Jun 23, 2013, 2:00pm ET

Bauer turns your Miata into the Catfish, a customized ‘gentleman’s racer’

For $13,900 Bauer will transform your old Miata into a distinctive race car with room for an LS V8.

Have an old Miata lying around or perhaps simply want an inexpensive track day car? The folks at Bauer Limited Production have you covered with a car they call the "Catfish,” which originally debuted at the 2012 SEMA show.

If you're wondering why it's called the Catfish, it's because designer studied images of a catfish when designing the bodywork.

Based upon the underpinnings of a 1990-2005 Mazda Miata, the Catfish replaces the stock Miata skin with an ultra-lightweight body woven from S-glass complete with carbon reinforcements. Weighing in at a miniscule 1,550 pounds, the Catfish makes for a nimble and extremely distinctive racer, one Bauer calls a "gentleman's racer.”

Though the builders at Bauer use a Miata as its starting point, the new engine bay is big enough to support a General Motors LS V8.

Once you've given Bauer a donor Miata and $13,900 for the base Catfish build, Bauer get to work installing dozens of new features, including, the new body, a new firewall, and an aero-dynamic flat underside. On the interior Bauer adds new laser-cut flooring, laser-cut aluminum panels, secondary floors, composite center tunnel, and a simple bolt-in dash.

Other parts included with the Catfish consist of a single roll hoop, DOT compliant headlight and taillight package, driver and passenger fly screen kit, and rear and side view mirrors - to name a few.

What are the performance figures of the Catfish? That's completely up to the buyer, as the Catfish is completely customizable. Although $13,900 will get you the base, Bauer has built Catfish models anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000.