Here's the show's website with the official "Banshee" project page. And here's the writeup on it:
QUOTE
Banshee
So, weÃ×e got a whole bunch of people sitting around in lawn chairs, polishing their ÅÃaby with a diaper and talkin about the ÅÈood ol days What fun is that? To make matters worse, there are a lot of gearheads out there who would love to get their hands on a classic muscle car so they could really DRIVE and enjoy it, but they just canÃÕ afford it. So, I decided it was time to go back to the original mindset of Carroll Shelby and the Cobra, and stuff a high horsepower V8 into a tiny, late model sports car and call it ÅÕhe Banshee because it is going to be a screamin machine.
The first generation Mazda Miata was a perfect choice for this kind of transformation because just like the AC Ace that Carroll Shelby used, itÃÔ generally considered a girl, sissy car and about the farthest thing from a macho, hot sportscar as you can get. Bit, if you dig past the MiataÃÔ image, you find a pretty serious sports car platform under the skin. Perfect to tweak with
The best part is, by using a mid-90ÃÔ Mazda Miata, you not only have a car that is readily available they built a billion of ÁÆm.
they are not so old that they are all rusty, requiring a complete restoration to get ÁÆm back on the road, (you donÃÕ have to build a whole car).
they have a good top, (something the Cobra only dreamed of).
they have power windows, power brakes, power steering, air conditioning all the good stuff that you want in a modern daily driver, and the potential to be WICKEDLY FAST!!!
and finally, they are CHEAP! I got mine with a bad engine off eBay for $2500 with no rust. It has all the above options, and IÃ×e seen ÁÆm even cheaper than that so you canÃÕ beat the price.
So, weÃ×e got a whole bunch of people sitting around in lawn chairs, polishing their ÅÃaby with a diaper and talkin about the ÅÈood ol days What fun is that? To make matters worse, there are a lot of gearheads out there who would love to get their hands on a classic muscle car so they could really DRIVE and enjoy it, but they just canÃÕ afford it. So, I decided it was time to go back to the original mindset of Carroll Shelby and the Cobra, and stuff a high horsepower V8 into a tiny, late model sports car and call it ÅÕhe Banshee because it is going to be a screamin machine.
The first generation Mazda Miata was a perfect choice for this kind of transformation because just like the AC Ace that Carroll Shelby used, itÃÔ generally considered a girl, sissy car and about the farthest thing from a macho, hot sportscar as you can get. Bit, if you dig past the MiataÃÔ image, you find a pretty serious sports car platform under the skin. Perfect to tweak with
The best part is, by using a mid-90ÃÔ Mazda Miata, you not only have a car that is readily available they built a billion of ÁÆm.
they are not so old that they are all rusty, requiring a complete restoration to get ÁÆm back on the road, (you donÃÕ have to build a whole car).
they have a good top, (something the Cobra only dreamed of).
they have power windows, power brakes, power steering, air conditioning all the good stuff that you want in a modern daily driver, and the potential to be WICKEDLY FAST!!!
and finally, they are CHEAP! I got mine with a bad engine off eBay for $2500 with no rust. It has all the above options, and IÃ×e seen ÁÆm even cheaper than that so you canÃÕ beat the price.
Its pretty interesting stuff, but in 2 episodes he's done the teardown, then the basic fitting of the new motor (a 400hp carb'ed 5.0). I've seen this show move really quickly through some projects, so I was somewhat disappointed that I didn't get to hear it rumble by the end of the 2nd episode.
Anyway, seriously cool project, and it's got me rethinking my man-toy priorities all over again...
Here's part of the first episode:
And here's a 5.0 Miata I found on youtube:
So, anyone else think this is just an awesome idea?
Here's a few videos by other people:
And I just finished reading:
http://iansmonstermiata.com...y=entry080305-193111
A builder's blog, chronicling his build from start to finish.
Dang thing fits!!!
Click to view attachment
This would be an extreme build, 4'gs for the kit, eh?....hmmm
)
Now thats what I'm talking about a little older than 02 
. Sorry the Miata does nothing for me even with the V8 in it. 