The original Mazda RX-7 was a game-changing sports car, but it was only one in a line of many rotary-powered performance machines. In Japan, its full name was the Mazda Savanna RX-7, based on its direct predecessor, the Mazda Savanna RX-3, which debuted in 1971. It was called the Mazda RX-3 for export markets to emphasize its unique powerplant.
They quickly became sought after due to their incredible lightness and speed, as experienced in this 1973 model recently sold on eBay in Brea, Calif.
Shop now for Mazdas
A Giant Killer
The Mazda RX-3 was built on the same platform as the Japan-market Mazda Grand Familia, a stylish compact introduced in 1971 and positioned between the segment-defining Toyota Corolla and Corona. The Grand Familia was intended to serve as the commuter spec and came with traditional four-cylinder engines. It was even sold as the little-known Mazda 808 in the U.S., equipped with a 1.6-liter inline-four.
That same year, Mazda dropped its revolutionary dual-rotor rotary engine into a high-performance variant, the RX-3. The rotary had several unique properties that made it ideal for motorsports. It had fewer moving parts than a traditional engine. It was far more compact and light. Despite its size, it could be easily tuned to extract tremendous horsepower equivalent to much bigger piston engine counterparts. And so the Mazda RX-3 became an immediate hit with racers.
Nissan had been dominating Japanese touring-car racing for several years. The Skyline GT-R was the winningest of them all and had racked up almost 50 wins since its debut in 1969. However, in late 1971, during a race at Fuji Speedway in which Nissan expected to coast easily to victory, the new Mazda RX-3 outdrove a field stacked with GT-Rs and denied Nissan its much-coveted 50th victory. With that upset, the RX-3 became a legend among Japanese classics.
Got the Holeshot
The Mazda RX-3 also succeeded in a completely different type of motorsport: drag racing. The light chassis and the rotary engine’s power potential made a winning combo. In both illicit street racing and in sanctioned drag races, the RX-3—and non-Mazdas swapped with Mazda rotary engines—became the weapon of choice. This build style has deep roots in the type of Puerto Rican drag racing prevalent among imports before the flood of front-wheel-drives took over. Cars like RX-3 stayed competitive in this style of racing well into the ’90s.
The car for sale hails from this background, built for quarter-mile runs. The body has been tubbed and caged, with little of the original pan in front of or behind the driver’s seat. The engine is a newer rotary from an RX-7, ported and turbocharged with a thirstier Weber IDA carburetor. It’s mated to an RX-5 five-speed with a custom driveshaft.
The engine and transmission combo has even been moved a couple of inches aft for improved weight distribution. The rear diff is a Currie nine-inch with a 4.44 final drive ratio, all in the name of straight-line elapsed time blasts.
The sales price of $39,999 might seem high for such a heavily modified car. Purists will want an all-stock RX-3. However, this is a period-correct build from a specific subset in the early days of import racing. Due to the natural attrition of old cars, especially ones well-suited for cheap race cars, the Mazda RX-3 is a rare bird whose prices will not be coming down any time soon.
Shop now for Mazdas
