This Might Be The Best Honda S2000 There Is

I love going to Walmart. I’m fully aware the retail giant is definitely not great in a lot of (if not all) the ways massive corporations tend to achieve not-greatness as employers, seemingly in direct and inverse proportion to the profits they make, but man, I sure do like strolling those aisles.

As my wife will attest, merely running into Walmart for Q-Tips can and often does turn into a full one-hour adventure. Gotta hit the toy aisles, of course, and look at every Hot Wheel. And then I have to examine the Ozark Trail Ridge for the millionth time to convince myself I don’t need a cheap mountain bike. And see what’s in the clearance aisle. And then, and then, and then …

Another Walmart time-waster for me is car spotting, as my local Wally World frequently has vehicles that, while not exotic, are Definitely Worth Snapping. On a Walmart trip a few weeks ago, the machine you see below had my shutter finger twitching even before I entered the parking lot. And I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

Rest assured, I’ll pause to appreciate a clean NB Miata any chance I get. Or a not-so-clean one. But this one, resplendent in the deep sort of yellow I like best and wearing a comically huge wing, was an irresistible mix of love and LOL. Not that I’m one to laugh at people who go full wing, even when it’s a kid in a Nana-spec, seventh-gen DX sedan still rolling on the factory steelies with the trunk-mounted picnic table as its sole mod. Let people live, I say. But this cartoon-level wing appeared to be installed very much tongue-in-cheek and meant to illicit lulz.

Plus, there was an extra laugh-level unique to me, as the bewinged banana instantly made me think of this @stance_inst Reel we shared a ways back:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cz16-WhJvo4/

Indeed, my brain flashed “S2000!” when I first saw the car in the Walmart lot from a distance, and I thought I had the perfect opportunity to follow up that Reel (currently at 646,000 views, nice!) with another wherein I would wonder aloud if this car belonged to the same driver, and the wildly oversized wing was meant to prevent another spin into the ditch.

And so, despite the MX-5’s signature taillights looking right at me, I was thinking “S2000” as I looped around to the front of the car to record. Suddenly I could swear I heard gears stripping and smelled melting plastic as my brain struggled to process the unmistakable friendly-fish-face of an NB Miata … with a Honda badge?

Yes, precisely that. And so, I did the Reel in the character of an even dumber guy than myself, which was fun and not much of a stretch:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7A0rJasuiH/

Say, 278,000 views, not bad at all.

Since then, my appreciation for the mirthful Mazda has only grown. I mean, ya gotta appreciate the commitment to the bit; this is a nice car, not some beater. The wing install was straight and tight. The body kit was gap-free and correctly aligned. Aftermarket, or factory applied? I couldn’t even tell. Naturally, it’s got a lemon-shooter pipe, that’s a must.

Later, I realized the split-personality theme extended to the wheels as well. Gloss black on the passenger’s side, gold on the driver’s side. Neat!

The rear window decals seen above (there’s actually two of them, identical but for color, on the left and right sides of the window) had me Googling fruitlessly to discover what they represented. And then I saw cyko_9’s comment on the Reel:

… which I also had to Google. While I’m cool enough to know the anime Attack On Titan exists, I’m not cool enough to have actually watched it, so I was unaware the decals depict the logo of the Survey Corps, fighters of the show’s titular Titans. For the record, I’m an Evangelion guy.

As for the Itasha wrap … well, I had to Google that too. Turns out it’s a style of wrap, not a brand. I’ll let Wikipedia handle it:

In Japan, an itasha (痛車, literally “painful” or “cringeworthy”[1][2] + “car”) is a car decorated with images of characters from anime, manga, or video games (especially bishōjo games or eroge). The decorations usually involve paint schemes and stickers. The cars are seen prominently in places such as Akihabara (Tokyo), Nipponbashi (Osaka), or Ōsu (Nagoya), or Itasha-based events, such as Odaiba Itasha Tengoku.

I’m glad our Mazda-mashup person didn’t go for the Itasha treatment. Not that those wraps aren’t cool – just look at ’em, that Hatsune Miku one is straight fire – but rather because I think such a wrap would be a very flamboyant hat on a hat. Further, said hat would completely overwhelm the very dry this is not actually a Honda S2000 joke, and I really appreciate the dryness.

And that’s the story of what I’m calling the Mazonda MXS-2005. I’m keeping my eyes peeled for it, and I will absolutely follow up if I get face time with the owner. He or she is going to be a super-cool person, I have no doubt.