When it comes to a car that can “do it all” it’s really hard to top the Mazda Miata. Yes, the little roadster has a few stigmas attached to its name, but when you grow up and get beyond that these cars are a lot of fun. When you break it all down it does make sense; two-seater, RWD, roadster, huge aftermarket following, these cars are an absolute blast to drive and have plenty of options available when it comes to modifying them. Morocco, who hails from Washington and represents the Tailored Gang crew recognized the appeal of Mazda’s roadster, and soon found himself holding the keys to the car you see here.
Photos & Video By: Kee May & Mike Sugg exclusively for StanceNation.com
Prior to the roadster, Morocco had a really clean and well sorted EM1 Civic, and his good friend Karim was the owner of this Miata. “I had my eye on it for quite awhile but I was not really ready to part with my Civic at the time,” explains Morocco but as he said it was only a matter of time. Eventually, he purchased the Miata from his friend Karim, and sold his Civic not long after so he could focus on the roadster. “I got the car on stock wheels without a hardtop but lots of quality parts for great deal and immediately fell in love with the car on the drive home.” That’s definitely one of the alluring features of the Miata; it just takes driving one to appreciate one.
However, Morocco couldn’t sit idle too long reveling in his latest purchase. Like a true gear-head, the car was back home and up on jacks to sort out the rolling stock because, let’s face it, a Miata dumped on stock wheels just wasn’t going to cut it very long for our man here. One of the parts to stay from his old Civic were the wheels, and they look right at home on Morocco’s Miata. The Work Meister S1s are classic wheel and one of my favorite designs to boot. These Meisters sized up at 15×9.5 -1 all around ended up being pretty much a perfect fit for their new home (see, sometimes there’s a little luck when it comes to building cars). Wrapped snugly in 195//45/15 Toyo T1Rs and dropped on a set of Megan EZ coils, the tires disappear into the fenders and the lips get closely acquainted with the body panels.
On the outside, Morocco added his own touch to spice things up a bit. A Garage Vary front lip, Feed side-skirts, and R-spec rear lip hint at the motor-sports nature of the little roadster. He also added an OEM hard-top with rear visor and a Touge Run trunk spoiler. Rounding out the exterior mods are a euro-style rear panel and IL Motorsports half-up headlight kit. The car is clean and simple, almost OEM-plus, yet it looks tough as nails rolling down the road or sitting still. It’s a classic look and Morocco has done a great job not taking things too far, but things might change. He’s planning on adding a set of rear over-fenders, which personally I’m not too keen on, but I’m sure Morocco will pull it off nicely.
On the inside things are clean and simple like the exterior. What I love about Morocco’s Miata is that the British Racing Green cars came with a lovely black/tan interior. Normally I don’t like tan interiors, but I feel it works on certain cars and this is one of them. Still Morocco added his own touches that flow nicely and nothing really jumps out at you. One of the almost must-have mods for Miatas is an aftermarket steering wheel, especially if you’re a bigger guy like myself. A Works Bell hub and quick-release help attach a Personal Neo Grinta steering wheel. The driver’s seat has been replaced with a Bride Vios rep seat and Sparco harness. The biggest addition to the interior is the Hard-Dog M2 roll bar which works as well as it looks. The stock 1.6L is not a factory power-house, but there are a few additions to help liven things up a bit. Of course with how low the car is, and with plans of going even lower, the motor has been raised 1.5 inches to help prevent any cracked oil-pans.
In the short time that the Miata has been in his possession, Morocco has done a great job making it into his own and leaving his mark. The car is so clean and almost understated but if you clocked this car at a show or saw it rolling down the freeway you couldn’t help but stare. And that’s another great thing about Miatas is even at this height, they are still functional! “One of my favorite things about the car would have to be the wheels and the way they fit as well as the pure drivability of the car regardless of how low it is.” As mentioned earlier, Morocco has a few plans to change things up in the future, and we’re definitely looking forward to it. However, I still love the current look of this car a lot that I would be hard-pressed to change anything. Still, big props to Morocco for turning out a killer Miata, and the rest of the Tailored Gang crew holding it down in Washington (they’ve got some sweet cars too so look them up on facebook). Enjoy some more shots by Kee May who did a great job on the shoot.
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[toggle_item title=”Wheels/Tires/Suspension” active=”true”]
Megan EZ Street Coilovers
Work Meister S1 15×9.5 -1
Toyo T1Rs 195/45[/toggle_item]
[toggle_item title=”Exterior” active=”false”]Garage Vary Front Lip
Feed Sides
R-Speed Rear Lip
IL Motorsports H4 Half Up Headlights
Oem hardtop with rear visor
Touge run trunk spoiler
Slick auto euro style rear finish panel[/toggle_item]
[toggle_item title=”Interior” active=”false”]Works Bell Short Hub
Works Bell Rapfix II Quick Release
Personal Neo Grinta Steering Wheel
Bride Vios Rep Bucket Seat
Sparco 2″ Street Harness
Hard Dog M2 Sport Single Diagonal Roll Bar
Pioneer CD Player
Rockford fosgate 10 inch p2 subwoofer
Broadway mirror[/toggle_item]
[toggle_item title=”Engine” active=”false”]Racing Beat Intake
Jackson Racing Header
Boss Frog Test Pipe
Fujitsubo RM-01A Catback
Raised motor 1.5 inches[/toggle_item]
[toggle_item title=”Shout Out” active=”false”]I want to thank stance nation for giving me this opportunity as well as my good friend and talented photographer, Kee. I would also like to thank my girlfriend Christina, my friends, Tommy , Jazz , Julian , Naveed, Bill and the rest of the Tailored Gang crew for helping and supporting me the whole way. Also a big thanks to Karim for hooking me up with one of cleanest Miatas out there.[/toggle_item]
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