A Toyota powered Mazda on the front page of BangShift?! Sure, as we continue our “Cool or Not” series we’re challenging you yet again with an unusual machine that will make some people drool and others puke in their mouth. This is a 1974 Mazda RX4 which would have been powered by a two rotor, 125hp Wankel rotary engine when first built. It now has a gut filled with turbocharged Japanese fury in the form of a 2JZ inline six cylinder engine.
This car has been highly modified with lots of bits from the Lexus IS product line. There’s a modern dash, seats, and console inside along with a roll bar and other safety gear. You can see the big intercooler hanging off the front of the car and that is a little tell tale that this is little car with some big suds.
We do not have specific horsepower numbers or lap/quarter mile time. We will assume that the 2JZ is making 300 horsepower (they can make a ton more than that, so who really knows?) and even at that level, this would be a riot to drive. Japanese cars of this era took lots of their styling cues from the American cars of the day. Some of the lines on this RX4 look reminiscent of US small cars of the mid 1970s.
So, is this car cool or not?
Way cool.
Small car, big motor.
Freakin’ Awesome
Of course it’s cool. It’s a well-executed engine swap, putting a big motor in a small car. The country it comes from doesn’t matter. It may not personally be my STYLE of car, but’s definitely cool
I’m gonna get barbequed @ the stake for this, but I don’t care. Just as Chad doesn’t care much for the big wheel/ rubber-band tire concept (neither do I, by the way), I don’t think think anything “oriental” in nature should be considered bang-shiftty. Sue me. Hate me. I don’t really care. You see, being a child o’ the ’60s and the Muscle Car Wars, I have some pretty definite ideas of what Bang-Shiftty SHOULD BE! And to me, this just ain’t it. A Hemi Belvidere, a 427 Camaro, even a WW-2 era P-51 Mustang, but not this.
It must be nice to show up to a show or whatever with the guarantee you’ll have a unique car. Way cool!
Its cool as h…l,and i wonder why a japanese car cant be cool?.Is it the country,or the car?
Very well executed car.
Its not something that pulls at me, but the builder did a great job and I’d certainly go look at it if I ran across it.
Its bangshifty do to its execution.
Works for me. No LS swap, tasteful looks, good stance. Light and tossable.
I actually owned an Rx-2 that i autocrossed for a while. I looked at this at SEMA very cool. I have a secret love affair with vintage Japanese cars.
I like it… Vintage Japanese cars look like miniature muscle cars. For me the manufacturer label does not matter at all. That said I think it would be better with a lighter weight LS engine.
I love it! My first car was an RX2. Bought it out of the junkyard for $300 with a bad engine. My dad rebuilt his first wankel.
I always liked the RX2/4’s body lines. Kinda like an early Maverick. I used to see these when they were new when I lived in Okinawa. I’d prefer to see the Wankel turboed, but this works. Different is cool. I used to race against one at Sacto Raceway. It ran low 12’s.
Very cool. Why is it these Jap cars are cool and new ones aren’t at all?
I’d have gone with TE37Vs and a nasty 3 rotor, but this is awesome. The vintage Japanese tin is definitely bangshift approved.
I’d groove on it more if they’d swapped in a twin-turbo 13B two-rotor or a 20B-REW Cosmo triple-rotor Wankel. That would be “Zoom, Zoom!” Using the Toy mill was just lazy (the Japanese version of swapping in a LESS V8)
And the black hood has too much gloss for a real rally-style hood.
The flares are nice . . . the body kit skirts and front air dam, not so much.
It reminds me of a Motion or Yenko V8 Vega . The jury is still out for me ! .
That is EXTREMELY awesome, great job all around. The 2JZ is perfect in that engine bay. All that I can say is don’t knock them until you’ve driven one, the turbo spool is a total kick in the ass.
I like it mostly… I don’t like the intercooler sticking through the front valance and I would have rather have a Cosmo or the newish RX-8 wankles in there rather than the ubiquitous 2JZ but it’s well done and the car (other than the aformentioned intercooler) looks great.
I give it thumbs up.
VERY cool! Love the vintage factory/privateer road-race vibe. To my eye, everything works, protruding inter-cooler and all.