INTRODUCTION

It is hard to imagine an RX-7 enthusiast who hasn't heard of Mariah Motorsports. Mariah has been making beautiful wide-body kits for RX-7s for 20 years. Frankly, that is all I thought they did until just a few months ago when the name came up in some unusual contexts. First, when George Samuels decided to have PFS put a 20B 3-rotor in his 2-gen convertible, he started quoting a guy named Jim Hagerty of Mariah Motorsports, who apparently had some experience with such things. Later on, I learned that Berny Herrera had a 1st gen turbo "project car" underway, and that Mariah was the company behind the work.

As we were chatting about our cars over the internet, Berny learned of my yearly business trip to the west coast. He offered to bring me out to Mariah to see his car, and to speak with Jim. I took him up on his offer, and now wish to thank him publicly for being a warm and enthusiastic host.

Mariah is located in Santa Barbara, an hour or two north of Los Angeles (depending of course on the traffic). Jim Hagerty had cleared a couple of hours from his busy schedule to chat with me about the shop, but first I had to find out more about the African Grey parrot which was dozing on a perch in the office. The bird is named Icarus, and of course there was a story there.

While most of the birds you see in stores these days are "hand raised," Icarus was actually brought to the U.S. from the wild. Parrots are highly social animals. Being uprooted at an early age, and crammed in a box (wing to wing with other birds during shipment) can create the avian equivalent of mental illness. Icarus was not hurt to that extreme, but the owner of the pet store (a customer of Jim's) was still reluctant to sell him. It seems the bird was a little nippy. Jim made the commitment to take him anyway, and as a result suffered through all kinds of beak-related discomfort. He said that sometimes you just had to endure the pain because striking the bird was not going to work out in the long run. This patience secured the relationship the two have enjoyed for 15 years. Icarus does not know about cages. Jim brings him to work each day--a testament to Jim's patience and persistence when he commits himself to a project; just as true for a cherished pet as for a race car.

BACKGROUND - The Engineer

Jim comes from an automotive family. His Dad worked for GM and his sister was Zora Arkus-Duntov's secretary. He earned his Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Lawrence Institute and GM Institute in 1965. He rewarded himself by purchasing a 1966, 427 Stingray roadster. One day, while enjoying the back roads, Jim happened across an overlook to Waterford Hills Race track. He stopped to see what was going on--captivated by the small sedans and sports cars on the track. Someone pulled up and asked about the Stingray. It was a particularly desirable example of the marque, and the gentleman offered to buy it. Not one to agonize over decisions, and having already decided he wanted to go racing, Jim sold the car on the spot. He used the money to buy a Honda S600. If you are not familiar with these cars, they were Honda's first sports cars. Very small and light with a 600cc engine. Jim raced the Honda for 3 years, cementing in one of Jim's core philosophies: Less is more.

Working as an independent consultant, Jim took an assignment at the Santa Barbara office of AMF, which was doing government sponsored safety-related work on automobiles. He liked what he saw of the region, and eventually moved there.

By 1978, Jim was working as VP of Engineering for a small design/consulting firm. The VP of Design at that time was a fellow named Dan Mccue. Eventually Jim and Dan struck off on their own, and incorporated their company under the name of Design Energy. They have been in the same 5000 sq. ft. location for 20 years. Design Energy worked on various projects--many involving injection molding and thermo forming of interior products for busses and airplanes--the most familiar being the design of the trams at Universal Studios.

Two years later, Design Energy was approached by Rotary Engineering--also in Santa Barbara--and asked to develop a wide body for 1st gen RX-7s. Dan designed the body panels, and they were produced in house. Design Energy sold them under the name of Mariah (a reference to the wind and, by association, aerodynamics). Rotary Engineering sold them under the name of "Image."

Other Mariah products followed, and people started bringing their cars to Jim and Dan for conversion. This was one of the rare cases when "function followed form," because customers started requesting performance upgrades to go with their newly gussied up cars. Jim and Dan decided not to re-invent what was already out there, so they made use of available after-market parts--taking particular care to do immaculate work with the installation, and modifying the various items as needed. Eventually, the company started producing turn-key Mariah Automobiles--including suspension, interior, exterior, and mechanical parts sourced from other suppliers. These cars could be licensed as "Mariahs" (as opposed to "Mazdas") due to the companies status as a "Small Manufacturer." So, to paraphrase something Berny said to me: Mariah Motorsports is more than just beautiful bodies.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Eventually Rotary Engineering started slipping out of the market, so Mariah developed its own catalog, building a mail order business selling the kinds of aftermarket parts most often requested by customers. Currently, these include properly offset wheels by HRE, Panasport, and others; electronics by HKS and Electromotive, and Recaro seats. Mariah has enough experience with modified cars (racing and street) that they can be a true resource for those of us who want to know for sure that the wheels or seats we order will fit as intended. All too often, after-market suppliers, and even the manufacturers themselves, are out of touch with what will work on a stock first or second generation RX-7--not to mention one with a wide body.

Mariah has turbo kits and turbo upgrades for all RX-7s. They market a Nelson/Paxton centrifugal supercharger kit for 2-gens, and are comfortable working with custom supercharger installations for other models. These kits are "large parts" only. Mariah will install them for you, but if you want them to ship out a "kit" they are specific that it will not include every vacuum hose, clamp, and wire you will need. Kits to that level of detail (along with step-by-step instructions) are complex to assemble--a different business, actually. For the "back to carbs" crowd, they offer a "rotary ready" Weber 45 mm DCOE carb kit with provisions for a manual choke, throttle linkage, and metering oil pump. These kits fit any 1st or 2nd gen 4-port or 6-port engine.

As you can see, Mariah offers an impressive range of services. As Jim says, "We can supply you with anything from a lugnut to a complete car."

I asked why they had focused on RX-7s and Jim said it just made sense. Mariah already had experience with the cars from working with Rotary Engineering. The Z cars and Porsches of the time were already heavily supported by the aftermarket. The only other sports cars around were the Fiats, which were "uninteresting." The RX-7 had a huge following, and no one else was making body kits, so it was a good match.

I also asked Jim if he did much development work on third gens. His reply was a simple one: "There are only eight or nine third gens in Santa Barbara, and I see no need to develop products that are already out there." This should not be taken as a lack of interest in the twin turbo cars. In fact, Mariah does most of the service work on Santa Barbara's third gens, and they routinely do single turbo conversions. Body-wise, they like the Knight Sports body kit, and they will sell you one and/or install it for you if you wish.

Design Energy will take on most any fabricating job--case in point being a long thin "tub" I almost tripped over in the back of the shop, from which airport runway light fixture housings were manufactured. Another wild example is a gentleman who presented Mariah with a Porsche 356 speedster kit car. The VW engine was gutless, so Mariah implemented a 200 bhp, 13B EFI engine swap--complete with all associated plumbing and cooling. Rumor has it that the old (pre-smog) VW engine can be refitted with little trouble for, er, special occasions.

THE ARTIST (The body kits)

A visit to this unique company brings you face to face with the diverse nature of their abilities. The back third of the shop is Dan Mccue's territory. Dan has a degree in industrial design from Cal State in Long Beach. Dan's imagination and sense of aesthetics is behind all of Mariah's body kits. He takes special care to get the details right, so the bolt-on parts will simply replace the stock parts. Other parts--like rear fenders on the Mode Six package--must be epoxied onto the car. This is serious business. There was a time when Mariah would pre-paint parts before shipment, but with the age of most 1st and 2nd gen RX-7s, the likelihood of a good match is not high, so currently body parts are shipped in grey gelcoat.

The body parts themselves are available as complete kits ranging from Mariah's own Mode One and Mode Four wide-body packages (for 1st gens) to the Mode Five and Mode Six wide-body packages (for 2nd gens). There is also a series of racing body packages. In fact, most any wild looking 1st or 2nd gen RX-7 you see in historical racing footage is wearing a body kit still available through Mariah-- including the winners of the 1980-'85 GTU IMSA championships. Other Mariah widebody kits (the GTO series) are designed for tube framed race cars and include Lexan rear glass and headlight covers. If you want something wild for the streets, all the wide-body kits are still available. Even the GTO kits can be adapted for street use. In addition to their own designs, Mariah works with kits sourced from other manufacturers, so they can provide you with a huge number of choices for your 1st or 2nd gen--some of which can be mixed and matched for subtle to outrageous effects.

Their latest project is a set of lightweight bolt-on fenders (1.25" wider than stock) for E-production 2-gen racers using 7.0 x 15" wheels. With the right wheel offset, you can use up to 9" x 17" rims on the street--with 255/40-17" tires on all four corners. Since they manufacture the fenders to order, you can get them made a little beefier (no extra charge) for street-driven cars that may have to put up with parking lot indignities. Mariah will also be producing these fenders to be sold through Mazda Comp.

These wide-body kits are not only aesthetically interesting, they are properly engineered for a race environment, with brake cooling ducts, incorporated splash panels, and underbody elements in the rear which create a "pan" going forward to the axle(s).

I was wondering how the company handles what would be a bewildering inventory if they were to keep all their body parts in stock. Dan told me they "inventory in the can." Not understanding how they might fit all of that stuff into a toilet, I kept my mouth shut until I figured that they were referring to cans of fiberglass resin. They can produce body parts in about four days, so they just keep the tooling and the raw materials around, making the panels as needed.

Besides being the resident artist, Dan trains and works with falcons (birds, not old Fords)--taking them into the field by means of a converted VW Transporter. This amazing vehicle now sports a 13B rotary, along with air scoops on each side of the body to keep things cool. If the cooling system needs additional help, coolant is piped up to a custom enclosure on the roof, where another radiator is located--this one with two motorcycle fans to ensure air flow.

Of course, paintwork is important to any car with a modified body, so there is a state-of-the-art paint booth in the shop. The booth is a part of Mariah's production facilities. Mariah does not consider itself to be a commercial paint shop, but if you have an RX-7 and resort to begging they will probably help you out.

THE MECHANIC

The shop's chief mechanic is a fellow named Terry Thompson. Terry worked for Cartech during the years they developed the turbo kits for rotary engines, so he is well versed in the field of forced induction for rotaries (not to mention the fuel issues involved). Twelve years ago Terry came from Texas to Santa Barbara to visit his brother. He fell in love with the town, and decided to try and find a job there. According to Jim, Terry pretty much poked his nose into the front door of Mariah and said, "Hey, I can do that." In addition to being the shop's "main wrench," Terry is an excellent fabricator. As with most small businesses, everyone has several talents.

In addition to Jim, Dan, and Terry--the Engineer, the Artist, and the Mechanic (if you're keeping track)--there are three other people who do molding and painting at Mariah--making for a crew of six people.

PROJECT CARS

With this cast of characters, Mariah is able to take on projects that in other settings would involve several shops. Berny's car is a good example. He wanted to turn his faithful '83 1st gen into his dream car, so he bought a ported 13B 4-port engine from another local shop. He then found a custom HKS turbo kit for a 6-port GSL-SE from another Mariah customer who was removing it from his engine. Mariah was able to mate the kit to the engine, and adapt an Electromotive system to it. Fuel rails and various other smog-related components had to be fabricated in house (yes, the car will pass CA smog testing). A Mariah front air dam was added, as well as a 2- gen upper intake manifold and throttle body. They also grafted a 2- gen turbo hood scoop onto Berny's 1st gen hood. Berny liked the Mariah "touring" wing, but wanted a more aggressive look, so they simply extended it up and outward a bit. Mariah supplied a very serious electric fan kit (a standard catalog item) consisting of a Flex- A-Lite fan and a sophisticated shroud made in-house. Berny proudly pointed to the wiring--better than stock, with high grade connectors, soldered terminals, and exceptional care taken to properly bundle the wires together. The point of all this is to say that this shop whips up body and interior parts with the same ease as most shops install mechanical upgrades. In fact, Berny's car is currently under cover at Mariah, awaiting "a new interior and seats," including a dash-mounted gauge pod that Mariah will create for him.

Near to Berny's car, there was a 3-rotor, Electromotive, second generation car with a T-II drive train. Mariah has considerable experience working with Electromotive systems on rotary engines. (Jim made a valiant effort to explain to me how they get a single Electromotive system to operate both primary and secondary injectors on a 3-rotor--not an easy trick. And while I can't say I completely understood what he was saying, there was no denying his enthusiasm as he outlined the development process.) In the paint booth were two second generation machines being built as turn-key race cars for E-production. The bodies had been stripped to bare metal, and one had the roll cage in it--all fabricated in house of course. Outside there was a Miata into which Mariah had installed a Jackson Racing supercharger for a customer.

Some of you might remember a highly publicized fully street legal early 2-gen that was modified to run at Bonneville. The car was brought to Mariah to install the suspension and body mods. HKS did the turbo and fuel mods on the otherwise stock engine. The car ran an average of 198 mph two ways (205 one way), and was touted as being the fastest street legal RX-7 in the nation. After the event, the car was driven from Bonneville to New York.

PHILOSOPHY

Invariably, small businesses take on the personalities on their owners. Jim and Dan are not in business to make a quick buck-- just a comfortable living. They are not looking to get bigger, nor do they want to become an internet power (Berny is working on a modest web presence for them). The last catalog was printed in 1993, but a new one is expected by the third quarter of 2000. Currently, Mariah is responding to "catalog requests" with a price list, and a packet of materials. Rooting through them, you will discover things you can't find anywhere else, like the particularly elegant shrouded fan I mentioned, the body parts, and a 1st gen hood with a central NACA duct. They like to do things in small numbers--a few projects at a time. One body kit at a time. "Quality over quantity," Jim says.

Mariah's work is not particularly price oriented. As I said earlier, they operate on the "less is more" philosophy. If you bring a project to them, Jim will sit you down to find out what you are looking for, but he will also be gauging whether or not you are the kind of person who can deal with the inevitable highs and lows of building a project car. Having gone through this process myself I can tell you it always involves more time and money than expected--and it is never perfect out of the box. It takes a continuing relationship to deal with the fine tuning aspects, until finally everything is as good as it can be. Those who are by nature impatient may find this kind of process frustrating. Those who have learned to enjoy the "journey" as much as the "destination" will find it rewarding.

Jim will give you a frank assessment about the cost, and if you are looking for the lowest price, I doubt you will find it there. You see, the reason most shops don't like "project cars" is that they can't actually charge you enough to cover the expected (and unexpected) cost of solving the inevitable problems. Further, doing the job with elegance and precision simply takes more time (if you can find a shop inclined to work to that level of excellence). Finally, there is the very practical reality that working with the various substances required in a mechanical/paint/fabricating/fiberglass shop invokes all kinds of environmental regulations, not to mention a host of fees associated with the necessary permits. Jim figures it takes the company six weeks of work each year to cover the costs associated with compliance.

I don't mean to imply that all Mariah customers have to be rich--only that you are better off with realistic expectations at the beginning of the project. In my view, if you can't do the work yourself (or don't have the time/inclination) it is better to wait awhile and save up the money to have it done right. It will be far less costly in the long run.

CONCLUSION

In the end, we all want cars that melt our hearts when we look at them. We all want to be able to point out the fine details in the workmanship. And then, when we hit the go pedal, we want the car to turn into a reflection of our most primitive urges for power and control. I believe that in the guts of each automotive enthusiast, there exists such a machine--a real mind-blower that from the driver's seat or from 50 feet away puts a lump in our throats, a grin on our faces, and goosebumps on our arms. Fortunately for us, it has always been the nature of RX-7s to provide the basics--to be a good platform from which to begin.

I consider it the highest form of automotive art to translate a personal dream into reality, and that is what Mariah Motorsports is all about--the ability to bring to life those gut urges of a particular customer in a properly modified RX-7. By this logic, work by Mariah represents a good value--a proper integration of grace, performance, art, and technology. They can do an entire project for you, or help you along with a project of your own--large or small.

Few of us have the wide range of talent and experience necessary to create the car of our dreams. Eventually we have to consult with others, and then take their biases into account before acting on what they say. That is the main strength of Mariah Motorsports. If you seek a solution from an engineer, and artist, and a mechanic, the results are likely to be effective, beautiful, and well executed.

Contact info:
Mariah by Design Energy
414 North Salsipuedes
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
805/965-5115
http://www.mariahmotorsports.com/

David Lane
dlane@peabody.jhu.edu
'85 GSL-SE (CarTech turbo)
Info on the car at: http://www.wankel.net/DavidLane/