A Mazda RX-3 With Lambo Paint

When I came across Savant Young’s Mazda RX-3 at the Petersen’s Japanese Car Cruise In, I knew I had found something special.

That inkling was only reinforced when I saw that the Jay Leno’s Garage guys felt the same and had produced an episode starring Savant’s build.

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Initially, it was the color that caught my eye – a modern Grigio Telesto scheme taken from the Lamborghini catalog. Savant then added blacked-out trim to give the classic 1973 Mazda a contemporary look.

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Against the grey paintwork the black detailing works well, and is an affordable alternative to a monstrous chrome bill too.

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Peering behind the forward-tilt hood I spied a 13B turbo from an FC3S RX-7, sure to make the little coupe scoot.

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This one’s been bridge-ported and makes 400 horsepower on 15 pounds of boost.

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That boost comes courtesy of a GReddy T66 turbo. Also in the mix is a Turbosmart Pro-Gate 45mm wastegate, TiAL blow-off valve and AEM methanol injection, plus an old school MicroTech LT-8s engine management system.

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The rear axle has been swapped for a Toyota Hilux unit, still held in place by the factory RX-3 leaf springs. I’m sure you didn’t miss the blacked-out BBS RS wheels, measuring 16×9-inch in the front and 16×10-inch in the rear.

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The interior is mostly stock, save for a Nardi steering wheel and a trio of gauges that include an AEM wideband AFR.

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My favorite touch was the triangular muffler, a nod to the Mazda’s rotary roots.

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Make sure you check out the YouTube link at the beginning of the story to see Savant’s creation rolling down the road. 400 boosted horsepower looks like an awful lot of fun in a Mazda of this vintage.

Keith Charvonia
Instagram: SpeedhuntersKeith
keith@speedhunters.com

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Speedhunters_Keith_Charvonia_Mazda-RX3 (4 of 13)
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1

Watched that Jay Lenos garage video, this thing is a piece of art, and the sound of a rotary has got to be one of the best sounds for a petrolhead , in my opinion it is anyways.

2

Air to water intercooler! Nice!

3

Kyron_OKBYE Mazda 787B=eargasm

4

Kyron_OKBYE Mazda 787B=eargasm

5

very nice car wish we had one here!

6

very nice car wish we had one here!

7

this has to be the least effort put into any speedhunters post I've ever seen. even the title is nothing more than a statement of fact

8

this has to be the least effort put into any speedhunters post I've ever seen. even the title is nothing more than a statement of fact

9

One must not forget about the video , hehe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNsjQCBPUe0

10

One must not forget about the video , hehe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNsjQCBPUe0

11

That triangular rear muffler is a Racing Beat item, no? I know they make universal rotor shape mufflers but don't remember it having that downturn like the Amemiya dolphin-tails.

12

That triangular rear muffler is a Racing Beat item, no? I know they make universal rotor shape mufflers but don't remember it having that downturn like the Amemiya dolphin-tails.

13

Thought it looked familiar, saw it on Jay Leno's Garage!!

14

Krousacar I really love this Website and hate to bag on people, but I noticed the same thing and TOTALLY agree. It comes off as sort of "Meh... here's a Tuesday filler Article. Read it if you wanna. If not, whatever."

Plus there are items of note and interesting details in those pictures that I'd love to hear about but were completely missed or skipped in the captions. WTF guys, c'mon?

15

eejjkk Krousacar 
Noticed the same, though the Rx3 now has a new appartment in my heart. After watching Jay Leno's show with this specific car, I fell in love immediately, I actually Googled "Rx3 for sale" though I have never seen one in present ever in my life.
Back to this post, well, I think it should have been cooked slower, why in rush??!! This could have been tomorrow's or the day after post that is very well put together.

16

I love 99% of this car! But for the love of god, someone please take that air filter out of the headlight hole and either leave it as a hole to feed cold air to the filter or put a headlight back in, it's such a tacky modification to have it poking through like that and really detracts from the rest of the car.

Also why only rear photo's of the exterior, and more so why so many of the one corner where the bumper is bent and scuffed?

17

I love 99% of this car! But for the love of god, someone please take that air filter out of the headlight hole and either leave it as a hole to feed cold air to the filter or put a headlight back in, it's such a tacky modification to have it poking through like that and really detracts from the rest of the car.

Also why only rear photo's of the exterior, and more so why so many of the one corner where the bumper is bent and scuffed?

18

Hey a question for all those stateside... what are early Mazda rotary prices like over in that part of the world?

19

Two highlights of the Leno video on this car. Firstly the owner, Savant, seems like a very genuine car enthusiasts, great sense of humour, the type of person you actually look forward to meeting at a car meet... Which isn't always the case in this hobby.
Secondly, how down-to-earth is Leno? Multimillionaire approaching someone with a "tuner hot rod" to film it for his YouTube program. Congrats to both guys, must have been a huge honour for Savant

20

Mahfoodh eejjkk Krousacar UGGHH, maybe because it's a car SPOTLIGHT, not a FULL FEATURE... HURR DURR.

Love the car.

21

Mahfoodh eejjkk Krousacar UGGHH, maybe because it's a car SPOTLIGHT, not a FULL FEATURE... HURR DURR.

Love the car.

22

Saw this on Leno. Really cool car, one of my favourite paint colours.

23

RDS the link was already posted at the top

24

As much as I like Jay Leno and his work with cars, I thought the same of the Jay Leno video. Jay only talked about a couple of basic, generic aspects of the car, and then repeated himself about three times. I was hoping to file away the Leno video as a really nice piece on RX3s, but it didn't come off.

25

As much as I like Jay Leno and his work with cars, I thought the same of the Jay Leno video. Jay only talked about a couple of basic, generic aspects of the car, and then repeated himself about three times. I was hoping to file away the Leno video as a really nice piece on RX3s, but it didn't come off.

26

SnoozinRichy They're climbing; ones in really nice shape go for above $20,000.  Crappy driveable ones go for under $5,000.

27

Can we get some features with a full cost of build? Im sure im not the only one wanting to see how costly some of these beautiful builds are.

29

Beautiful car, thanks for sharing!

30

Awesome RX3! Got to see the video Jay Leno made with it! What a sound!

31

Loved seeing the segment on Leno.

32

EXCELLENT BUILD, RARE PLATFORM...Oh, not to mention...fully functional!!!!

That's a combination that's been majorly lacking in the car scene for quite some time now.

33

EXCELLENT BUILD, RARE PLATFORM...Oh, not to mention...fully functional!!!!

That's a combination that's been majorly lacking in the car scene for quite some time now.

34

earmenau Mahfoodh eejjkk Krousacar 
That's almost a legitimate excuse...but really just a lame excuse. 
There's some reaaaallly jenky, dubious-quality builds with full features all over the internet (including on this site)...Yet, this one's basically leftover scraps from instagram???

35

earmenau Mahfoodh eejjkk Krousacar 
That's almost a legitimate excuse...but really just a lame excuse. 
There's some reaaaallly jenky, dubious-quality builds with full features all over the internet (including on this site)...Yet, this one's basically leftover scraps from instagram???

36

awesome build seen the car on Jay Lenos Garage. great feature !

37

awesome build seen the car on Jay Lenos Garage. great feature !

38

The only thing I would do differently would be coilovers in the rear, leaf springs are antique technology.

39

Chri5 Duncan I'm sure almost everyone with a leaf sprung car would agree(although they still work fine if set up well), but it's not as simple or as cheap as bolting them in up front.

40

CharlesChris15 Why should anyone divulge that info to the public. Something like this would vary from place to place anyway. In the US an RX3 coupe can be bought in good condition for sub $10k, but in Australia or NZ you'll pay double that or more for a good starting point. Imagine somewhere in the vicinity of $50k minimum if done right.

41

Restrained and tasteful. A great example of how to mod a car without looking stoopid. Brilliant choices all round...

42

Restrained and tasteful. A great example of how to mod a car without looking stoopid. Brilliant choices all round...

43

Restrained and tasteful. A great example of how to mod a car without looking stoopid. Brilliant choices all round...

44

Tight

45

Tight

46

Spaghetti Oh yes, it's bespoke for sure. And truth be told the real improvement would be IRS, which would be even more difficult.

47

Spaghetti Oh yes, it's bespoke for sure. And truth be told the real improvement would be IRS, which would be even more difficult.

48

This car was also featured on Jay Leno's Garage on YouTube if you want to see it in motion!

49

This car was also featured on Jay Leno's Garage on YouTube if you want to see it in motion!

50

If you want to see this car in motion it was on Jay Leno's Garage a couple of weeks ago, its on the YouTube channel m!!

51

If you want to see this car in motion it was on YouTube on Jay Leno's Garage a couple of weeks ago!

52

super jesus
I was rather blind , haha

53

super jesus
I was rather blind , haha

55

Generally yes, but remember even modern Corvettes still use leaf springs.

56

Generally yes, but remember even modern Corvettes still use leaf springs.

57

Generally yes, but remember even modern Corvettes still use leaf springs.

58

CharlesChris15 You might struggle with the "full cost of build" - I know myself, with my 86, I haven't nor have I ever wanted to keep track on how much I've spent on it.
Sometimes the build is about the journey, not the destination.
I know most people I know with a project car haven't kept track unless they had a specific budget in mind.

The usual story of "Buy, Break, Build, Break, Repeat", gets depressing when you've got the numbers hanging over it.

59

Chri5 Duncan on jay leno garage he said he was gonna change it

60

Jay Leno is a true car guy if there ever was one. I'm convinced his garage only exists so he can enjoy it like a "normal guy." It's a level playing field when you step foot in his garage and he treats everyone as a peer.

61

Jay Leno is a true car guy if there ever was one. I'm convinced his garage only exists so he can enjoy it like a "normal guy." It's a level playing field when you step foot in his garage and he treats everyone as a peer.

62

This is why we shoot Spotlights sometimes. We can't always pull a car out of a show for a formal photo shoot, but it's still so cool that we want to bring it to Speedhunters. This means you're shooting the car under very constraining circumstances usually - people, lighting, car positioning are all less than ideal.

63

This is why we shoot Spotlights sometimes. We can't always pull a car out of a show for a formal photo shoot, but it's still so cool that we want to bring it to Speedhunters. This means you're shooting the car under very constraining circumstances usually - people, lighting, car positioning are all less than ideal.

64

Chri5 Duncan Spaghetti The more modern route to leaf springs is to have a set of composite springs made. They are single piece, light, and can be made to a specific spring rate and ride height, eliminating or minimizing the need for blocks. This along with a good adjustable shock can be as, if not better than a 4 or 3 link set up. (adding all those hard mounts and steel tubes will be really heavy,  not to mention if you have a truck/wagon you lose cargo space/utility by effectively fabbing in new strut towers for the the coilovers.)

65

Chri5 Duncan Spaghetti I've had the comp springs in my 510 wagon for years now, and just finished an adjustable shock swap with a big sway bar on the way. For $600 I've made the wagon version of the 510 handle as well if not better than a coilover equipped 510 sedan. (not to mention since the IRS in the sedans is trailing A arm, therefore is squats under power creating tow out and negative camber, reducing the contact patch of your rear tires, thus putting less power to the ground.) Leveraging the factory platform typically is cheaper, easier, and -- short of redesigning the entirety of the suspension geometry -- typically more effective.

66

markforza Can you not

67

Apologies for the repeated post!

68

Apologies for the repeated post!

69

You did everything right; paint, wheels, trim, engine. Congrats one of the nicest modded cars I have seen.

70

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