Tag Archives: rx-4

Mazda Luce owner is part of multi-generational rotary family

With the rollout of the rotary engine’d Mazda MX-30 underway in Japan, Mazda is doing a video series on owners of rotary-powered cars. The first is Mr Shimzu, who drives a second-generation Mazda Luce, known as the RX-4 in the … Continue reading

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KIDNEY, ANYONE? 1973 Mazda Luce with less than 4,000 miles

When considering the list of 6-figure Japanese cars, the Mazda RX-4 isn’t typically a chart topper. When new it was considered too heavy for its rotary engine, especially compared to its RX-3 and RX-2 stablemates. But man, it was a … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Fun facts about classic Mazdas, depending on your definition of fun

Mazda UK has released a series of videos issuing “fun facts” about classic Mazdas. To be honest, it’s a bit of a stretch to call these facts “fun” unless you find scintillating tidbits such as “Mazda first used the 929 … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2018 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 06 — Mazdas

Vintage rotaries took a prime position at this year’s JCCS, thanks to a classy display by Mazda. Imagine a hillside blooming with brightly colored pistonless wonders from Hiroshima, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what the Mazda section … Continue reading

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RIP Kenichi Yamamoto, Father of the Mazda Rotary Engine, 1922-2017

Kenichi Yamamoto, who famously led Mazda’s “47 Ronin” team that brought the rotary engine into reality, passed away on December 20, 2017. His family made public his passing to the Japanese press on Christmas Day. Yamamoto was 95. A bona fide legend in … Continue reading

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50 YEAR CLUB: Mazda Cosmo Sport and Rotary Engine

Like it or not, the automotive industry is a highly conservative one. Advances are incremental, radical innovations few and far between. Amidst this seemingly depressing state, however, genuinely novel and creative ideas that challenge convention catch our attention and imagination … Continue reading

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Updates to the JNC Shop

We have made a major update to the JNC shop, stocking inventory of items that we introduced at car shows throughout the year. Some are in very limited quantities, and if you order before 11:59pm on Sunday, December 18, your will arrive before … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2016 SevenStock celebrates 19th year as world’s premier rotary Mazda gathering

SevenStock just completed its nineteenth showing. Befitting its namesake, the event is a festival for and by the rotary Mazda community and the largest such annual gathering in the world! Once again throngs of brapping Mazdas occupied the tarmac of … Continue reading

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NEWS: You guys, this is the real Ken Bone

During last night’s presidential debate, the internet was lit afire when an audience member named Kenneth Bone from Labadie, Missouri stood up to ask Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump a question. Perhaps it was his trenchant query about energy policy and jobs that captured … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2016 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 03 — Rotary Power

Mazda’s official JCCS display was a touching tribute to one of Japan’s late, great racing legends. And if Yoshimi Katayama was looking down from the afterlife, he surely would have been beaming over the private entries as well. There were some familiar faces, but … Continue reading

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TOUGE CALIFORNIA: The Cars and Teams of 2016

The Touge California is done. We’ve covered how the epic, 8-hour, 200-mile rally went, but we also wanted to recognize all the fearless drivers, stalwart navigators, and gorgeous machines that participated. Here are the cars and teams of the 2016 JNC Touge … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2nd JNC Touge California, 2016

Touge driving is not meant to be easy. This is doubly true when the car you’re driving ranges anywhere from 30 to 50 years old. Earlier this month, 28 Japanese nostalgic cars queued up at the start of the 2016 Touge California. By the … Continue reading

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Official 2016 JNC Touge California poster

For 2016, the official poster for the JNC Touge California features two landmark cars that will run the 200-mile vintage car rally this weekend. To honor title sponsor Mazda, we are highlighting a rare 1974 Mazda RX-4 Hardtop Coupé. A similar car will be … Continue reading

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EVENTS: SevenStock 2015

Mazdafarians far and wide came to the recent SevenStock 18, the premiere showcase of rotary-powered Hiroshima heroes. Held at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, the all-day festival mixed a car show, track day, and basically anything that was Mazda rotary-themed.

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EVENTS: 2015 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 08 — Editors’ Choice

As is tradition, each year we conclude our JCCS coverage with list of our favorites, and each year it gets harder and harder to choose. I asked the JNC staff to each pick the two cars that they liked the most, and provide a … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2015 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 02 — Shakotan Boogaloo

In Japan, shakotan is simply means a lowered car. Many different styles of car can technically qualify as shakotan, but if we’re going to steal a traditional Japanese term, we might as well apply it to traditional Japanese cars. You know it when … Continue reading

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Happy 9/29 Day from JNC!

The piston engine’d version of the Mazda RX-4 was called the Luce in Japan and the 929 elsewhere in the world. Happy 9/29 Day!

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JCCS 2015: The Ibarra Brothers’ incredible collection of classic Mazda rotaries

No one that walked through the Japanese Classic Car Show last weekend could have missed the astounding collection of half a dozen classic rotaries parked on the Queen Mary lawn. Each one was more pristine than the next, as if we had jumped a few … Continue reading

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COLLECTIONS: Inside Mazda North America’s Basement

Talk to Mazda employees about their cars, past and present, and it immediately becomes clear that the company is comprised of people passionate about what they’ve built. This is no small feat, and we have peeked behind the walls of enough automakers to … Continue reading

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EVENTS: Sunday morning at Daikoku Futo

Located right off the famed Wangan Bayshore Route in Yokohama, Daikoku Futo PA is a congress for car fiends. As die-hard fans of JDM-land know, representatives of any and every type of Japanese tuning subculture come together to appreciate the many facets of … Continue reading

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