremy D’Ambrosio selected a variety of parts to build his ideal NB Miata, and the results were spectacular. Let’s revisit Mike and Larry’s feature from 2014…
2014 function
To me, cars are perhaps the most emotional objects on the planet, and if you’re reading this, chances are you agree. To us, cars are so much more than just devices to get from point A to point B, and the emotional responses they evoke in us can be overwhelming.
What kind of reactions do they trigger? Well, it depends on what kind of car it is. Some vehicles can amaze us when we are standing still. For example, a Lamborghini Miura is a car So It’s nice that it doesn’t have to move to make us fall in love.
Other cars win our favor through incredible feats of engineering – whether it’s a modern race car designed in a high-tech lab, or something crafted by the hands of a skilled hobbyist.
A classic car can appeal to our interest in history, and then there are cars that are so fast they actually scare us. The point is that cars are not just machines for us, but objects that evoke powerful emotional responses.
And of all these emotional responses, none is more powerful or more fundamental than the one that says, “I want to drive this!” The car in question may not be the prettiest you’ve ever seen, nor the fastest, but it makes you want nothing more than to jump behind the wheel and motivation it. It’s a feeling that’s hard to put into words, but you know it when it happens.
This brings me to a car that we recently had the chance to spend some time with in the mountains above Los Angeles. It’s a 1999 Mazda Miata built by Jeremy D’Ambrosio, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that this is one of the coolest and most versatile Miatas on the planet.
Jeremy took delivery of the NB-chassis Miata four years ago when he moved from Pennsylvania to Southern California for school. USC? UCLA? No, Jeremy came to SoCal to attend the Art Center of Design in Pasadena – an educational institution that has trained some of the world’s top automotive designers.
It’s fair to say that many of the students who walk the halls of the Art Center are huge car enthusiasts, and Jeremy is no exception. He chose a Miata not only for its famous handling, but also because the car’s simple and attractive aesthetic allowed him to go in any direction he wanted. A true designer, indeed.
An exercise in design
In fact, Jeremy not only wanted a car that he could drive to local track days or the beautiful mountain roads of Southern California, but he also wanted to use the car as a test bed for the various styling ideas that came into his head.
Much of his inspiration came from vintage Japanese race and road cars, namely the signature look of wide fenders and fat tires. Combine that with the Miata’s original goal of being the modern British roadster, and you have a pretty good idea of Jeremy’s theme with the build.
Styling-wise, the roofline is the most noticeable feature. The car has an Autokonexion fastback hardtop that gives the car a completely different look than the standard Miata. There’s definitely some Datsun 240Z in there and maybe even a little Corvette…
The unique wide roof makes many people think the car is nothing more than a Miata. Only the real Roadster nerds can quickly figure out where the car comes from.
Aside from the tweaked body lines, the once feminine NB Miata shape has been made more aggressive with a set of Autokonexion fender flares, Project-G G-Fuser side skirts, and Project-G vented side windows. If you needed a refresher on Project-G and what they do, be sure to check out Taryn’s Story from last year.
Other details contributing to the retro racer look include a set of nostalgic Garage Vary taillights, a Garage Vary front lip and a set of carbon mirrors from Japanese roadster specialist Zoom Engineering.
Jeremy says he’s totally fine with having an over-the-top car, and other exterior accents — like the polished aluminum hood and oversized rivets — give the Miata a rugged, head-turning look.
As for the wheels, the car wears a set of R-Type RS Watanabes measuring 14×8-inch up front and 14×8.5-inch in back with sticky Toyo Proxes R888 rubber all around. To my eyes, there’s simply nothing that beats the look of 14s and fat tires on a Miata.
Today’s Miata scene is full of people who build their Roadsters just to look cool and cruise around. But Jeremy is not one of those guys. That much becomes immediately apparent when you open the hood and see that the Mazda’s 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine is equipped with a Rotrex C30-74 centrifugal supercharger.
Other engine work includes a Mazdaspeed intake camshaft, a Racing Beat header and midpipe, along with Mazdaspeed engine mounts. As for electronics, there’s a full Megasquirt DIYPNP engine management system along with an AEM UEGO wideband controller. When everything is dialed in, the setup sends an impressive 235 hp and 183 lb/ft of torque to the rear wheels – more than enough to allow the lightweight NB to keep pace with more powerful modern machines.
In addition to the performance upgrades made to the engine, Jeremy also approached the Miata’s engine bay with the same eye for aesthetics. Visual upgrades include a Garage Star hood bonnet and Project-G Precision Series plug cover, oil cap, and dipstick lever. You can also spot the Cobalt three-point hitch in this shot.
Style Plus Function
Proper footwork is a huge part of a good Miata experience, and Jeremy’s car doesn’t disappoint in this regard. He’s got a set of XIDA Clubsport coilovers from AST, along with Flyin’ Miata sway bars and 949Racing adjustable end links.
Braking performance is enhanced by a set of Hawk HP Plus pads with DBA X-Gold discs and StopTech braided brake lines.
As with many of the world’s best Miata builds, the interior of this car is just as impressive as the exterior. Starting with safety, there’s a Blackbird FabWorx GT3 roll bar and Bethania Garage door bars.
The seats are factory Lotus Elise bucket seats mounted on RyokuRob brackets. Together they make for a very popular retrofit modification for Miata owners worldwide.
The steering wheel is a custom 375mm Nardi, fitted with a Garage Star hub extender, which fits in perfectly with the old school theme.
Further retro style is added by a custom self-clad centre console with RyokuRob finishing rings. RyokuRob also supplied the stainless steel gear knob which gives a raw and functional look.
Other small details in the cockpit include cool items like a set of rev limiters and a rare Mazdaspeed lap timer.
Overall the cockpit design is just begs buckle up and find a cool road. This is something that goes back to that “I have to drive here” feeling I was talking about earlier.
As a design student, Jeremy is always looking for ways to change and improve the car’s setup. He is currently working on wider, more aggressive bodywork and is considering stripping down the interior even further.
While this Mazda is undoubtedly impressive, both on paper and when you see it in person, the car itself is only one part of Jeremy’s Miata experience. Even more precious are the memories and friends he’s made along the way with this car. It’s a list that includes everything from late-night canyoneering sessions to long road trips and lots of loitering in parking lots.
Jeremy’s Miata is a car that is fast, functional, cool, and unique. But most of all, its driver-focused nature makes you want to get in and find an open piece of asphalt to drive on. The way I see it, there really is no higher praise you can give a car than that.
Mike Garrett
Instagram: japanifornia
Photography by Larry Chen
Instagram: larry_chen_photo