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Roadkill! The Guys Buy The Internet Infamous Rear-Engined Mazda Rotary Pickup And Take It To Optima Ultimate Street Car!


Roadkill! The Guys Buy The Internet Infamous Rear-Engined Mazda Rotary Pickup And Take It To Optima Ultimate Street Car!

About six months ago, Bring A Trailer featured a freak that I couldn’t share with you readers fast enough: a 1974 Mazda REPU (aka Rotary Pickup) that had the magic Dortio engine canned in favor of a rear-mounted Oldsmobile 455 and THM-125 transaxle setup like what you would have found in a first-generation Olds Toronado. It was a freak of the highest order and we loved it. We also learned a little later from the former owner that the truck hadn’t sold and was back on Craigslist in the San Francisco area. As cool as it was, the phrase “disposable income” might as well be spoken in Chinese to us, and given the geographical location of the Mazda, the likelihood of selling Chad’s wife on having a rolling freak of nature in the front yard wasn’t gonna happen anytime soon.

roadkill REPU

But as luck would have it, we know two guys who have the capability and sponsorship to make some magic happen with such a beast, and they knew of the truck as well. That’s right, our two favorite automotive delinquents, Finnegan and Freiburger, snapped the REPU up! And from the start, the plan was simple: race the Mazda at the Optima Ultimate Street Car event in Fontana, California. Now, if you think this would be an automatic last place fail, trust us, it’s not. It’s still a Roadkill episode, so expect some fire and something to break, but with Finnegan behind the wheel of his new favorite vehicle, he was nipping on the heels of a brand-new Z/28 Camaro…and for a glorified Ford Courier, that’s not a bad place to be.


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7 thoughts on “Roadkill! The Guys Buy The Internet Infamous Rear-Engined Mazda Rotary Pickup And Take It To Optima Ultimate Street Car!

  1. Chevy Hatin' Mad Geordie

    Why didn’t they just install a 4-rotor 4-turbo Mazda rotary that would have had at least 3 times the power of that huge Oldsmobile lump?

    Because the Road Kill boys are lunatics of the first order and as such should be regarded as a national treasure. Why can’t we have our own version of Road Kill in the UK – are you reading this Quest? That’s the UK’s most petrol-headed TV station for the benefit of my American brothers of speed…

    1. jerry z

      Because Geordie they bought it as is with the Tornado engine already installed. Why ruin a awesome concept!

      It was another great episode as usual!

  2. Fiatdude

    Was out there at Fontana with the boys — — I had left at noon Saturday because it was so Freaking hot — Was a great time though

    Was some hating going on with what had been done to a ultra rare rotary truck from the Mazda Lovers….. Screw ’em I say LOL

    1. tedly

      Wow! Thank you for that completely unsolicited advertisement and link that is almost assuredly going to infect whatever computer connects to it.

      Get this turkey out of here!

  3. Nick D.

    Man, I can’t believe Dodge made them buy an Oldsmobile-powered Mazda truck. What a bunch of sellouts. *sarcasm*

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