Paris Van Gorder
Paris Van Gorder Associate editor
12/22/24 9:35 a.m.
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The seller describes this Miata M Edition as a “street legal 250 HP adult go kart.” Note: Your state’s rules on being “street legal” may vary from the seller’s home state of Kentucky.

Believe it or not, this car started as an M Edition–and then someone w…

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kb58
kb58 UltraDork
12/22/24 7:28 p.m.

The photo appearing to show it hovering about a foot off the ground while being remotely controlled is a plus.

wvumtnbkr
wvumtnbkr UltimaDork
12/23/24 1:31 p.m.

Those tires look suspiciously like Hankook rs4, not rs2.  Rs2 would be OOOLLLDDDD!

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner MegaDork
12/23/24 2:10 p.m.

At that price, he's going to own that car for a long time. 

jerel77494
jerel77494 Reader
1/25/25 9:56 p.m.

Read that turning a Miata into a kart messes up the balance. I'll pass.

dculberson
dculberson MegaDork
1/26/25 6:36 a.m.

I do not believe there's a world where hacking a Miata into a kart increases the value. 

dean1484
dean1484 MegaDork
1/27/25 6:00 p.m.

The fact that it was a M edition made me cringe just that little bit more.  
 

Cool project but not street legal in my state.  

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner MegaDork
1/27/25 6:15 p.m.

In reply to dean1484 :

Most M editions weren't all that special or even low volume. They were roughly 15-18% of the annual production. Basically just a paint code and the standard leather interior. A few had some unique touches like wheels or seats, but generally speaking they're just a trim level. If this was a 1-of-47 1997 R, you'd have more reason to be upset :)

CyberEric
CyberEric SuperDork
1/27/25 6:35 p.m.

I thought the M edition always got an LSD, is that not the case?

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner MegaDork
1/27/25 7:25 p.m.

In reply to CyberEric :

If they had a manual transmission, yes. I think that was the case for any NA with leather as well as some of the cloth trims.

edizzle89
edizzle89 SuperDork
1/28/25 9:55 a.m.
dculberson said:

I do not believe there's a world where hacking a Miata into a kart increases the value. 

I do agree some 'death kart' prices can be a pipe dream, but I can see plenty of cases that a kart conversion could (potenially) increase value. It mostly just depends on the condition the car was in before the hack job. Any car, be it a miata or vette or whatever, that has heavy cosmetic damage but little to no mechanical damage would be a good candidate if it can be bought for the right price.

I sold my crown vic kart for 12x what I bought it for and 2x what I had invested in it to make it into a kart. One thing I found during the sale process is pretty much everyone loves a kart, but very few want to actually own one, so it took some time to find a buyer.

 

Loweguy5
Loweguy5 Dork
1/29/25 7:37 a.m.

In reply to edizzle89 :

I would be interested to see this CV kart from the side view...

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