Wow, no way! That's awesome.

i'll take two..

Just found this thread, and my, did it bring back memories!

I bought a 1974 RX4 new back in '74 from Baron Motor Cars in Great Neck, Long Island. I had just read the cover story on the RX4 in Car and Driver and I was hooked. My car was silver with a white interior.

I had a very modified VW bug at the time (2180cc, dual Webers, 180hp on the dyno) and I traded the car in on the Mazda. The dealer asked me if I could replace some of the modified parts with OE parts, and put together a 1600cc single port motor from a box of parts I bought from a friend.

The RX4's had thermal reactors on them to meet emmisions standards, and one of the byproducts of the thermal reactor is that some fuel vapors would still be in the reactor when you shut it down, and about 20 seconds after shut-down, the vapor would explode and you would get a 'boom!' from the exhaust.

Years later I'm working for Automobile Magazine and we are in California to present Mazda with an All-Star Award for the Miata, and over lunch I am sitting with one of the engineers who worked on the RX4, and I tell the story of the 'kaboom' of my RX4, and he laughed and giggled and nodded his head. It was a priceless moment.

I sold the RX4 to my ex-brother in law, and he parked it at a LIRR train station and the car was stolen and stripped. I never forgave for it.

Anyway, here's some pics, and I'd give anything to buy back that car (hint, hint.....)

Bob

Awesome story Bob, though sad to hear the final outcome.

Ahhh...the RX-4! Brings back memories. Me and a couple coworkers used to drive from NH to Marlboro via RT 3 & 495, me in my RX-2, they in there RX-3 and RX-4, all armed with Escort passive radar detectors that used to go off about the time you saw the staties up ahead.

Those were the days when Mazda was **ALL** about rotaries! How things have changed...

LOL!

I recall going to Watkins Glen for the Grand Prix in 1974 and racing a V6 Capri on Route 17. I was in 4th gear with the redline buzzer going full blast and pulling the Capri even with 3 of us in the car. That was until we got caugh in a radar trap. He wrote me up for 80mph, which was incredibly kind of him as I was well into triple digits.

If anyone knows of an RX4 coupe for sale, I'd love to know about it.

Bob

Where are you from Bob? Hit me up via PM.

that's a pretty awesome story. my friend's mom drove an rx-3 she bought new in the 70s and she remembers the kaboom, too. she'd always duck 'cuz they sounded like gunshots. i love these old rotarys, and especially the rx-3. there's an rx-3 wagon that keeps showing up on LA's craigslist that i really want

man thats an awesome part of history right there