Rusty Bottom (The Magical '93), Part 1

Rusty Bottom (The Magical ‘93)

Part 1

When I was in college in 2013, I was sent to Wisconsin by a co-op employer to work at a chemical plant. I picked up my belongings and drove eleven hours in my RSX Type-S from my home outside of Northeast Philly to Janesville, Wisconsin.

Figure 1: My old RSX Type-S

At the time, I was really into car meets and car shows. I liked having a clean car and making it faster, but I didn’t know a lot about performance driving.

When I got to Wisconsin, I realized I had no friends and went to Facebook (FB), as millenials do, and typed “Wisconsin Honda” in the search bar. After a short time, I was connected with a friend named Mike out in Illinois who autocrossed a black EK hatch with the Sports Car Club of Rockford (SCCR).

Figure 2: Mike and Me in his Autocross Civic

Mike had a “unique” approach to motorsport. For him it wasn’t about having brand-name this or rare that, it was about driving the car as hard as possible, and that approach stuck with me.

Over the winter, I began speaking with an acquaintance from Home that I had met through the car scene in Philly, Alex K.

Figure 3: Alex K Washing his ‘93 Miata

Alex had seen my autocrossing through social media and with piqued interest, he wanted to do an event with me when I got home. So, I registered for a Philly SCCA event and we both went together.

Figure 4: Alex and I at Autocross

As we got more serious about driving, we got less serious about aesthetics-- and so we began to fall down the slippery slope. Like Mike in Illinois, our goals had shifted and we began to care less about car setup and more about actually driving our cars.

Figure 5: Alex Karate Chopping his Dented Fender

My friends and I began to call Alex’s car “The Magical ‘93” because it seemed like no matter what, the car was always competitive in local autocross events with minimal car prep. For example, the picture below documents when he beat the modded S2K sitting to his passenger side and got first in STR vs. well-prepared competition.

Figure 6: Alex at a Pocono Infield Autocross with the Northeast PA Region SCCA

We all soon realized that it wasn’t just the car that was magical. It was the combination of driver and car that was fast. Alex spent his time driving...he didn’t worry about upgrades or aesthetics. He worried about driving.

Figure 7: Alex Driving at Pocono

Eventually, when Alex graduated his technical institute and got a job working as a technician at a good company, he sold the car to my friends Sam and Franklin who are now engaged. Sam and Franklin are a pair of adrenaline junkies who ride mountain bikes and race TAG Karts when they’re not tracking the Miata they bought from Alex.

Figure 8: Sam and Franklin Working on Their New Miata

Sam and Franklin renamed the car, appropriately, as Rusty Bottom after they bought it from Alex-- since the car was in pretty rough shape from constant abuse, winter driving, and sitting outside. And they soon after began tracking it.

Figure 9: Franklin Rounding Turn 5 at the New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) Thunderbolt Course

This EJ2 Track Rat blog series will document the build progress of Rusty Bottom and the driver development of Sam and Franklin, and maybe even Alex. Stay tuned to see the car fully caged, augmented with full safety gear like seats and harnesses, and maybe even receive a paint job.

Figure 10: Franklin Chasing an S2K at Pocono

In memory of Alex’s Father, Chris.

Figure 11: Alex's Father and Our Friend: Chris