Posted on 09/18/2026 6:09:30 AM PDT by Red Badger
* The Mitsuoka LA1 is a C1 Corvette impersonator based on the ND MX-5.
* It pays tribute to iconic American styling without going overboard.
* The official debut of the Japanese roadster is scheduled for November 26.
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Mitsuoka has shared more photos and information about its upcoming two-seater roadster. The Mitsuoka LA1 marries the styling of the C1 Corvette with the modern RWD underpinnings of the Mazda MX-5 ND.
The official premiere of the LA1 is scheduled for November 26, but the company has already unveiled the exterior design through a dedicated website. The renderings depict a two-door roadster that looks like the iconic American sports car, but from a distance.
The front end is reminiscent of post-1958 C1 Corvettes, with a quad headlight arrangement and a chrome bumper mounted in front of the larger grille and cooling intakes. Mitsuoka has also added a vented hood and a front splitter.
The profile features the swooping character line of the C1 Corvette formed by the decorative side gills and matching decals on the doors. The latter are derived from the Mazda donor vehicle, as with the windshield frame and the retractable soft top. However, the LA1 gets chrome side skirts and custom rear fenders that lead to a stretched rear overhang.
The rear end continues the theme, copying pre-1961 C1 Corvettes with the taillights mounted on the quarter panels and loads of chrome accents. We can also see a vintage bumper, a custom trunk lid, and Mitsuoka lettering.
The company has yet to announce the specifications, but the Mazda MX-5 ND is offered with 1.5-liter and 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines in Japan, producing 130 hp (97 kW / 132 PS) and 181 hp (135 kW / 184 PS), respectively. Power is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic transmission. We also don’t see any reason the Mitsuoka LA1 won’t benefit from the Miata’s latest updates.
This is not the first time Mitsuoka has been inspired by a Corvette. Back in 2018, the coachbuilder unveiled the Mitsuoka Rock Star, which relied on C2 Corvette styling on top of the MX-5 ND platform. It doesn’t take us by surprise that the designer of the Rock Star, Takanori Aoki, has also signed the sketches of the new LA1.
Company founder Susumu Mitsuoka started the company after encountering a vintage-styled kit car, based on modern underpinnings, during a visit to Los Angeles. This experience laid the groundwork for Mitsuoka’s coachbuilding operations that continue to this day.
We will learn more about the Mitsuoka LA1 as we move closer to its debut in November, but it will most likely be a limited-production offering only for the Japanese market.
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I won't get one because few things are more pathetic than a sexy, ego car being driven by an old guy.
Looks like a Temu Corvette to me.
Yuk.
I don’t have any “car” only 3/4 ton diesel trucks or larger.
That is why Miata’s sold so well to begin with.
They were like driving a Triumph or MG with one glaring difference.
THEY STARTED AND DID NOT BREAK DOWN because of bad electrical systems.
Japanese consumer electronics are still the best. Whether they are in a Panasonic TV or a Kawasaki motorcycle or a Lexus, Toyota or Mazda car.
FYI, I have a Panasonic 42” Plasma TV they I bought new at Sears Essentials. It still works great. I have a Panasonic stereo with 8 track I have owned since 1977. It is in my garage right now. The eight track no longer works. I have had three Tacomas. The first one(1988)was built in Japan. the last two were made in TX. I have a 2011 Lexus IS350C that was made in Japan.
That’s nice. I’m happy for you.
But it strongly suggests that you don’t know much about “cars”, the design thereof, and their durability.
400,000 to 500,000 miles longevity is reasonable to expect from a Toyota or Honda car.
Modulo collisions with wildlife ...
But in the late 80s-early 90s; the C4 was winning so many races that they had to create a separate class just for the Corvettes because they couldn’t compete with them.
This one is giving me the itch to get back in a sports car. 😉
Not even close. From the time Whitey's horse jumps the fence until Alan Rickman fires his revolver is 44 seconds. If that was 1200 yards, the horse was running 56 mph. A 30 mph gallop makes it 660 yards.
The Original Miata was a copy of a European sports car, the Lotus Elan (like Emma Peel drove in the original ‘Avengers’ TV series). Colin Chapman’s nimbleness combined with Japanese reliability.
The Miata and the Honda S2000 are the two most trouble-free pure sports cars ever built. The current MX-5’s 4-pot is more powerful than either of the straight-6s in the early Vettes, and 2026 safety equipment and all it weighs more than 400 lbs less than the ‘53 Vette.
Movies always make ridiculous timing for rifle shots. It’s always Bang...ping ricochet. They show the audience 1 million fps.
CUTE!!!!!
That said, on 27 June 1874, at the 2nd Battle of Adobe Wells, Billy Dixon did in fact shoot a Comanche warrior off his horse at a distance of a bit more than 1500 yards using a .50 Sharps, which he borrowed because he didn’t think his .44 Sharps had the range. In the movie, that was a large-ish bucket, not much smaller than a man’s (armless) torso.
To the poor Indian’s misfortune, he had silhouetted himself on a prominent point where the sharpshooters among the cowboys used to place the targets they would shoot at for bragging rights, so Dixon knew the range of the shot to a certainty. Even Dixon admitted there was a lot of luck in the shot. Still, it took amazing keenness of eye and steadiness of hold, and it’s as remarkable a shot I ever heard tell of with iron sights.
I meant to give you a link.
Again, I’ve brought back batteries I thought were dead, dead, dead with this thing. Some I had to put a small charge on with an old school dumb charger so this thing would see the battery, and then go to town to work its magic.
They then put it up for sale for $75K and got two offers, one from a guy in Germany, and the other from a guy in North Caroline. They had already agreed to sell to the German guy.
When the guy from NC heard that, he offered an immediate $10K deposit if they didn't sell to the kraut, which they accepted, then paid the offered $75K and paid to have it shipped to him in NC.
Classic car restorations were a hobby for the brothers, having restored a bunch of old classics. One of their restorations was a 69 Corvair convertible, the last year they were made.
Believe it or don’t but I actually have one of the Viking units.
They don’t keep the battery charged if they are in the drawer in the back of the van
LOL! No, I guess not! Fair!
Yeah, but the coves are still there in the 1958 Corvette, even in the monotone cars. They doesn’t exist on the Miata, and are only evoked by the paint. They are an easy visual link to the tribute car. If you don’t like it, that’s okay.
Years ago there was a white Miata with black spots that would drive through Harvard Square. It had a horn that sounds like MOO. It was called a Moo-ata. The first House of Blues there also had a Dodge Monaco Police car driving around. Those were the days.
Harvard has gone downhill.........
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