Mecum will offer a 2017 Mazda MX-5 Miata RF at its Nashville auction in late September, featuring a hand-built carbon-fiber body inspired by the Ferrari 250 GTO. The conversion freely combines styling cues from both the 1962 and 1964 versions without attempting to reproduce the Maranello berlinetta with complete accuracy. The proportions, dimensions and mechanical components remain those of the Japanese roadster, which carries no Ferrari badges and could never pass for an authentic example.
Ferrari 250 GTO looks meet Mazda MX-5 mechanics in this unusual carbon-fiber build
Darrin Wood of Alabama-based Modern Custom Classics shaped the new body by hand, redesigning the front, sides and rear of the MX-5. The 250 GTO references make the inspiration immediately recognizable, but Wood adapted them to a much smaller platform with an architecture created for a very different purpose. The finished car focuses more on visual impact and the owner’s personal taste than on the historical precision expected from a replica designed to match the original Ferrari’s shape and dimensions.
The engine and transmission remain unchanged from the donor MX-5 RF, along with its performance figures, while the retractable hardtop keeps its electric operation. The driver can therefore open the upper section of the cabin and use the car much like a targa, something the competition-focused Ferrari that inspired the design never offered.
That feature preserves one of the donor Mazda’s most distinctive characteristics and gives the conversion a level of everyday usability that separates it from a purely static showpiece.
An authentic Ferrari 250 GTO occupies an entirely different part of the collector-car market, with values accessible to only a tiny number of buyers. Mecum also recently handled an original white example that later joined David Lee’s collection, but the involvement of the same auction house creates no meaningful financial connection between the two cars.
Instead, bidders will likely judge this MX-5 on the value of the donor vehicle, the quality of the craftsmanship and the personal appeal of such an unusual conversion. Its final price will depend far more on how much buyers appreciate the project than on any direct comparison with the Ferrari that inspired it.
Lower running costs than many classic cars and widely available Mazda mechanical components also make the MX-5 suitable for regular use, although the custom carbon-fiber body will require more specialized care. Its styling may divide enthusiasts who see the 250 GTO as a design that should not undergo such a free reinterpretation, but the conversion makes no attempt to hide what it really is. The RF roof and Mazda proportions immediately reveal its origins.
Whoever places the winning bid in Nashville will therefore take home a heavily modified MX-5 with Ferrari-inspired styling, not a shortcut to owning one of the most famous and valuable cars ever built.