Started on May 15 by Keith Tanner

1995 Mazda Targa Miata rally special

57

Built from a bare shell for the Targa Newfoundland rally. Back then, it ran a bored and stroked, 11.5:1 compression engine with a complex home-built header. The suspension was built for as much travel as possible and the car was stripped for light weight. The Martini stripes are based on the design used on the Lancia Delta Integrale rally cars, and they’re all paint. The whole car was built in my garage, right down to shooting the paint. And then came the 2011 rebuild. Now it runs a 400 hp L33 aluminum V8 engine with a T56 6-speed transmission. It’s gained a couple of hundred pounds, but also more than doubled the horsepower and torque. At the 2011 race, we led the Open class for a couple of days until a main relay failure dropped us down to 3rd.

Latest updates
Oct. 18
2011 race results

At the 2011 Targa Newfoundland, we knew we had a pretty fast car, running in …

Feb. 21
Rebirth.

Well, we’re going back to the Targa Newfoundland. And this time, we’re bringing some fireworks …

April 30
More flattery!

There’s an article on the car in the June 2010 issue of Grassroots! More accurately, …

Feb. 27
Engine testing

I’ve been playing around with the engine, and the most recent change looks pretty sexy. …

Nov. 24
Flattery

The Targa Miata was chosen as one of GRM’s 10 “significant motorsport Miatas” for the …

Oct. 29
Engine tuning time.

It’s time to start experimenting more with the engine. I’ve been playing with different fuel …

Feb. 28
Targa Newfoundland on Speed TV

Set your VCRs! March 15th, 3 pm Eastern time, Speed TV. The 2008 Targa Newfoundland! …

Feb. 21
Mitty bound!

I’ll be at the Mitty with the Targa car. If you’re going to be there, …

Jan. 17
The race is run.

The Targa Newfoundland has come and gone. The car turned out to be almost perfect …

Join Free Join our community to easily find more reader's rides.
Add your comment

You'll need to log in to post.

See more
Our Preferred Partners
SLwBWpPEvmAHCosupOeY89tRljvbSr3eprhp67L7jUXIHRKsugwhqex9SwarBN1U