We are proud to introduce our the latest Matchbox car to feature the JNC inkan, the Mazda RX-3. Introduced in 1971, the early rotary-powered coupe was a pivotal step in Mazda’s ascension to motorsports glory, and has long deserved to be immortalized in diecast form. Let’s take a closer look at the car that will soon be on pegs at retail locations around the world.
The compact and light RX-3 quickly became a popular choice for road racers, both in the Japanese touring car world and in the American SCCA and IMSA world. It offered the right blend of agility, lightness, and power from its rotary engine. It laid the groundwork at the 24 Hours of Daytona so that when the SA22C RX-7 debuted a few years later, it was able to take the GTU championship in its inaugural outing at the classic enduro.
The Matchbox Mazda RX-3 is part of the 2024 Collectors Series, which comes with a vintage-style illustrated box. The box is patterned after the toy cars’ original yellow containers from when the brand debuted in 1953, the source of the “Matchbox” brand name. Unlike the regular main-line cars, all Matchbox Collectors Series cars have rubber tires. Some have moving parts such as opening doors. Others, like our RX-3, have both the body and chassis made of metal. The Collectors Series typically retails for around $5.
As for the car itself, it’s the facelifted model built from mid-1973, with the flush grille and hexagonal taillights. These later models are the ones that really took hold in IMSA and, in 1975, began racing at Daytona.
The Matchbox version is a more faithful representation of a stock Mazda RX-3. A racing variant with Katayama flares and bigger chin spoiler debuted in metallic purple as part of the Hot Wheels Japan Historics line in 2016.
The JNC inkan appears on the hood, as well as on each side’s rear quarter panel. The red, white, and gold colors are a perfect complement to the Matchbox Collectors Series Mazda MX-5 Miata wearing our logo from 2022.
The Mazda RX-3 is just one of many Japanese cars appearing in the 2024-25 Matchbox lineup. We went over the complete list a few weeks ago when they were revealed at the annual Matchbox Collectors Gathering. Expect to see the RX-3 on shelves in about a month or two, and happy hunting!
Hope to find this one…now just to get Aoshima or Hasegawa to make a 1/24 Rx-3.
What matters to us… is a new 3DBotMaker’s Japanese Nostalgic Car tournament coming with this series of cars with special conditions?
Ha, we have no plans to do that but it’s a good idea!
How many Matchbox cars have the JNC inkan? I have all the cars from Hot Wheels and want to add the Matchbox cars to my collection.
We will make a list. Thanks for supporting!
I began collecting 1 thru 75 Matchbox models ca. 1958, and stopped when they began to resemble Hot Wheels toys. Over the years, I moved upscale (pun intended), to 1/43 Solido models and, finally, to 1/18 scale diecast. Now, the rampant growth of sealed, plastic and obscenely-overpriced models in that scale has almost caused me to cease collecting altogether. So it goes…