So whats on all the switches? The windows switches i recognize, what are the other ones? I see lock switch there. Whats that for? How about the first one to the left?

Looks to me like the one on the left is to bust the welds on your intake.

SO! Pricing Information? I've heard 14k being thrown around.

Complete? That would compete with Factory Five's Epic rear engined tube frame 818! We here :heart: subarus too but I would prefer this miata based kit, all else being equal.

Hmm now that you mention it it does kinda look like a bottle.

for the Sema required suspension airbags, and neon ground effects I think.

gotta say i wish i was skilled enough and had the time to make such a beautiful car

NOS, driver and passenger windows, windshield wiper fluid and door locks. :)

That's right ladies, he said NOS:party:

come on.. you've been teasing us with bad photos of half finished parts and vague suggestions about the release of this car for months. lets get on with it... PLEASE tell us stuff

Door locks with no doors?

Power windows with no windows
Windshield washer with no windshield
Nitrous with no nitrous

Still coming down from SEMA
 

BARELY PULLED THE SEMA CAR TOGETHER IN TIME. Seeing that I walked around SEMA last year with sketches of the Catfish, I think we're moving at warp speed.

Pricing will be released as soon as I have pricing from my suppliers. There will be other parts available that you can buy for your Miata that is also available for the Catfish. Cool, relevant parts.

Let me catch my breath...

dare I even ask about these mystery parts?

You can breath later. We want pictures, details, and pricing!

Mystery part--5-lug hub
 

OK, at least one part has already been discussed--the 5 lug hub kit. We still haven't tested, so this is preliminary too. Long story short, it will allow a 5 lug hub--complete with larger bearings and 5x114.3 lug spacing. This is important for tracksters, the v8 crazies, and those looking to go wide with their wheel selection.

In the future I really prefer to have the stuff in stock before releasing information, but my professionalism has gone out the window since joining Trubo. :)

I think you've done well. Even Chrysler needed a copule years to build the Viper.

That said, you've basically just thrown a bunch of raw steak into a tiger pen.

Wet weight 1,567lbs (712kg)
 

One last post; we got the car back to the shop from SEMA and finally had a chance to get it up on scales for the first time. No sorting, no corner balancing, and some gas in the tank.

1,567lbs or 712kg. Not bad. How would your Miata handle if the two 300lb sumo wrestlers got out of the back seat? :)

So what would come with "the kit" (pricing to be determined?)

Also, I suppose this a dumb question, but what happens if it rains?

You get wet.

Next?

Not necessarily. The car does, you may go inside and wait it out.

Wimp.

next you should ask about trunk space and whether it can tow a boat

I think you get the concept. Once upon a time cars didn't even come with cup holders. If that's a deal breaker, the Catfish is not for you.

I think i'd rather have the bare chassis with some basic aluminum "skin" on it.
Don't get me wrong the car is beautiful, but seems too nice for me. :rofl:

buy an EZ-up.

Bah! By that question I should have asked, how much of a problem will water prove to be to the interior? I've always wondered about this (e.g., Ariel Atom).

Wet interior
 

If you leave the house in this car with storm clouds brewing, you'll get wet. That said, we will be making a passenger tonneau. It wouldn't be difficult to make a full fabric tonneau as well, just like we had for our Speedster.

browsing through some sema pics and found some of the catfish. looks amazing

IMG_1030

I think a full tonneau top with a zipper in the middle would be a great idea. when you leave the car sitting at the track over night it wont be covered with morning dew on the inside.

in my case, very wet.

alternatives:

- floor drains in the cockpit

- hydrophobic coatings on the seats and other interior fabrics

- goggles.

Mounts for 80 cube ft scuba tank in cockpit?

drive faster.

Pretty much the same rules apply here as with owning a motorcycle, insofar as cargo carriage and the elements. Motorcycles don't offer a great deal of protection from the rain, nor are they especially well-adapted to transporting large pieces of furniture, towing boats, etc. They are, however, quite a lot of fun.

Thus, some people elect not to own a motorcycle, whereas others gladly pay $15-20k and up for them.


Cordy, if it's not yet too late to make a modification to the bodywork prior to pulling the production molds, might I suggest an affordance at the tail end which would allow for the mounting of a class-1 trailer hitch? Given the popularity of trailer hitches among the general Miata community for the purpose of transporting tires and related equipment to and from racetracks, I would imagine that this would suit a large percentage of the Catfish's target audience.

you live below sea level brad!!! :)

That's something I just can't personally do Joe. :) However, the rear diffuser is easily removable via dzus fasteners. The rear clip, which is made of DOM tube, could be taken to your local welding shop and "amended" to accept a class-1 hitch. In fact it would be easy. However, for me it would be like seeing the Mona Lisa with a tattoo. :facepalm:

:bigtu::bigtu::bigtu:

One part of me looks forward to the modifications that people will do to the Catfish, and the other part shudders.

Oh the things us heathens will do to your beautiful girl...:fael:

In.

I'm sure it possible to add a hidden hitch and a removable panel in the diffuser.
The receptacle for the hitch would be so low, the "tattoo" would not be visible until you looked underneath the car. Then again, the mod would not be difficult for the purchaser to mod one into the car. Maybe offer it as an extra. Who knows, you can also offer a cool trailer shell that matches the car that you bolt onto a HF trailer frame.

tramp stamp :)

Well Baton Rouge is actualy above sea level, freaked me out whn I found out the drainage system does not use pumps!

But I was saying that I got VERY wet in Tennessee.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1352205899

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1352205899

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1352205899



So yea, in a car like this, if it rains you get wet. Its just water, and I promise you'll dry out eventually. :noob:

Any new updates on the pricing and production dates? I'm out here in Irvine for the next three days and would love to get a sneek peek at the catfish in person if that might be possible.

Hi Riley,

Unfortunately I don't have all the final pricing for the car. Whether I get there or not, we'll have pricing in December. One hard number--under $20k for a kit still stands, but the 818 starting price of $10k is simply not possible.

On a non-price note, the car interior is being finished up. For example, the show car didn't have allowance for adjustable steering height or even harnesses. These are being added, as is the emergency brake and provisions for seats other than the stock Miata units.

Once that's done, the whole car comes apart and the finished bodywork will act as our bucks for the production molds. We'll be tweaking on these parts so that the bodywork literally can't be installed any way but the proper way. People at the show who pushed on the bodywork were amazed at how solid it felt...literally stiffer than your average Mercedes. Luckily no one tried to stand on the hood...

I'm getting really excited about building one of these cars. Can we get a waiting list going right behind me? Keep up the great work!

Thanks Riley. If you haven't, please sign up on the bauerltd web site, as we'll use that customer list to send out the first information on pricing and how to get on the build list.

I'm on there. Are you guys gonna have a down pipe available that will work with current fm turbo setups?

It occurs to me that Rule 35 applies here.

Sadly, I lack the artistic talent.

Probably not at first. However, a downpipe from a log will be fairly simply for any local shop to fabricate, and pretty hard to screw up.

A turbo Catfish will be massive fun to drive. :)

do we think a stock FM downpipe will not work on the catfish?

catfish down pipe
 

No way. Right now we're using the stock header and a custom down pipe tht pushes the exhaust to the driver side pipe. We're also going to make a custom complete exhaust for the NA/NB.

The issue with the turbo isn't going to be routing, but more likely heat management. I want to make sure that the temperatures are vented properly.

Can i come see the car in person?

Absolutely, except that the car is in San Marcos (San Diego county) and i'm in Oregon at present. I'll be back Tuesday if you want to make plans.

Joe, you want to some out and see the car with the body on it too? :)

See it? Hell, I want to DRIVE it. :D

**** I'm down here in socal but only til the end of the day tomorrow.

me too!!!

Whatcha doing up here?

Checking on a little girl that deserves a better life. Long, sad, personal story, but real life nonetheless. I'll resume the Catfish fantasy on Tuesday...