A Wrecked Ferrari 360 V8 Now Screams Inside a Mazda MX-5

The Tipo F131 V8 was engineered for Maranello’s mid-engine architecture, not the cramped bay of a second-generation Mazda MX-5. Kunihiro Oto didn’t care. The founder of Japan’s Daddy Motor Works pulled a wrecked Ferrari 360 engine off Yahoo Auctions and bolted it into a Miata chassis.

Oto’s shop built its reputation on mismatching powertrains with incompatible platforms. This specific commission started as a standard request. The client wanted a Mazda V6 swap. A backlog at the shop forced a pivot. Oto pitched an NSX V6, then a GM LS block. The owner countered with the Ferrari eight-cylinder idea. They bought the crashed donor motor online shortly after.

Weight distribution defines the MX-5 platform. Mazda engineers spent decades chasing a near-perfect 50:50 balance to keep the roadster predictable at low speeds. Dropping a flat-plane crank V8 usually destroys that geometry. The F131 weighs exactly 66 pounds more than the factory inline-four. That marginal increase preserves the car’s original rotational inertia, keeping the chassis dynamics largely intact despite the massive jump in displacement.

Stock 360 Modena output sits at 395 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque. Oto retained the manual configuration but rejected the Ferrari gearbox. A Toyota GR86 six-speed transmission handles the shifting duties instead. The exterior is a parts-bin collision. It wears a first-generation Miata front clip grafted onto the NB body, topped with a hood scoop sourced directly from a Subaru WRX.

Daddy Motor Works fabricated a custom exhaust system to route the Italian headers through the Japanese floorpan. The suspension received a full overhaul to manage the altered weight bias, paired with a bespoke interior build. Automotive journalist Dino Dalle Carbonare documented the finished project running on public roads.