This Mad Mazda MX-5 Miata Rally Conversion Hides An AWD Subaru Soul

Oh, the Mazda MX-5 Miata. It's a legendary little sports car, flaunting its lightweight roadster self through twisty canyons and twistier race tracks all around the world. This particular version obviously doesn't carve asphalt, but it's not like we haven't seen crazy off-road Miata conversions before. In fact, we've seen this exact car before, though back then it was a matte shade of pale green. It also had a supercharged Mazda engine sending power to just the back wheels. This time around, things are a little different. By that, we pretty much mean everything is different.

We first saw this car way back in September of 2018. The build was chronicled by Gingium on YouTube, and this Miata definitely garnered attention. However, the car fell into some disrepair over the years as the channel focused on other projects. That changed last December, when a Subaru WRX entered the scene and all hell broke loose. Yes, you're looking at a Mazdaru, or a Subariata, or maybe a WRMX-5? Whatever you want to call it, this Miata body hides the all-wheel-drive soul of a bug-eye WRX. Don't ask why, just embrace the awesomeness.

This video falls near the end of the project. It starts with the car in many pieces, but the all-wheel-drive powertrain and Subaru-spec EJ four-pot are in place. The clip takes us through the primary component assembly, starting with underhood items and moving to the brakes, wheels, body panels, and lights. It's not done by any means – the interior is still bare metal filled with wires, and we don't hear it run so presumably, the monster Miata's new heart isn't beating just yet. But there's no denying just how badass this thing looks.

The previous version of the car looked plenty capable with just two-wheel drive. The effort required to fit a completely different engine into a Miata is monumental, never mind performing a full all-wheel-drive conversion. We can't wait to see this spinning muddy AWD donuts in a future video.