Miata + C2 Corvette = The Surprisingly Cool Mitsuoka Rockstar
In the last 10 or 15 years, chances are you’ve seen a lot of “retro modern” Corvettes, usually a C5 or C6 Corvette restyled to look like a model from the late ‘50s or early ‘60s. To be honest, they’ve never quite worked. The retro traits always felt like an afterthought and the styling had no real cohesion when trying to mix the past with modern day.
But now it looks like someone has finally done the retro ‘Vette thing right, only this time it doesn’t use a Corvette as it’s base, and it doesn’t come from the USA. Say hello to Japan’s Mitsuoka Rockstar.
Mitsuoka has been in Japan building unique vehicles based off existing platforms for 50 years now, and to celebrate that anniversary, it released the Rockstar, a car that pulls inspiration from a C2 Corvette with the underpinnings of the ND Mazda MX-5.
On paper this might sound like a bad mix, but it looks surprisingly good. Many of the C2 Corvette's styling traits are there, and they work quite well with the MX-5’s basic shape and size.
Mitsuoka only plans to build 50 of these special edition vehicles and will sell them for less than $50,000 USD. While the four-cylinder Mazda power plant might not deliver Corvette level performance out of the box, there’s always hope that somebody will buy one of these and drop in a GM LT1 crate motor to create the ultimate retro sports car. Who would have thought a Japanese sports car restyled by a Japanese outfit could make for such a convincing all-American tribute?
