The Miata MX-5 with a secret it shares with the Ferrari F40

The Mazda Miata has always been the patron saint of performance for ordinary people, a grinning little roadster built on the idea that joy doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. But every now and then someone comes along and shoots that formula to hell in the best way possible. This time it’s Rocketeer – the British restomod outfit known for packing big beef into small, featherweight cars – and its latest creation comes with a stat sheet that feels like it was painstakingly crafted in an immaculate shop in Maranello.

Meet the Rocketeer MX-5 Keiryo, a small, furious bundle of spritely aluminum whose name literally translates to “lightweight.” That’s fitting, because the company says the Keiryo will have 370 horsepower and weigh just 850 kilograms. If your eyebrows just climbed up over your forehead – same thing. That power-to-weight ratio is not only impressive; this is what it says Miata in the same conversation as the Ferrari F40, the Huracán V10 and McLaren’s 620R!

A Miata with Ferrari-level power-to-weight ratio? Absolute.

Underneath the long nose lies a very un-Mazda heart: a heavily reworked version of Jaguar’s 3.0-liter AJ30 V-6. It’s a fascinating engine with a pedigree that reads like the end credits of a blockbuster. Originally a Ford Duratec design, touched by Porsche and then gifted with Cosworth heads – it’s a playlist of automotive engineering’s greatest hits.

Rocketeer doesn’t just let the engine run in and call it a day. Each unit is torn down, rebuilt, strengthened, and encouraged to behave as badly as possible (in the right way). What the company hasn’t shared yet is how it managed to subtract enough weight from an already light car to hit that 850-kilogram goal. The original NA Miata was never a heavyweight, so whatever was extracted from it must be substantial.

Only 10 examples of the Keiryo will exist, with the first customer car currently in the works and deliveries scheduled for next year. If the full Keiryo spec sounds a bit too spicy, Rocketeer confirms that a milder “Touring” spec is already being spoken for by some owner. Prices are predictably ‘on request’, which is British for ‘if you have to ask, it’s probably not for you’.

Why the Miata still holds the hearts of car enthusiasts

Even as creations like the Keiryo wanted to make headlines, the Miata’s magic was never about horsepower. It was about the pure, distilled feeling of driving – the kind of fun that doesn’t fade when the specs become outdated. Enthusiasts cling to the Miata because it represents something nearly extinct: a car designed for fun before bragging rights, agility before acceleration, and connection before complexity.

The community surrounding the MX-5 only strengthens that appeal. It’s one of those rare sports cars where newcomers feel welcome instead of underdressed. It’s learnable, tunable, endlessly adaptable, and somehow still charming in bone form. When someone says, “Miata is always the answer,” they’re just kidding.

A small titan with supercar numbers

Keiryo from Rocketeer does not replace that identity, but is refracted through a different prism. It’s still an MX-5, still playful and light on its rubber toes, just with a powerful figure that makes supercar owners nervously shift gears. It’s proof that the Miata philosophy remains fertile ground for innovation, even thirty years after the original arrived.

When the first Keiryo hits the road next year, don’t be surprised if he transcends his own myth. After all, a Miata with Ferrari F40 power-to-weight isn’t just a cool head. It’s the kind of story that is destined to become legendary.

Source: Rocket cars