Mario’s 1993 NA Miata has been to hell and came back with an Eaton supercharger, red mirrors, and one of the best survivor stories you’ll hear.

[CARISMA is The Drive's new series exploring the connection between enthusiasts and their cars.]

“It takes a lot to get an old car like this to be here. This thing has its own story. It has 30 years of history that I’m only a couple of years into, so it’s our duty to make them last forever,” he says.

Those 30 years of history nearly came to an end one afternoon a few years ago when Mario’s first Miata was wrecked in a highway pileup. Hours later, he found a complete ’93 Miata body shell for sale on Facebook and hatched a plan to bring his car back to life. He just needed space to do it—and found it in an unfinished warehouse with a tight deadline.

“[The owner] basically told me hey man, you can go in this garage space and you have like 10 days at most. And I was like, perfect man, that’s all I need.”

Mario completely disassembled his crashed car and transplanted the drivetrain, interior, and every other useful part into the shell—plus a bunch of tasty upgrades like a butterfly brace, Racing Beat sway bar, RSR exhaust, BC coilovers, poly bushings, Mazda Competition motor mounts, BBS wheels, and an Eaton M45 supercharger. The red mirrors came off his crashed car too, as a tribute.

10 days later, he rolled out of that freezing warehouse with essentially a brand-new 30-year-old car that he feels a connection with on every conceivable level.

“When you build it yourself, there’s nothing more rewarding than sitting behind the wheel of the machine you’ve put together and everything working harmoniously. It’s just music to my ears. The exhaust sounds like an organ at a church, at least in my ears. I know to some, it might hurt their ears.”

“That’s basically the biggest satisfaction I get, is I get to be inside of my obsession. I get to just be me in there, feel safe in there. And it’s fun—Miata’s always the answer.”

0:00 Intro
0:38 Mario's Miata Story
2:52 Wrecked and Resurrected
4:45 Mod List
6:31 Miata Is the Answer

Produced, shot, and edited by   / tomgorelik  

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