Glenn's 1973 Mazda RX4 Coupe
I purchased this genuine RX4 coupe way back in 1988 from a young guy in Doncaster, Melbourne.
I had been fascinated by the design of the rotary engine since an old guy I knew when I was 18 bought a brand new RX4 Coupe. He always bragged "it would blow the doors off your V8 Holden". I had a HQ V8 four door and on numerous occasions he would have a red hot go at me. I don't think he ever got the better of my HQ, but he scared me a couple of times. When I realised what some small modifications to that little engine could achieve - 200 plus hp at the rear wheels - well that got my attention.
So a few years later and the HQ is gone (damn!) and this Burgundy Mazda comes up for sale in the Melbourne Trading Post. Wasn't much, 8 grand I think, and I drove it home.
It was a fairly wild street car back in '88 - there were no high tech V8's around, no reliable turbos - and the law enforcement really hated it - especially the sound of a weber'ed bridgeport. Did a lot of explaining on just how roadworthy it was. No impound laws in the late 80's either. Lucky.
These are the specs when I bought it:
1973 Mazda RX4 Coupe.
Burgundy with original white interior.
13B bridgeport, 3mm steel seals, 48 mm IDA Weber, custom intake, lightened flywheel.
RX7 5 speed gearbox, shortened tailshaft.
Shortened 13B diff to fit the 10" rims under the rear guards.
Exhaust - straight through twin 2.5" to the diff, then 3" single through a muffler to the back.
Dragway Centrelines 7 x 13 on the front and 10 x 14 on the back.
Lowered suspension front and rear.
Since I bought it I've really only tidied it up on several occasions - bit of work on the interior, cleaned up the engine bay, fitted electronic ignition, electric fans and shroud, replaced front end rubbers and joints, rear suspension rubber and shocks. I replaced the tyres once because they were starting to look and drive like hard nylon. It's a bit dangerous when you can spin the tyres at 100kph (on the racetrack) just because your tyres are rock hard. Needless to say it hasn't - and doesn't - do too many k's. It has just over 31000 miles on the clock and I have no reason to believe that this figure wouldn't be genuine. I've had it to Winton on numerous occasions and to Calder Park a couple of times. It's getting a bit too old to thrash now and replacement body parts are almost non-existent, so it's probably seen it's last days on a racetrack.
Although if the Club decided to do a day at Winton or Calder..........
I love the the sound of a NA bridgeport - intriguing, unique and un-mistakeable. We love it just the way it is and would not change anything.
I don't think there would be too many rotary engines that were built back in 1986, that have never been pulled apart, and are still running well in 2014 without having been re-built several times. Certainly a credit to SelectMaz in Epping (who I was told built the engine) and who are still building fast rotaries today.
Unbelievable update....
Since owning this car I have always presumed the young guy I bought it off in 1988 was the builder - body mods, engine mods, everything. At least that's what he told me at the time, and I thought he was telling me the truth. Well, all is not entirely as it seems.
This new story begins back in January 2017, 29 years after I bought the car
I received an email through the Contact Us page of the Custom Addictions website, nothing unusual about that, I get emails every week from people wanting to join the club or just asking weird questions. But this email was very unusual, it began:
>"I'm not sure who to email but I would like to get in touch with Glenn. The owner of the burgundy Rx4 coupe on your website.
>I'm the original owner of that car and would love to show my kids and see the car again. I built it from scratch in 1986 before I sold it to the young guy from Doncaster in 1988.
>This car has history you are unaware of and I would like to share with you. Please contact me".
And the email went went on to give me his contact details.
So, I thought, that all sound's extremely un-likely - bordering on impossible and most definitely a scam. No way am I replying to a random question about my car. But on another level, it sort of did sound truthful, and the more I thought about it the more I wanted to contact him. So a few days later I replied to him as "Custom Addictions" and not as the owner....
> Hi, thanks for your enquiry about the RX4 in our club. I will pass on your contact details to the current owner.
> I'm sure he will be thrilled to talk to you as the original owner and builder of this now fairly rare car. I believe it is pretty much the same as when he bought it.
> With all the scams and illegal stuff going on, he will probably need you to tell him some unique or unusual features of the vehicle that only you would know so to verify your identity. I'm sure you'll know heaps of little things that you did to it.
> Good luck, I hope you and your boys get to check out this nice little car.
> Thanks,
> Custom Addictions Classic Car Club.
> www.customaddictions.com.au
And I (Custom Addictions) received a reply back....
>Thank you and appreciate your help.
>I have plenty of unusual and interesting things about this car. Also have plenty of photos he will love.
>Looking forward to the contact.
>Kind Regards,
Nah, still a scam I thought. Unsure how my car - or me - was going to be compromised, but there is just no way the original owner and builder of my RX4 that I'd owned for 30 years had tracked it down. Very sceptical. But equally inquisitive. How bad could it be to contact him and have a chat? What could possibly go wrong?
_________________________________________________
So I rang Greg and immediately realised he was genuine. He WAS the builder of the car and pretty much everything that was done to it was a result of his ideas and his work back in the mid 80's. We were both equally shocked with the conversations that then took place.
I asked him how he had tracked the car down and it seems only by chance. A couple of weeks earlier he had been talking to his kids about cars and they asked him what car did he have when he was young. He replied a Mazda RX4 coupe. They had no idea what an RX4 was, so Greg did a Google search. And there, the third RX4 Coupe in Google images was his old car. Imagine his surprise seeing it looking exactly as it did when he sold it to the young guy in Doncaster back in 1988. He must have been shocked and as he showed the picture to his wife she replied - "you're crazy, that's not your old car, that would be long gone by now". But Greg knew what he was looking at and when he clicked on the link to go to the Custom Addictions Member rides page of the website he knew instantly it was his old car.
I'm not sure how he felt - only he knows that - but he must have thought he was dreaming.
Greg sent me photos of the car when it was painted black with chrome bumpers, when it was being stripped down and re-sprayed, all the little unusual things that he'd done to the car 30 years ago - well they were still there. He explained all the areas of the car that he had changed or he had put a "special touch" - like the 10mm thick steel re-inforcing plates on both sides of the chassis at the steering box - or the lights under the dash that illuminated your feet, or the twin port glass sunroof that apparently was sourced from an 1965 XP Falcon that he bought just to source the sunroof!
All the history made sense - apart from the bit that I was told by the guy I bought it off. So now it seems that guy didn't really do any of the modifying, but he took all the credit for it. Up until now.
And so, over the next couple of years we have stayed in contact, with us meeting for the first time at Classic Japan in 2019. I'd entered the RX4 in the event which is held annually at Birrarung Mar on the Yarra river in Melbourne and had told Greg the RX4 would be there. I can only guess at his surprise when he first laid eyes on it after so many years - to find it still looked almost exactly the same as it had 30 years previous. Unfortunately, the car show rules meant that no vehicles could be started during the event and Greg was unable to hear his old baby fire up. There'll be another time. We spent a long time chatting and reminiscing. I shared stories from the time I had owned the vehicle and Greg had many, many more from back when he'd owned it. We decided then that we'd have to catch up again.
I received a call from Greg just before Christmas 2020, saying he would be on holidays in my home town in early January. Greg asked if he and a mate of his - who helped build the car back in the 80's - could come and have a look and listen to the Rotor again. I was more than happy with the request and looking forward to meeting him again. Greg was also super keen to listen to "his" rotor come to life.
And so Greg was re-united with his baby again in January 2021. I can only guess his feelings as he pulled up into the carpark and there it was. Amazingly, there were still more stories about the build and times spent cruising around Melbourne in the mid 80's. Unlike when we first met at the car show, this time were able to fire the rotor into life. I reckon there were tears of joy as he stood there hearing exactly what he'd remembered - the sound of an NA weber'ed bridgeport. The only thing that sounds anything like it is another NA weber'ed bridgeport. Unique. And time to go for a drive.
Greg strapped himself in and as we pulled onto the road there was a massive smile on his face. We went for a squirt out onto the highway, then back into town. Greg remembered clearly the times he'd spent driving this exact car around the streets of Melbourne - the noise, the smell, the rock hard suspension, the way the bridgeport pulls from 5000 to 8000. We could've driven around for hours.
Greg said if he had the opportunity to buy another rotor he would buy an RX4 Coupe. He would build another exactly like this one. He loves it.
We talked a whole lot more but eventually we said our goodbye's and went our separate ways. I think for Greg it might have been like saying goodbye to an old friend that you once loved. And perhaps still do.
Till next time mate!
____________________________________________________________
These are Greg's words - a recollection of building the RX4...
1973 Mazda Rx4 Coupe:
By complete chance I spotted the car on google search images back in 2017 showing my kids what an Rx4 coupe looks like.
I spotted a beautiful coupe which surprisingly looked a lot like the Mazda I built 32 years ago. It was indeed mine and now Glenn’s pride and joy.
Could not believe my eyes the car is still owned, loved and in great condition!!!!
My parents bought me this 1973 Mazda Rx4 Coupe for sale in Thornbury Vic in Nov/Dec 1983:
Purchased for $3400 with a RWC.
Originally Purple in colour with white interior, 12A rotary & 4 speed gear box.
Sprayed Black with wire spoke rims approx. 1981/82 by previous owner.
A very ODD distinguishing feature on the vehicle is the ID plate in the engine bay displaying the build date that has the 3 in 1973 stamped upside down.
1984 Photo #1 & 2
Car park Chadstone shopping centre.
I had been fascinated by the design of the rotary engine since an old guy I knew when I was 18 bought a brand new RX4 Coupe. He always bragged "it would blow the doors off your V8 Holden". I had a HQ V8 four door and on numerous occasions he would have a red hot go at me. I don't think he ever got the better of my HQ, but he scared me a couple of times. When I realised what some small modifications to that little engine could achieve - 200 plus hp at the rear wheels - well that got my attention.
So a few years later and the HQ is gone (damn!) and this Burgundy Mazda comes up for sale in the Melbourne Trading Post. Wasn't much, 8 grand I think, and I drove it home.
It was a fairly wild street car back in '88 - there were no high tech V8's around, no reliable turbos - and the law enforcement really hated it - especially the sound of a weber'ed bridgeport. Did a lot of explaining on just how roadworthy it was. No impound laws in the late 80's either. Lucky.
These are the specs when I bought it:
1973 Mazda RX4 Coupe.
Burgundy with original white interior.
13B bridgeport, 3mm steel seals, 48 mm IDA Weber, custom intake, lightened flywheel.
RX7 5 speed gearbox, shortened tailshaft.
Shortened 13B diff to fit the 10" rims under the rear guards.
Exhaust - straight through twin 2.5" to the diff, then 3" single through a muffler to the back.
Dragway Centrelines 7 x 13 on the front and 10 x 14 on the back.
Lowered suspension front and rear.
Since I bought it I've really only tidied it up on several occasions - bit of work on the interior, cleaned up the engine bay, fitted electronic ignition, electric fans and shroud, replaced front end rubbers and joints, rear suspension rubber and shocks. I replaced the tyres once because they were starting to look and drive like hard nylon. It's a bit dangerous when you can spin the tyres at 100kph (on the racetrack) just because your tyres are rock hard. Needless to say it hasn't - and doesn't - do too many k's. It has just over 31000 miles on the clock and I have no reason to believe that this figure wouldn't be genuine. I've had it to Winton on numerous occasions and to Calder Park a couple of times. It's getting a bit too old to thrash now and replacement body parts are almost non-existent, so it's probably seen it's last days on a racetrack.
Although if the Club decided to do a day at Winton or Calder..........
I love the the sound of a NA bridgeport - intriguing, unique and un-mistakeable. We love it just the way it is and would not change anything.
I don't think there would be too many rotary engines that were built back in 1986, that have never been pulled apart, and are still running well in 2014 without having been re-built several times. Certainly a credit to SelectMaz in Epping (who I was told built the engine) and who are still building fast rotaries today.
Unbelievable update....
Since owning this car I have always presumed the young guy I bought it off in 1988 was the builder - body mods, engine mods, everything. At least that's what he told me at the time, and I thought he was telling me the truth. Well, all is not entirely as it seems.
This new story begins back in January 2017, 29 years after I bought the car
I received an email through the Contact Us page of the Custom Addictions website, nothing unusual about that, I get emails every week from people wanting to join the club or just asking weird questions. But this email was very unusual, it began:
>"I'm not sure who to email but I would like to get in touch with Glenn. The owner of the burgundy Rx4 coupe on your website.
>I'm the original owner of that car and would love to show my kids and see the car again. I built it from scratch in 1986 before I sold it to the young guy from Doncaster in 1988.
>This car has history you are unaware of and I would like to share with you. Please contact me".
And the email went went on to give me his contact details.
So, I thought, that all sound's extremely un-likely - bordering on impossible and most definitely a scam. No way am I replying to a random question about my car. But on another level, it sort of did sound truthful, and the more I thought about it the more I wanted to contact him. So a few days later I replied to him as "Custom Addictions" and not as the owner....
> Hi, thanks for your enquiry about the RX4 in our club. I will pass on your contact details to the current owner.
> I'm sure he will be thrilled to talk to you as the original owner and builder of this now fairly rare car. I believe it is pretty much the same as when he bought it.
> With all the scams and illegal stuff going on, he will probably need you to tell him some unique or unusual features of the vehicle that only you would know so to verify your identity. I'm sure you'll know heaps of little things that you did to it.
> Good luck, I hope you and your boys get to check out this nice little car.
> Thanks,
> Custom Addictions Classic Car Club.
> www.customaddictions.com.au
And I (Custom Addictions) received a reply back....
>Thank you and appreciate your help.
>I have plenty of unusual and interesting things about this car. Also have plenty of photos he will love.
>Looking forward to the contact.
>Kind Regards,
Nah, still a scam I thought. Unsure how my car - or me - was going to be compromised, but there is just no way the original owner and builder of my RX4 that I'd owned for 30 years had tracked it down. Very sceptical. But equally inquisitive. How bad could it be to contact him and have a chat? What could possibly go wrong?
_________________________________________________
So I rang Greg and immediately realised he was genuine. He WAS the builder of the car and pretty much everything that was done to it was a result of his ideas and his work back in the mid 80's. We were both equally shocked with the conversations that then took place.
I asked him how he had tracked the car down and it seems only by chance. A couple of weeks earlier he had been talking to his kids about cars and they asked him what car did he have when he was young. He replied a Mazda RX4 coupe. They had no idea what an RX4 was, so Greg did a Google search. And there, the third RX4 Coupe in Google images was his old car. Imagine his surprise seeing it looking exactly as it did when he sold it to the young guy in Doncaster back in 1988. He must have been shocked and as he showed the picture to his wife she replied - "you're crazy, that's not your old car, that would be long gone by now". But Greg knew what he was looking at and when he clicked on the link to go to the Custom Addictions Member rides page of the website he knew instantly it was his old car.
I'm not sure how he felt - only he knows that - but he must have thought he was dreaming.
Greg sent me photos of the car when it was painted black with chrome bumpers, when it was being stripped down and re-sprayed, all the little unusual things that he'd done to the car 30 years ago - well they were still there. He explained all the areas of the car that he had changed or he had put a "special touch" - like the 10mm thick steel re-inforcing plates on both sides of the chassis at the steering box - or the lights under the dash that illuminated your feet, or the twin port glass sunroof that apparently was sourced from an 1965 XP Falcon that he bought just to source the sunroof!
All the history made sense - apart from the bit that I was told by the guy I bought it off. So now it seems that guy didn't really do any of the modifying, but he took all the credit for it. Up until now.
And so, over the next couple of years we have stayed in contact, with us meeting for the first time at Classic Japan in 2019. I'd entered the RX4 in the event which is held annually at Birrarung Mar on the Yarra river in Melbourne and had told Greg the RX4 would be there. I can only guess at his surprise when he first laid eyes on it after so many years - to find it still looked almost exactly the same as it had 30 years previous. Unfortunately, the car show rules meant that no vehicles could be started during the event and Greg was unable to hear his old baby fire up. There'll be another time. We spent a long time chatting and reminiscing. I shared stories from the time I had owned the vehicle and Greg had many, many more from back when he'd owned it. We decided then that we'd have to catch up again.
I received a call from Greg just before Christmas 2020, saying he would be on holidays in my home town in early January. Greg asked if he and a mate of his - who helped build the car back in the 80's - could come and have a look and listen to the Rotor again. I was more than happy with the request and looking forward to meeting him again. Greg was also super keen to listen to "his" rotor come to life.
And so Greg was re-united with his baby again in January 2021. I can only guess his feelings as he pulled up into the carpark and there it was. Amazingly, there were still more stories about the build and times spent cruising around Melbourne in the mid 80's. Unlike when we first met at the car show, this time were able to fire the rotor into life. I reckon there were tears of joy as he stood there hearing exactly what he'd remembered - the sound of an NA weber'ed bridgeport. The only thing that sounds anything like it is another NA weber'ed bridgeport. Unique. And time to go for a drive.
Greg strapped himself in and as we pulled onto the road there was a massive smile on his face. We went for a squirt out onto the highway, then back into town. Greg remembered clearly the times he'd spent driving this exact car around the streets of Melbourne - the noise, the smell, the rock hard suspension, the way the bridgeport pulls from 5000 to 8000. We could've driven around for hours.
Greg said if he had the opportunity to buy another rotor he would buy an RX4 Coupe. He would build another exactly like this one. He loves it.
We talked a whole lot more but eventually we said our goodbye's and went our separate ways. I think for Greg it might have been like saying goodbye to an old friend that you once loved. And perhaps still do.
Till next time mate!
____________________________________________________________
These are Greg's words - a recollection of building the RX4...
1973 Mazda Rx4 Coupe:
By complete chance I spotted the car on google search images back in 2017 showing my kids what an Rx4 coupe looks like.
I spotted a beautiful coupe which surprisingly looked a lot like the Mazda I built 32 years ago. It was indeed mine and now Glenn’s pride and joy.
Could not believe my eyes the car is still owned, loved and in great condition!!!!
My parents bought me this 1973 Mazda Rx4 Coupe for sale in Thornbury Vic in Nov/Dec 1983:
Purchased for $3400 with a RWC.
Originally Purple in colour with white interior, 12A rotary & 4 speed gear box.
Sprayed Black with wire spoke rims approx. 1981/82 by previous owner.
A very ODD distinguishing feature on the vehicle is the ID plate in the engine bay displaying the build date that has the 3 in 1973 stamped upside down.
1984 Photo #1 & 2
Car park Chadstone shopping centre.
1984: Twin sunroof installed by Sunroof Centre. Sunroof Pulled out of a 1965 Ford XP sedan
1984/85: Body completely rubbed back to bare metal with my long-time school mate Angelo A. PHOTO#3
Only had a small 40mm rust spot bottom of windscreen passenger side.
1984/85: Body completely rubbed back to bare metal with my long-time school mate Angelo A. PHOTO#3
Only had a small 40mm rust spot bottom of windscreen passenger side.
• Panel beater MC Body Works, Clayton
• Spray booth - Preston Motors, Clayton PHOTO#4
• 1984/85 Interior pulled out and new pieces installed from a 1974 Mazda 929 Limited Edition coupe - wood grain dash & black trims installed, still in vehicle today.
All additional parts purchased from Allmaz Wreckers Clayton. Still trading out of the same location in 2021!!!
• My mother added her talents who has a seamstress back ground: re-stitched the new leather gear stick & hand brake pouch still in vehicle today.
• Chadstone Mitsubishi provided the new colour code -Seychelles red from a 1985 Mitsubishi Cordia.
• 12A motor & gear box removed & sold.
• Front struts pulled out and oxy cut the springs to lower front end. Springs were secured into struts with wire. (Unheard of these days let alone RW!!)
• 1985 -13B & 5 speed box purchased from API (auto parts importers) in Mulgrave. Was told the motor came out of an early 80’s RX7 direct from Japan due to Anti-pollution laws.
• 1985 - Motor rebuilt by my uncles mechanic Chris who owned an RX5. (BP Coramond Swan St Richmond) Extend port with 4 barrel carburettor.
• 1985- motor pulled out again and Bridgeported with a 48 ADI Weber, 2 1/2 inch extractors straight to a turbo muffler at the rear. Loud as hell !!!!!
• Installed an second fuel pump to get more fuel into the Weber. (Almaz Clayton)
• Motor Sprayed Mazda blue with white rotor housings.
• Approx 130kw 13B.
REAR END: Late 1985
• Diff was an original 12A
• Over a 3 week period in late 1985 I tried several Mazda van diff centres with 4.11’s and all were blown to bits. (Allmaz Clayton)
• Invested in a 13B diff. (Allmaz Clayton)
• Diff shortened by 130mm (5 inches), Keysbourgh Diffs
• A magwheel engineer formerly from Dragway Wheels in Kinglake manufactured the centreline rims currently on the car today with a deep dish to fit snug into rear wheel arch.
• 10” rims with 265 tyres on rear, 7" on the front
• Spray booth - Preston Motors, Clayton PHOTO#4
• 1984/85 Interior pulled out and new pieces installed from a 1974 Mazda 929 Limited Edition coupe - wood grain dash & black trims installed, still in vehicle today.
All additional parts purchased from Allmaz Wreckers Clayton. Still trading out of the same location in 2021!!!
• My mother added her talents who has a seamstress back ground: re-stitched the new leather gear stick & hand brake pouch still in vehicle today.
• Chadstone Mitsubishi provided the new colour code -Seychelles red from a 1985 Mitsubishi Cordia.
• 12A motor & gear box removed & sold.
• Front struts pulled out and oxy cut the springs to lower front end. Springs were secured into struts with wire. (Unheard of these days let alone RW!!)
• 1985 -13B & 5 speed box purchased from API (auto parts importers) in Mulgrave. Was told the motor came out of an early 80’s RX7 direct from Japan due to Anti-pollution laws.
• 1985 - Motor rebuilt by my uncles mechanic Chris who owned an RX5. (BP Coramond Swan St Richmond) Extend port with 4 barrel carburettor.
• 1985- motor pulled out again and Bridgeported with a 48 ADI Weber, 2 1/2 inch extractors straight to a turbo muffler at the rear. Loud as hell !!!!!
• Installed an second fuel pump to get more fuel into the Weber. (Almaz Clayton)
• Motor Sprayed Mazda blue with white rotor housings.
• Approx 130kw 13B.
REAR END: Late 1985
• Diff was an original 12A
• Over a 3 week period in late 1985 I tried several Mazda van diff centres with 4.11’s and all were blown to bits. (Allmaz Clayton)
• Invested in a 13B diff. (Allmaz Clayton)
• Diff shortened by 130mm (5 inches), Keysbourgh Diffs
• A magwheel engineer formerly from Dragway Wheels in Kinglake manufactured the centreline rims currently on the car today with a deep dish to fit snug into rear wheel arch.
• 10” rims with 265 tyres on rear, 7" on the front
• 1987 Parked outside mums place in Chadstone. PHOTO#5
• 2021 Looks exactly the same in Country Victoria. PHOTO#6
• There are only a hand full of minor things that are different in the vehicle to this current day - very little has changed since 1988.
• The motor that was rebuilt in 1985 has never been pulled apart. Glenn has never touched the motor. Amazing rebuild by Chris, BP Richmond.
Here's some pics of Greg reunited with the Rotor after 35 years!!!
• 2021 Looks exactly the same in Country Victoria. PHOTO#6
• There are only a hand full of minor things that are different in the vehicle to this current day - very little has changed since 1988.
• The motor that was rebuilt in 1985 has never been pulled apart. Glenn has never touched the motor. Amazing rebuild by Chris, BP Richmond.
Here's some pics of Greg reunited with the Rotor after 35 years!!!
Incredible history and an amazing experience for both Greg and me.
Thanks Greg for getting in touch and sharing those memories! Good times!
Thanks Greg for getting in touch and sharing those memories! Good times!
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