Just like many guys into cars Lane Couey has always been attached to a specific chassis. This just so happens to be a Miata, one of the smallest chassis he can still fit into. For many the Miata is a fun and easy car to introduce you to the world of modifying cars no matter the discipline you favor. Drag, drift, autocross, stance, someone has built a Miata in that style. What you'll see throughout the article is Lane's latest purchase, a 1991 Mazda Eunos V-Special. This isn't Lane's first Miata as he's had a handful of NA (first gen) cars in the past, but it is certainly the best of them all.
Lane spent most of last year selling his old NA and eating nothing but what he dubbed "Eunos steaks" which was ground beef smashed into a patty to save as much money as possible. What he ended up with after all that was a one owner, garage kept, 159,000 Kilometer (98K Miles) V special Eunos. The car came to his attention when a friend found the deal on Facebook through a man named Sean. Spending a month in customs in Japan, a 3 week boat ride, and the Seattle port for another painstaking 2 weeks before Lane was finally able to drive up to receive the car he worked so hard for.
There have been many different editions of the Miata chassis but what makes the V-special so....well....special is that it came with: - Brilliant black or British Racing Green paint - Tan leather interior - Nardi Wooden steering wheel and shift knob - Wooden E-brake handle - Limited slip differential - Stainless door sills - Chrome door mirrors - V-Special floor mats This car still retains each option aside from the shift knob and the mirrors. Those have been swapped out with a clear bubble knob and 1950's Alfa Romeo mirrors.
Since receiving the car Lane has added a few minor things to make the car more his style. A pair of Advan Oni's, Function and form coilovers, and a luggage rack refinished with Oak wood help add some flair to the otherwise stock car. This won't be the final product for the Eunos however as Lane was in the process of building a motor for his last Miata. The plan now is to drop it into the Eunos! What started life as a regular 1.6L motor is now built with: - Bored over 1mm with Wiseco 9:1 pistons - KAinjection rods - King race bearings w/ ARP main and head studs - Ported and polished head - Supertech valves - 949 Springs - Boundary Engineering oil pump - Deatschwerks 1000cc injectors Run that all through Speedy EFI management and it will be ready for the big turbo Lane has been setting aside for a while now.
Waiting for the right car to really invest your time and money into can be a cruel game for many. But knowing that you are going to cherish the car forever makes it worth sticking it out, eating "Eunos steaks", and waiting several months just to get a hold of it. Lane's plan for now is to just have a fun, clean street car that will upset a lot of unsuspecting people at stoplights. Lane has sworn only a small drift here and there which he hopefully sticks to. There aren't many of these clean example NA's left!
Thank you for reading! I wanted to hop in here quickly and send my love to everyone who's checked in or asked about Luckyclub over the past few months. Throughout quarantine/ the stress of jobs (or lack there of) TJ and myself took a step back to make sure we would come out of this able to continue to produce content for you all. We've spent a lot of time still practicing shoots etc with our own cars and close friends, but the content itself came to a halt to keep everyone safe. We are working hard at building up content again along with designing merchandise to put on the currently bare store section! There will be stickers and T-shirts available soon so keep an eye out!
Big thank you to Lane @ramenforracecars for meeting up with me to get this shoot done!
- Josh Brown
@luckyclub.us
Extras below!
