Previous NMS Cars

The NMS team has owned other cars before we started autocrossing, but who wants to hear about a VW Rabbit, Plymouth Voyager, Plymouth Neon, or Ford Taurus? Our 04 Mustang GT Convertible was cool, but we didn't know about autocross back then! Instead, we thought we'd use this page to highlight our previous fun cars. 

Brian instructs Alicia at Michelin Proving Grounds with SCR-SCCA.

2011 BMW 335is MODIFICATIONS:

K&N cone filters, camber plates, lowering springs.

BMW 335is HISTORY: When teammate John got the opportunity to rebuild a somewhat rare family-owned Firebird Firehawk, he jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, that meant his BMW had to find a new home. Brian took the opportunity and purchased the car in late 2018. It saw several friends behind the wheel in 2019 through multiple autocross events. The inline six-cylinder engine is force fed air with two turbo chargers, making over 300hp and 300ft-lb of torque.

While this car was a blast, it met it's untimely demise in an accident late in 2024. There were no injuries, but the car was totaled. 

MAX WIIINGS #33, Red Bull Non-Stock 600 Kart

2024 Kart

Things were cruising along with our usual mix of track days and autocross during 2024, when one day I saw an ad on Facebook for a silly Red Bull event where you get a kart body, modify it and come up with a goofy theme, and then race it in Charlotte with 20 teams on a ridiculously tiny gravel oval! So, that's exactly what we did! Brian designed a modified Red Bull F1 car, and using the sponsor's theme that "Red Bull Gives You Wiiings" the "MAX WIIINGS 33" car was born. We built some wings. Then we built even more wings. Most of them didn't survive the race, but trust me, it had a LOT of WIIINGS!

This was accomplished using your standard automotive tools, you know, like a jigsaw, plywood, nails, hammer, spray paint, vinyl graphics, cardboard, foam board, hot glue, papier mâché, etc. We tried to simulate a carbon fiber look body with a base coat of dark blue, followed by more silver and black paint shot onto the body thru some kitchen shelf liner material with holes in it. Next up, Brian created some original vinyl graphics for the #33 Max Wiiings car, and that's about it. Oh, we also had cut out some of the windows and body to simulate an F1 car's halo to protect the driver too. We weren't allowed to modify the engine, so we had the body bolted on the kart and went racing.

So, with Brian and I driving and qualifying this car for the final, Luke and Kyle (the Bunch of Idiots team) then brought it home in the final race. OK, we didn't win the race, but we got plenty of bruises, free Red Bull, free tools, and some free hot dogs out of it! Maybe they'll do this event again next year!

1999 Mazda Miata

The NMS 1999 Miata in Lincoln NE for the SCCA National Championships!
September 4-9, 2016

MIATA MODIFICATIONS:

-1999 Mazda Miata: K&N air intake, Racing Beat header, custom lightweight exhaust, Racing Beat 1.125" front sway bar, upgraded 12mm rear sway bar, 949 adjustable endlinks, Koni Sport adjustable shocks, Fat Cat Motorsports bump stops, Ground Control coil-over conversion kit with 550/350lb springs, Toyo R1R tires, Kirkey aluminum racing seats, Schroth six point harnesses

MIATA HISTORY:

-After starting to autocross with a groovy 2004 turbo Mazdaspeed Miata, Brian sold it to buy this fixer-upper, since the 99 Miata was better suited to development and gearing for autocross. Found in NC as a bargain buy salvage title car on Craigslist, the car has been modified as above, with more to come in the future. With co-driver Jason Rucker in 2016, this car started to win regional events and place at national events as well. Both drivers drove the Miata in that year's SCCA Solo Nationals. Since then Brian is going all out track car with the Miata, and is currently competing in Time Trials with NASA and the SCCA. 

Brian in the 89 Lemons Miata at CMP

1989 MIATA HISTORY:

This is the winningest car in NMS history and took OVERALL WINNER in the Lucky Dog Southern Race Series, which played out over 6 races! One of the earliest model year 1990 Mazda Miatas sold, the Lemons Racing division of NMS picked up this '89 build date car in November 2018. With 188,000 miles on the clock, and the previous owner's plans to swap in a V8 engine falling through, the team picked it up for a bargain. It was stripped down, taken to BSI Racing in Daytona, FL for a full roll cage to meet Lemons specifications and made its racing debut in May 2019. It survived most of the 24 hour race with some teething problems. In its second race in September, the car took an 11th overall finish, which was the best for the team at the time. In 2020 the Miata kept rolling and took an outstanding 2nd Overall at CMP in the fall FULL 24 Hours STRAIGHT RACE! This 89 Miata was sold in 2024 to another Lemons team in Mississippi, and we've seen that they've continued to race it in Lemons. 

1989 MIATA MODIFICATIONS:

BSI-build roll cage, AFF fire suppression system, Sparco Sprint racing seat with Schroth 6-point harness, cool shirt mount in the trunk, custom hood, trunk and fuel cap pull releases, hellasweet purple exterior lighting and blue cockpit lighting, butt-terrible 188k mile Mazda 1.6l engine. 

2004 MazdaSpeed Miata (turbo)

If I'm remembering this correctly, the 04 MazdaSpeed Miata was Brian's first Miata, so this was a big part of the NMS story, and three Miatas so far. Above, the 2004 MazdaSpeed Miata. They only made this model for 2 years, and it's cool because it came stock with a turbo. Brian started autocrossing in this in 2013, and then sold it to buy another Miata. We both drove this car at ZMax (Charlotte NC) in our 2nd event, and Robert managed to spin out on his first run, not being so familiar with rear wheel drive. Somehow Brian was faster.

FIAT 500 Abarth at Watkins Glen, 2019, NMS-North driving, Kyle Ray-Smith Instructor
Photo by Wind Shadow

-2013 FIAT 500 Abarth 

FIAT returned to the US in 2012, so Italian car fan Robert test drove the basic 500 and then the 500 Abarth before ordering an Abarth. Built to NMS specifications, the car was delivered to South Carolina in September 2012 as an early 2013 year model, and we started autocrossing early in 2013. Robert enjoyed a good number of class wins in GS and HS (thanks to low numbers of other competitors) and won his class three years running with the Tidewater Sports Car Club in Virginia Beach (2015-2017). Upgrades included lowering springs, and FREE new shocks that we won in an online contest from Koni. Free is still our favorite flavor! The FIAT 500 Abarth was originally classed in G Street by the SCCA, then later in HS. 

With upgrades the car then entered the new street touring Hot Hatch class in 2019. This was a daily driver as well and was sold in 2020 to a guy in Manhattan, NY. Along with the three Miatas, Datsun B210, three Nissan 350Zs, and two German cars, this covers the NMS Losers of WWII collection!

Ford Probe: RALLYCROSS!

-Ford Probe Late in the 2017 season, Brian and a team of drivers that looks amazingly like Team Coronautski also purchased this sorry looking Ford Probe for a few magic beans! After towing it home, and making some very minor repairs, they fired it up and competed at one Rallycross event with no breakdowns! Since it didn't break, Brian even took it to an autocross and won his class!

1978 Datsun B210gx

1978 Datsun B210gx  

Featuring Stage 1 rust (for weight savings), A15 motor, Weber carb, missing back seat, bucket seats from a Datsun Z car. Brian and some South Carolina friends bought this car, and with some repair work, drove it in Rallycross. This Datsun is now in the stable of our friends at Shellie's House of Speed and continues to appear in Lemons races.

2015 Ford Fiesta ST

2015 Ford Fiesta ST This is a great autocross car, currently placed in HS class by the SCCA. This photo was taken at an event held at Cherry Point Marine Naval Air Station, North Carolina, which is an awesome location for driving. They have huge amounts of runway, and you might get serenaded by active Harrier jets over on the other runway way in the background! Brian competed in several events with it and took a good number of HS wins. Both Brian and Robert drove it at Cherry Point, as well as another driver, and just like when they shared the Miata at Zmax, somehow Brian was faster!

2000 Mustang

This 2000 V6 Mustang followed us home from a Norfolk Naval Base abandoned auto auction, and would have been a huge bargain, but the engine was dead, and we didn't feel the need to get it going again. It's now got a new home in Virginia with a driver that already had an engine and just needed a good Mustang body. We got a good deal on it, sold it for slightly more than we paid, and the new owner still got a good deal too. Everyone wins at NMS!

2004 Mustang GT convertible  (no photos) Purchased new way back in 2004 after we sold a house at the top of the real estate market (thank you US Army for making us move then!) the mighty Mustang was used as a daily driver until the FIAT 500 Abarth came along in 2012. The convertible survived being in a tornado in Missouri, so after that it enjoyed a new coat of paint, new top, new windshield, new trim, basically a LOT of new stuff thanks to the tornado and a little thing that we call "auto insurance." PRO TIP: If you are stationed on a military installation, and a tornado damages your car, once your insurance pays to repair the car, the government will also cover your insurance deductible since it was basically "in the line of duty." Good to know, but we don't recommend it.