The Mazda MX-5 seems like an icon. Perfect balance, rear-wheel drive, manual transmission… But for the designers at Mitsuoka, that wasn’t enough. Why just own a great roadster when you can look like someone who just robbed a bank in Las Vegas in 1958?

The students took a bumper from a ZIL refrigerator, added four plate-sized round headlights, and coated everything in chrome so that the car was visible from space. The doors, windshield, and soft top remained Mazda-esque, but everything else transformed into a monument to the American Dream.

This isn’t the first time Mitsuoka has teased the MX-5. Previously, they created a Rock Star inspired by the 60s Sting Ray. Now, they’ve decided to go even deeper. And you know what? There’s a certain charm in that. This isn’t some makeshift spoiler slapped onto a rusty old sedan. It’s a conscious kitsch aimed at people with impeccable self-deprecating humor. The owner of such a car definitely possesses taste, and they understand the history of automotive design.

Sitting behind the wheel of this thing, you remain an adult child who loves to play with toy cars. Picture this: a serious man in a cashmere coat opens the hood of this chrome monster, looks at the modern plastic engine of a Toyota or Mazda, and lets out a drawn-out «Vzhik-vzhik.» This car screams that its owner refused to grow up. He bought himself a toy priced like a nice apartment just to capture the smiles of passersby. The official debut is in two months, and we are already anticipating the price tag. Mitsuoka has never been cheap—after all, handmade items cost a lot. But the people who buy this hybrid of a refrigerator and a sports car—we want to hug them. They make our gray routine a little more insane and joyful. True adult children, worth billions.