MAZDA RX3

ITS SUCCESS AS A TOURING CAR IN COMPETITION AROUND THE WORLD HAS ADDEDS TO ITS MASSIVE APPEAL AND PRICES

One marvellous benefit of modern communication is the ability of buyers to be appalled in real time while viewing a horror of a car being sold thousands of kilometres away.

The market for the Mazdas we call RX3s, but are officially and more generally known as Savannas, has become ultra-competitive and slightly crazy. Most of the really good RX3s that survived here and in Japan found new owners years ago and rarely reach the open market. That shortage has seen examples ranging from ordinary to absolute junk trotted out; mostly at ridiculous prices.

Looking on-line at a car priced at A$70,000, that is said to ‘require TLC’ and with rivers of rust cascading off every panel highlighted the realisation that finding a good RX3 (especially a coupe) is no longer easy and certainly not cheap.

The RX3 Savanna was sold in Australia from 1972-76. Sales weren’t brisk because a car that cost $3500 to buy might add another third of that amount for insurance. Not helping to dilute the insurers’ fears was its record as a competition car, which included a couple of Bathurst 1000 class wins.

Early cars used 982cc engines but later Australian-spec RX3s had the more tractable 1.2-litre 12A. Output at the time was a subdued 82kW, with that figure due in part to a restrictive exhaust system designed to reduce noise from the naturally-rowdy rotary.

As they aged, a lot of RX3s fell into hands of the irresponsible who crashed them beyond repair or destroyed them mechanically. Many disappeared into wrecking yards but the parts and panels that once were common have all but disappeared.

RX3 engines will likely have been modified or replaced and that can have an impact on future values. Finding a car that’s totally original and hasn’t acquired a later version of the 12A or even a 13B is difficult, but insisting on ‘matching numbers’ is vital if you are buying a high-value car and keen to preserve its long-term value.

Visually and on the inside an RX3 may have been modified in ways that are costly to reverse and that will also affect value. Some are true show-stoppers with body modifications and paint effects that cost many thousands to apply and some buyers happily leave them this way.

However the market tends to value these cars at significantly less than the money realised by pristine, showroom-stock equivalents. Sedans in general cost less than coupes but condition plays a greater role in determining value than the number of doors an RX3 might have.

Plenty of spares and repair outfits specialise in rotary Mazdas, so finding the parts and expertise to keep a car running won’t be difficult. Joining a local Mazda clubs will put you in touch with fellow owners whose experiences can help you decide which of these businesses will be best at taking care of your car and your wallet.