Mazda R100s, RX-2s & RX-3s in Touring car racing

[Dazz]

They often pop up in various threads about Australian Production Car Racing in the late 60's and early 70's, from the Group C Australian Touring Car Championship rounds, AMSCAR races at Amaroo Park, as well as the Sandown and Bathurst endurance races, but I thought a dedicated thread on these early Rotary Powered Mazda's would be great, with as many pictures and information as possible.

There is a growing following of this period of racing and these cars in particular, and mostly by people who were too young to see them racing back in the day, and so we rely on the pictures and information from those who raced, reported and photographed them back in the day to get the information we desire.

I know from looking through some other threads here that some of the original Mazda Rotary drivers do pop on here occasionally, and their input would be greatly appreciated, especially on what these cars were like to drive back then, the types of modifications they performed, any actual performance or engine power figures, and ideally any pictures of under the bonnets or undersides of these cars showing exhaust and suspension, as these types of pictures are very scarce.

Whilst I'm primarily interested in the cars and drivers that competed in these car in Australia, anything relevant from New Zealand or overseas would be great to have as well.

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[rf84]

There was an excellent book published some years ago by Chris Denby titled "Mazda Rotary Down-Under". Part of the book was devoted to racing Mazdas. I don't know if it is still available.
I have contact details for Chris if you need them.

[Dazz]

I've got that book, it's a brilliant photo reference, and I've got most of the Aust. Touring Car and Bathurst annuals from that period, but I'm looking for as much actual information that I can find on possibly where some of the cars ended up, if any are still known to be around in whatever state, and if possible info from anyone who raced or prepared these cars back in the day, and I'm sure there are plenty of personal photo's around somewhere that have not been published before.

I know these cars were not always the most popular with the fans, but plenty of big name drivers spent time racing them quite successfully, so they have a definite part in touring car racing history, and it would be good to uncover as much of it as possible.

[Dazz]

I should mention in particular if anyone has any engine bay pictures of any of the Group C RX-3's, showing the various inlet manifold designs and variations these cars ran, 48 IDA's, IDF's, DCOE's etc, and any underside pics showing the different exhaust systems that were run.

I actually have, what I was told by a very reliable source who has since passed away, a set of twin HD8 SU's (ex E-Type Jag no less) on a manifold that mounts to the original RX-3 inlet manifold, that was fitted to a Group C RX-3, but would love to know what exact car it was used on.

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[Bryan]

I should mention in particular if anyone has any engine bay pictures of any of the Group C RX-3's, showing the various inlet manifold designs and variations these cars ran, 48 IDA's, IDF's, DCOE's etc, and any underside pics showing the different exhaust systems that were run.

I actually have, what I was told by a very reliable source who has since passed away, a set of twin HD8 SU's (ex E-Type Jag no less) on a manifold that mounts to the original RX-3 inlet manifold, that was fitted to a Group C RX-3, but would love to know what exact car it was used on.

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Hurley Engineering in the UK do a twin SU conversion for the 12A, although your setup looks more "handmade"
http://www.hurleyrotary.com/page.php?currentpageref=6264

[Dazz]

Yes this was specifically for Group C where carby's were free, but you had to use the std inlet manifold, so fabricated manifolds that bolted to the original were made to use a variety of carby's.

Barry Jones ran a twin 48ida setup that used only one barrel of each carby to get them as close over the original manifold runners.
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[Dazz]

Some also used various DCOE's (some huge 58mm ones) on similar style manifolds to my one with the SU's.
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