Roadster Of The Week – Kelly’s MX-5

Article written by: Adam Zitka & Kelly
Photography by: Boony – Deadstock Photography

This NA8 is one stunning Roadster, The owner has gone for the “Less is more” approach in terms of modifying, And as you can clearly see it’s working! This Roadster isn’t an American car, Nor European, It’s from the land down under, It’s based in New South Wales to be precise.

“Why I bought an MX-5:

Well after having my DC2R written off, I needed a new car. At first I was tossing up between an SW20 MR2 and the MX-5, but after seeing all the pics of the slammed Miatas from the states, I knew I had to have one.

  I spent a couple of months looking for the perfect mx5, I wanted something in immaculate condition and surprisingly that was quite hard to find. Black was my colour of preference, but the condition of this one was too good to pass on. I bought it within 24 hours of it coming up for sale.”

Kelly has done well with his Roadster, Only performing stubble touches all round. The exterior is blessed with a Garage Vary front lip, OEM hardtop and most recent addition, A KG works rear spoiler.

Your probably wondering what wheels are on Kelly’s MX-5 right? Well they are from a company called “Simmons” which was based in Australia, Unfortunately they have closed up shop and Simmons wheels are no longer in production. These particular Simmons wheels are a model called V4 which were designed and created a very long time ago.

Kelly scored these set of wheels off a fellow Roadster owner, And I imagine they would be pretty hard to find now without paying an arm and a leg. These V4’s are sized in at 14×6.5 with positive 7 offset. However these don’t clear the NA8’s brakes, So Kelly has slipped on some 5mm spacers all round, Effectively making the offset positive 2.

 The tyres wrapped around the Simmons are a set of Falkens with 195/45 sizing. This allowed Kelly to get super dooper low without the worry of scrubbing on the guards.

Although it might not seem like it, Kelly’s Roadster is set up for track work, The previous owner used to get out there quite often. Kelly is hoping to do the same very shortly.

You’ll notice the Australian made BD roll bar making itself visible. It is a very popular Rollbar down under as they are CAMS approved which means it’s usable for competitive racing. A pair of Whiteline (Which are also Australian made) swaybars are hiding under the bodywork too. A set of BC Racing coilovers happen to installed into this MX-5 too, Giving Kelly a vast range of adjustability, Damping and height wise.

I’ve always admired how clean Kelly has managed to keep his Clubman. I mean look at this interior, It still has the OEM head unit installed! Only minor touches have been carried out in the cockpit like the brushed aluminium vent rings and polished Voodoo gear knob, Though Kelly does still have a Mazdaspeed steering wheel to install. It doesn’t get much cleaner then Kellys!

“Future Plans:

Nothing outrageous planned for this car yet, I’m going to follow a ‘less is more’ theme with the modifying. Exterior wise I think it’s pretty much complete, just need to add a rear lip of some type. Interior, there’s not too much planned for it. Just restoring everything to near new condition.

Then, I want to lightly tuck the engine bay so everything looks neat and tidy. In terms of performance, don’t have too much planned. Maybe a turbo kit when I’m on my fulls, and money permits. Hopefully I’ll get to take the car out sliding sometime soon.”

Remember guys, We are always looking for new Roadsters to feature, so if you have a killer Roadster you would like to see on RoadsterGarage.net, then shoot us an email at roadstergarage@live.com.au

Congrats Kelly, You are the Roadster Of The Week!

modifications:

Exterior:

– Garage Vary Front Lip
– Simmons V4 Wheels
– Matching Hardtop
– KG Works Lip Spoiler

Performance/Handling:

– Mania Cold Air Intake
– Exedy HD Clutch
– Fidanza Lightweight Flywheel
– Auto-Exe Exhaust
– BC Coilovers
– Whiteline Adjustable Swaybars Front/Rear

 Interior:

– Factory Nardi Steering Wheel
– Voodoo Polished Gear Knob
– Brushed Aluminium Vent Rings
– Brown Davis Roll Bar
– Mazdaspeed Steering Wheel (still to go in)