Hot Rods Restos
209-31136 Peardonville Rd Abbotsford BC Canada V2T6K7 V2T6K7 Abbotsford, BC, Canada

Last week we had the pleasure of introducing you to the Mazda R100. We promised you there would be more on the very modified sports coupe that was featured in ...the images. With extremely wide arches, dually rear tires and downturned muffler; those shots give a peek into the amount of power this little beast is making. This R100 was built by Hot Rods Restos, a shop located in Abbotsford BC that deals with custom builds and restoration. Rod built it for himself with track racing in mind but it had to have flair. The eyes immediately stare at the large width of the rear wheels, which are a 3 piece construction and of Rod's own design and have TWO P205/40R16 Falken Tire Azenis tires mounted on them due to the fact they are a staggering 16 inches wide each. Starting with a clean slate of a shell he added bubble fender flares at all four corners mimicking the SCCA racers we previously mentioned. Adding to that look is a custom front splitter, revised grille section, and out back mounted on the trunk lid is a whale tail" spoiler. The gold sections of the two-tone paint scheme is actually Cerakote paint which is used to coat parts subject to high temperature. As Rod mentions "there's no excuse for an ugly track car". Under the forward opening hood the firewall has been pushed back 12 inches to make room for a 2.0L 20B-REW three-rotor engine from a JC Eunos Cosmo (a younger brother to the original Cosmo that supplied the original 13B that was found in a stock R100). Which now sits centerline with the front spindles. The engine which was built by Force-Fed Performance Turbos & Tuning features lightweight rotors and a mild bridgeport. Fuelling is handled by twin Aeromotive 450lph pumps mounted in a Radium Engineering surge tank, next to an 18 gallon Fuel Safe cell. Boost is supplied by a single Borg Warner S400 SX-E 72mm turbocharger. All of the mayhem is controlled by a Microtech EFI LT-16c ECM and accompanying LTC Pro 7-inch touchscreen dash logger. It produces 700+hp and 560 lb/ft of torque at 18psi of boost and is capable of delivering over 1000hp to the rear wheels when running on E85 Ethanol. Putting all of that power to the ground is not an easy task even though this R100 has gained some weight and width (measuring approximately 2400lbs). Backing up the new engine is a T56 Magnum equipped with an S1 sequential shifter assembly and a twin-plate competition clutch. In the rear there is a bit more magic going on with a 10 inch Winters quick-change differential being prominently shown off. Around it is a very trick suspension setup consisting of QA1 four-way adjustable coilovers equipped with external reservoirs and a unique pivoting system similar to dirt oval racers. All of it is exposed via the Plexiglas floor cover. Up front gets the same coilovers and control arms from JOES Racing. This monsters stopping power comes from Wilwood Disc Brakes with their Dynapro series 6-piston big brake setup and an ASD hydraulic e-brake. Inside the cockpit is all business with maybe a touch of pleasure. Climbing in past the roll cage's door bars showcase two Kirkey aluminum bucket seats with 4 point harness. The centrepiece is the aforementioned T56, which is exposed as there is no transmission tunnel present and all of it is coated in the same gold Cerakote as the body. The LTC Pro sits on the steering column directly behind a JOES Racing steering wheel that has been given a diet to match the handbrake and seats. All of this attention to detail paid off for Rod as his R100 won the Sport Compact segment of Battle of the Builders at The SEMA Show 2018 and placing within the Top 4 overall. Rod has already taken the beastly little coupe out on the track at Sevenstock 20, where it originally made its debut and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. He has sights set on bigger things as he plans to prepare the R100 for the Optima Ultimate Street Car Challenge and the ultimate hill climb - Pikes Peak. Photos taken by the always awesome Alexander Turnbull - Team 604

We know what you're thinking... Why would a little coupe like that need dually rear tires? We'll get to that soon enough. First, we would like to introduce you ...to what this spritely two-door is. The Mazda RX-7, which we have written about recently isn't the only rotary-powered sports car in Mazda's stable. The coupe seen here is known as the R100 here in North America and even though it was only available for a few short years, it helped to bring the Wankel rotary engine further to the masses as Mazda slowly became the only automaker to produce the engines. Known as the Familia in Japan but was renamed the R100 for the American market. The Familia line went on and was in production until 2003. They were known under a few different names such as the 323 and Protege here in North America. They arrived on American shores in 1970 and were sold in 1971 and 72 through a newly formed dealership network and were one of the first cars imported by Mazda of North America. The little coupe was powered by the 10A-0813 twin-rotor engine, the same engine in the Cosmo albeit with a smaller carburetor, which now produced 100hp and 98lb/ft of torque. Power was put through a 4-speed manual and sent to the rear wheels. The R100 also featured a few distinguishing traits to separate it from its piston-powered siblings. Outwardly, it featured a prominent black grille section as opposed to chrome ones. The hood was raised along the middle and louvered towards the rear portion. A rotor badge was adorned front and center. US versions had single round headlamps instead of large square units to comply with DOT regulations at the time. On the tail panel sat four round taillights as opposed to the square ones on piston-powered cars. Underneath the coupes received stiffer coil springs in front and an extra leaf on the rear semi-elliptical springs. 14 inch wheels were installed on all four corners, an upsize from 13 inches. Under that, the front disc brakes were enlarged to 9.6 inches. The light little Mazda coming in at 863kg (1903lbs.) was capable of sprinting from 0-100km/hr (62mph) in 9.1 seconds, completing a quarter-mile in 16.4 seconds onto a top speed of 180km/hr (112mph). Mazda felt that the R100 was incredibly capable and thus entered the coupe in various forms of touring car racing, they quickly earned the nickname "little giants" because they outperformed a majority of their competitors. The coupes won the 1969 Singapore Touring Grand Prix where they debuted and went on to place high up in the standings at famous circuits like Spa Francorchamps, Suzuka Circuit and Marathon de la Route (also known as the longest race in the world at a recorded 84 hours). These coupes were the first mass-produced Rotary engined car for Mazda and helped to pave the way for other RX models such as the RX-2, RX-3 and RX-7. Bravo to Mazda for pushing the envelope and putting further development into an engine that went against the grain. Unfortunately, due to the oil crisis in 1973, Mazda ceased sales and the R100 slowly fell into obscurity. Check back soon to see what makes this particular R100 so different. Photos taken by Rick Alan Chappell of Hot Rods Restos amazingly well-built R100 which you'll see more in-depth here soon! Fun facts: - Originally only sold in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Alaska along with Canada as those were the only areas where dealerships had been set up. - In Japan, the Rotary powered cars were in the under 1.0L tax bracket due to the engine displacing 982cc. - The R100 gets its name from having a Rotary engine "R" that produced 100hp - It was the only rotary-powered subcompact car ever available

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