This Mazda Miata Packs A 3.0-Liter V6 With Porsche DNA

Rocketeer turns the overlooked Mazda MX-5 NC into a 304-horsepower V6 restomod, keeping the factory balance while undercutting many new sports cars.

Rocketeer Cars Mazda MX-5 Miata NC

Photo by: Rocketeer

Brian Potter

By: Brian Potter

Sep 21, at 1:00pm ET

Add Motor1.com as a preferred source in Google

Comment

Rocketeer offers a turnkey V6 conversion for the Mazda MX-5 NC.
The swap uses a Jaguar V6 tuned to about 304 horsepower.
The conversion preserves the factory 50:50 front-to-rear weight split.

Rocketeer has confirmed a V6 conversion for the Mazda Miata NC, the generation most enthusiasts skip when they go shopping for a Miata project car. The kit is a turnkey order with build slots already being allocated into 2027.

The car debuts publicly at the 2026 Goodwood Revival, a heritage motorsport event that frames this as a curated reinterpretation rather than a backyard swap. Buyers supply their own NC, and Rocketeer sends back a car with a Jaguar-sourced V6 where the four-cylinder used to live.

Gallery: Rocketeer Cars Mazda MX-5 Miata NC

Rocketeer Cars Mazda MX-5 Miata NC

Source: Rocketeer

What The Rocketeer NC V6 Swap Actually Is

Rocketeer's donor engine is a post-2003 Jaguar AJ30, a 3.0-liter V6 with 300-plus horsepower built around Ford's Duratec family. The stock NC shipped with a 1.8-liter making 126 hp or a 2.0-liter making 160 hp, so this isn't a mild bump.

Tuners keep coming back to the NC for a simple reason. It's the biggest, stiffest MX-5 chassis, and it's also the cheapest to buy used. That combination gives a swap shop more structure to absorb extra power without needing to reinforce the unibody first.

Rocketeer says the conversion leaves the bulkhead and subframe untouched, and the car keeps its factory 50:50 front-to-rear weight distribution. That matters more than the horsepower number, since a Miata's whole appeal rides on how evenly balanced it is through a corner.

It's not the first time someone's stuffed a six-cylinder into a Miata engine bay. Mazda's own engineers once snuck a V6 into a Miata as a factory experiment that never reached production. Rocketeer previously ran the same playbook on earlier NA and NB generation Miatas before turning to the NC.

Rocketeer Cars Mazda MX-5 Miata NC

Rocketeer Cars Mazda MX-5 Miata NC with Jaguar AJ30 V6 engine

Photo by: Rocketeer

Specs, Porsche Roots, And What It Costs

The rebuilt AJ30 makes around 304 hp and 265 lb-ft of torque, according to Rocketeer, a huge jump from the outgoing four-cylinders. Hardware includes a carbon fiber intake, individual throttle bodies, a reworked exhaust, and a modified cylinder head.

A lighter flywheel and reinforced clutch handle the extra torque, and Rocketeer says the finished car keeps its original curb weight despite the larger engine up front. "The extensive engine swap completely transforms the roadster," the company said.

The AJ30's Porsche connection isn't just marketing spin. Ford bought a Porsche-developed V6 architecture and adapted it for Duratec and Jaguar applications, which is why the lineage gets mentioned so often around this swap. It's a Ford-built, Jaguar-badged engine with genuine Porsche roots underneath.

What do you think?

View

Comments

A complete Turnkey build costs £25,000 (about $32,000) plus VAT in the UK, undercutting many new 1.5-liter sports cars while trading a factory warranty for bespoke engineering. Rocketeer plans to deliver builds through accredited partners in North America, Germany and Australia rather than shipping finished cars across the Atlantic.

Motor1's Take: This is less about raw speed and more about giving NC owners a credible long-term keeper. A well-executed, emissions-legal swap with documented parts and partners stands to age better than a one-off, especially as clean, unmodified NCs get harder to find.