To match the Ferrari F40 from Liberty Walk, there is now also a mini version and it is just as cute and cool as you think.
Last week Liberty Walk released their version of the Lamborghini Countach. The nice thing about Liberty Walk is that a Countach doesn't even sound far-fetched anymore. Not only was it added in the comments (rightly) that the basis is a Countach 25th, the version that according to many was 'already mutilated from the factory', it is also not even the most expensive car with an LBWK body kit. That honor goes to the Ferrari F40.
Normal cars
If you ask the undersigned, Liberty Walk knows how to put itself in the spotlight by tackling less expensive or even very normal cars. You can screw an LBWK kit onto your Mini Cooper (R56), for example (read: @willeme?). Or a Fiat/Abarth 500. The Jimny also gets parts from Liberty Walk and you can also get the many kei sports cars from Japan with Liberty Walk stuff, just think of the Daihatsu Copen that imitates a Nissan GT-R and also the Honda S660. To support the Ferrari F40 from Liberty Walk, the tuner is doing something funny. They make a mini F40.
LB40
A mini F40! Look how cute! Not only do you have a mini version of the F40, it is even a replica of the F40 with a Liberty Walk body kit. Including stickers, Competizione-style front hatch, Competizione spoiler, the rivet-mounted rear wheel arches and the rims. We think it's very cool. By the way, the creation is called LB-WORKS LB40, which actually makes us particularly want red red wine.
Autozam
As you can see from the header photo, the LB40 even continues where the F40 left off with real Gullwing-esque gull-wing doors. A perfect bridge to the fact that the LB40 kit is actually just a rigorous body kit for an existing model. Small car, gull-wing doors, Japan: the connoisseur knows enough.
An Autozam AZ-1 is hidden beneath the modified body of the LB40. Autozam was a sub-brand of Mazda at a time when Mazda had a whole bunch of sub-brands (think Eunos, Xedos and Ɛ̃fini). Intended for its own market, this was mainly a way to sell already well-known Mazda models in Japan as a kind of hip, young brand. The Autozam AZ-3 is a rebadge of a Mazda MX-3, we know the Autozam Revue as Mazda 121 (bowler hat model), the Scrum was a Super Carry, the AZ-Wagon and AZ-Offroad were even Suzukis (Wagon R and Jimny ), a brand with which Autozam also had ties.
By far the best known Autozam is the AZ-1. A sports car that falls within the Kei Car rules and is therefore smaller than 3.3 meters and has a 660cc engine. With a real 64 hp, go ahead. Oh well, at 720 kg I'm still making good progress. The thing was designed by Mazda (the same hand that designed the MX-5), but is still partly based on Suzuki technology, not least the engine that was borrowed from the Alto. Suzuki first withdrew from the AZ-1 project to focus on the Cappuccino, but in 1992 it saw value in the Autozam and even offered it in their own dealers as Suzuki Cara.
Kei Supercar
It was striking that the engine was in the rear, making the Autozam AZ-1 actually a kind of Kei Car supercar. In addition, the car consisted of an aluminum tubular frame, something you normally do not encounter in tiny cheap cars. Like the 300SL Gullwing, a tubular frame often means you have one beam running just above the sill, making normal doors quite impractical. Learning from the past: the Autozam AZ-1 was also given gull-wing doors to enlarge the gap.
Production failed quite quickly for the Autozam AZ-1: not even 5,000 units were sold. The slightly more normal and therefore cheaper Suzuki Cappuccino and Honda Beat dominated the Kei sports car segment. Special versions were the AZ-1 Mazdaspeed with an almost F40-esque body kit from the factory and the M2-1015 with a large spoiler. Since then, the AZ-1 has become a huge cult hero, now that they are becoming scarce the popularity is increasing and actually the thing was just genius: it drove a 660cc strong mini car from the arts.
Authentic
Anyway, the chance is relatively small that you still have an Autozam AZ-1, and if you do, you can make it even more unique with the LB40 kit. The undersigned really appreciates Liberty Walk and wishes the tuner the best, but with a car of such scarcity, authentic is also very nice. That said, the LB40 is so brilliantly designed that I approve of it.
By the way, the chance that an LB40 kit on the AZ-1 will become a popular option is also small. The AZ-1 is therefore somewhat scarce, but changes hands for 'only' 20,000-30,000 dollars. You can invest that price again if you want the LB40 parts. The wheels cost another $14,300.
This article Epic: Liberty Walk makes a super cute mini F40 with gull-wing doors! first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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