There are few classic Japanese cars that are instantly recognisable to anyone in the Western world without an intimate knowledge of the genre, but the RX-3 is most surely among them. Experiencing massive sales success all throughout the 70s, it was known in its homeland as the Savanna, and was offered in coupe, sedan, and wagon variants. It’s the coupe that most enthusiasts know and love, and it’s Jerry Acdan’s coupe that we’re looking at today.
Jerry, give us the basics on this car mate. What can you tell us?
Sure! It’s a Mazda RX-3 SP, running a 3rotor engine. I’ve owned it for about 6 months.
What about modifications? Don’t hold back mate, the engine bay photos show there’s been quite a bit of work here!
Monster street port, racing seals, Bosch injectors, Turbonetics Y2KT88 turbo, Spearco intercooler, Turbonetics Godzilla BOV, wastegate, Magnacore wires, Microtech LT12S, Racing Beat lightened flywheel, and an action clutch. You can listen to a video of the car here.
Jeez, is there anything else you can even do to it?
Well I’m planning on putting in a 9inch rear end, so I guess that’s something, haha.
And then you’ll be a happy man?
Haha! We’ll see.
Tell us about the aesthetics. Inside and out.
It’s got a Momo steering wheel, shift knob, and pedals. The seats have been re-trimmed in the original fabric. The exterior’s been painted the original colour.
What rims are those? They’re damn nice, really well suited to the car.
They’re Work Equip 03s – 15×7 at the front ant 15×8 at the rear.
Great choice, especially in that colour. I don’t mind the gold ones either, but I think you made the right choice. Gold and red don’t go too well together in my opinion, but maybe that’s just me! Anyway. How often do you drive it? Do you get any track time in?
Haha thanks, I like them too. I really only drive it on the weekends, it’s not the kind of car that should be used as a daily driver I don’t think. I haven’t yet, but I do plan on racing it eventually.
Well be careful eh! Are you a member of any car clubs?
Nah.
Fair enough! Do you have any plans to sell it eventually? What kind of moolah would need to be thrown down for you to let it go?
It’s not for sale and I’ve got no plans to sell it any time soon, but hey, money talks.
It does, I’ve heard it many times late at night. I mean… Anyway. What got you into classic JDM?
I can blame that on my brothers, haha. Ferdie, Rommel, and Arnel.
The same Arnel whose Corolla we featured recently?
The one and the same.
Nice! A lot of good taste in that family, haha. Are there any other classic JDM you love, beside the RX-3?
Well I love Mazdas in general, and I also own an RX-2, an RX-4, and an RX-7. It’s a family thing.
So it seems! In fact, isn’t this your RX-4?
Sure is!
Damn, you don’t mess around huh? Let’s get back to the RX-3. Any especially funny or sad memories to go with the car?
Haha, the funniest thing about this car is that my bro Arnel owned it about 15 years ago. He had a chance to buy it back, but decided not to – so I jumped on it. Thankfully there haven’t been any sad memories yet!
Man, you guys definitely keep it in the family, haha. What’s the best thing about this car? The worst?
The best thing about this car is that it’s an SP, which isn’t very common. Also the fact that it has a 3rotor, which scares the hell out of the guy next to me at the lights, haha. And there’s no worst thing, it’s great!
Thanks for letting us feature your rotor Jerry, keep us updated if you pull out any future mods! We’d love to check out your others some time too!
No sweat man, thanks for featuring it.
Images provided by Jerry, with much appreciation from us here at grandJDM. Any car article is only as good as its photos!
Sweet…but whats that yellow rx-3 doing there?;)
Haha, it was in the batch of photos I received!
i saw this car yesterday at nisei week and it was a real eye catcher!!
he walked away with a trophy as well.
i stood around waiting for him to start the beast(with so many”jdm”hondas around the rx3 sounded like a killer)