DriveTribe’s Henry Catchpole takes the world’s smallest muscle car – the Flyin’ Miata Habu – and its 525bhp V8 for a smoky run around Willow Springs.
Try to wrap your head around this: the ‘ Flyin’ Miata Habu ‘ is a Mazda MX-5, post-heart transplant, with a 525bhp 6.2-litre Chevy V8 stuffed inside. Whether you believe the reference to a small venomous Japanese snake is apt or not is immaterial, since the Flyin’ Miata could legitimately be considered ‘the world’s smallest muscle car’.
What makes this even more remarkable is that, despite the V8 being more than double the size of the MX-5’s 1.5-litre four-cylinder (and boasting four times more power), you wouldn’t be able to tell from the outside, such is the subtlety of the bodywork tweaks: as DriveTribe features editor Henry Catchpole explains (another former EVO man), “such is the normality of the cabin and the view over the bonnet, that when you start it up, it’s hard to connect the sound you’re hearing with the car you’re sitting in.” There’s even the ‘LS3’ V8 option from the new Camaro Six available for those who prefer their muscle car menace with a degree less sharpness.
Bizarrely though for a muscle car of all things, it’s how the venomous Japanese serpent handles the corners that’s got Catchpole really interested, meaning a trip to Willow Springs – with a surprise guest – is in order…
