Japan's Mini C2 Chevy Corvette Look-A-Like Is Basically A Miata, But Cooler

Retro conversions are pretty common across the automotive aftermarket and customization scene. For years, companies have been taking modern sports or muscle cars and restyling them to resemble classic models from the past. The results are often mixed, with some proving to be quite polarizing, to say the least. While some retro conversions work better than others, like this late-model Camaro customized to look like a 1970s Pontiac Trans Am, it's fair to say that it's not easy to recreate classic design cues on a modern vehicle without the finished product coming off as disjointed or silly-looking.

Corvettes in particular are one of the most popular platforms for these retro-modern conversions; over the years, we've seen modern 'Vettes restyled to look like the earliest C1 models and the iconic split-window C2s of the early 1960s. Amazingly, though, one of the coolest retro Corvette conversions ever to exist isn't based on a Corvette. In fact, it's not even from an American company and was never available in America. It's the Mitsuoka Rock Star from Japan, which took the current, ND-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata and reinterpreted it as a pint-sized tribute to the Corvette roadsters of the 1960s. And the idea worked surprisingly well.

The now-discontinued Mitsuoka Rock Star (which takes its name from the Mazda "Roadster" it's based on) first debuted back in 2018, but Mitsuoka's legacy of retro-influenced specialty vehicles goes back much further. The outrageous-looking Mitsuoka Orochi sports car, for example, debuted in 2001 and today is considered one of the more unusual vehicles ever built in Japan. Like those aforementioned retro Corvette conversions, the styling of Mitsuoka's vehicles can be polarizing, but the Miata-based Rock Star is easily one of its most cohesive designs, as the factory lines of the ND MX-5 lend themselves well to the retro treatment. 

The size of the Miata also works for the C2-inspired styling, with the finished product somehow feeling both more whimsical and more honest than many of the actual Corvette-based retro conversions out there. It also doesn't hurt that the Mazda MX-5 itself is one of the funnest and purest sports cars on the market today, even if it has but a fraction of the actual performance you get from a modern Corvette.

Mitsuoka's Rock Star was certainly more expensive than a standard MX-5, but it was still relatively affordable considering its low production numbers and boutique nature, with a launch price of 4.7 million Yen (around $30,000 at current exchange rates, not accounting for inflation). Demand ended up being so strong that Mitsuoka exceeded its initial plans to build 50 cars, rolling out about 200 Rock Stars before wrapping up production in 2022.

With the Japanese and American market Mazda MX-5s being nearly identical in terms of structure, there was theoretically nothing stopping Mitsuoka from bringing the Rock Star to the Corvette-loving American market, but that never happened in any official manner. Tantalizingly, though, the last Rock Star Mistuoka built in 2022 was a special edition left-hand-drive variant based on a Canadian-market MX-5.

Sadly for the DIY crowd, you can't order the parts from Mitsuoka to perform a Rock Star conversion to your own existing Miata. If you could somehow import your own road-legal Mitsuoka Rock Star to America (likely in 20 or 25 years, based on current import rules), there's no doubt you'd have a huge conversation piece at your local Cars & Coffee. In fact, you could roll up and confuse the old school Corvette guys in the morning, and then hang out with the local Miata guys in the evening. 

While the Rock Star may be no more, Mitsuoka is still going strong today. Its current lineup includes, among other models, a retro-styled Toyota RAV4 and — wait for it – a modern Honda Civic restyled with a heavy Dodge Challenger influence.