Mazda CX-5 Speed Off-Road Looks Ready for Tabletop Rally

It looks decent enough and is mechanically interesting enough to have become in the short time it’s been on the market a top choice for buyers, but also Mazda’s best-selling global model, with over 3.5 million of them finding new owners since 2012. Sure, one could attribute part of that success to the fact that people nowadays would buy any crossover, but it remains an achievement, nonetheless.

The model’s success meant the CX-5 was quickly adopted by the toy industry as well, with the Japanese from Tomica being among the first to jump on the bandwagon. Selling mostly in Japan since 2018, the diecast CX-5 may not look like a suitable candidate for some custom work by specialized crews, but given enough ideas, such a conversion could stick.

And that’s probably what custom toy car specialist Jakarta Diecast Project (JDP) must have thought when he decided last week to give the toy car a rally-inspired makeover and rename it the CX-5 Speed.

The process that takes the CX-5 from stock looks to (miniature) race-ready condition was, of course, documented on film and posted online (and also at the end of this piece), so that anyone could replicate the conversion if they find it interesting enough.

Now sitting on much larger (borderline unusable) wheels, with a huge scoop on the hood, an even larger wing at the back, and all the proper livery and make-believe lights, the SUV is a sight to behold, we have to admit, and would probably look amazing in any collection of custom diecasts.