U.K.-based Rocketeer made a Miata with more punch, the same weight, and it's not even priced out of reach.

If you want to know what it’s like to be Luke Hemsworth, just ask the third-generation Mazda MX-5. Overshadowed by its brothers, the NC-chassis is often dismissed as the worst of the Miata range, not as lighthearted as the original or as lean and focused as the current car. The thing is, the NC is actually terrific to drive, and it has huge aftermarket support to make it even better.

The latest tweak to help the NC shrug off its unfairly maligned reputation comes from jolly old Britain, where the population buys more convertibles than anywhere in Europe despite it raining all the time. Spiderwebbed with excellently wriggly B-roads, the U.K. is a paradise for MX-5 owners—top up or down, as conditions permit—and it’s also chock full of man-in-a-shed innovators.

See all results for new 2027 Mazda MX-5 Miata for sale near 03065

In this case, the shed man in question is Bruce Southey, and the innovation was stuffing a Jaguar engine into a first-generation Miata back in 2013 and calling the result the Rocketeer. This was not as ludicrous a move as it may seem; while many view performance-oriented Jaguars as oak sideboards equipped with supercharged V-8s, there are treasures hidden in the company’s back catalog.

0-liter V-6, as found in the S-type. Bearing fingerprints from Porsche and Cosworth, it also turned up in a couple of Fast Ford products overseas, as well as the odd Morgan.

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