The Beauty Of Rotary

I’ve long been of the opinion that the first few years of the 1970s brought about some of the coolest and best looking cars of all time. It really didn’t matter what country a car came from or how much it cost, there were cool machines everywhere.

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Whether it was exotic European sports cars, iconic American muscle cars, or even the fun and affordable cars that Japanese brands were building, there was so much good stuff being made during this era.

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You likely won’t find the Mazda RX-4 on too many people’s lists of the world’s most beautiful cars, but do take a look at this ’74 coupé owned by Ken Bone and found at the Street Neo Classics show. It’s a fine looking machine that does a nice approximation of an American muscle car, but at the same time takes on its own unique character.

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As you can see, the exterior of Ken’s car remains largely stock with the exception of 16-inch gold-finished BBS RS wheels, which contrast perfectly against the body’s subtle silver paintwork.

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Under the hood sits a twin-rotor 13B engine, but rather than going down the turbo route as many vintage Mazda owners do, Ken has kept his rotary setup simple with a Weber IDA carb and other naturally aspirated upgrades.

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While the RX-4 was a great looking car from the outside, it was just as good inside with a cool wrap-around dash and an overall feeling that was far removed from the cheaper Japanese cars of the time.

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While they’ve long been mainstays in places like Australia and New Zealand, I’ve always felt that early Mazda rotaries have never received the appreciation they deserve here in the US. But thanks to examples like Ken’s RX-4, the greatness of early ’70s Mazdas is there for all to see.

Mike Garrett
Instagram: japanifornia_media
mike@speedhunters.com

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1

why is there 6 spark plug cables?

2

Rotor 1 - Leading and Trailing - 2
Rotor 2 Leading and Trailing - 2
Leading coil - 1
Trailing coil - 1

total - 6 leads

3

@snow18 Rotary engines have two coils, and two sparkplugs per rotor, a leading and trailing - total 6

4

Now that's the best looking RX-4 I've ever seen! WOW.
You just can't go wrong with a set of timeless BBS RSs. BEAUTIFUL!

5

But mike said this is a twin rotor

6

amirulmkhtr Read Timmy201's comment above again.

7

As soon as I saw those hindquarters, I know I would be in love with this. So much I can't even pick apart details, I'll take it all.

8

RX4's are up there in my list of favoured Mazda rotaries. I think the pillarless shape is bang on - the sedan's however aren't so pretty.

9

Wow, had never seen the dash of these. Awesome looking interior right there.

10

wildzero amirulmkhtr  Must still be school holidays

11

I bet that makes some awesome noises, looks so clean without and UIM & airbox setup.
ITB on my renesis?

13

You had better make this site age 18+ putting up pornography like this...

14

Before...

15

Is there any way to get that first picture downloadable?

16

Speechless!

17

FlipzoR presentation mode

18

Reminds me of the celica every bit as good looking.

19

Perfection!

20

Very nice.

The interior is one of the most impressive aspects. I assume old Japanese cars do not have people making replacement parts for them.

21

Excellent!!!

22

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23
KBoneForPresident

K-BOOOOOOOONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

24

Kenneth Bone is the last hope for America.

25

Joining in on the Ken Bone comments

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