Australian Muscle Car – July 01, 2019

Mazdato

therescue

J

ustashisFord

affiliationwas

crumblingaround

hisears,Allan

Moffatreceived

a potentiallycareer-savingcallfromMazda

Australia.TheoncestrugglingJapanese

carmakerwasona globalrenaissance

mission,withmotorracingasitsagbearer,

andthegrowingAustralianoperation,which

hadenjoyedsomeclasssuccessin thepast

withtheRX3,wantedpartoftheactionwithits

upcomingtwo-door‘sportscar’.

FormerMazdaAustraliaPRmanJohnCroker

recallshowcompanybossRayBaxterpresented

theRX7to hisexecutivesin 1978:“Wehadone

carin thecountryandit wasin thebasementof

theoffice.Weallwentdownandhada lookat it

andwent,‘Ohyeah!’Thenhesaid,‘Gentlemen,

we’regoingracing,andthistimewe’reoutright!’

Hewascontemplatingoutrightrightfromthe

wordgo,orthefactorywas.I don’tthinkRayhad

a racingbonein hisbody.”

Croker,wellconnectedin motorsportthrough

hisroleasa circuitcommentator,saidthe

smallmanagementgroupconsideredthreebig

namesto takeonthefactorydealin early1979.

However,PeterBrockhadjustrejoinedHolden

andColinBondhada Fordfactoryrallydeal,

butAllanMoffat’sForddealwasknownto beon

shakyground.

“RayBaxterlookedat meandsaid,‘John,

youknowMoffat,goandgivehima call.’So

that’swhatI did.I hadnointentionof it being

mewhowouldnegotiatewithhim,sowhen

Moffatsaid,‘Withallduerespect,John,I’m

themanagingdirectorof mycompanyandI’d

liketo dealwiththemanagingdirectorof your

company,’I saidthatwasne.Thenhesaid,‘If

onewordof thisgetsintoAutoAction, Croker,

you’redead!’

“I imagineMoffatsawit asthegoldenlifeline.

AftertheCobradebacle,hehadnothing.Ford

hadpulledthepinandhewaspreparedto do

almostanything,evendrivea Mazda!

“MazdalovedAustraliabecausewehada

biggermarketsharethanin Japan,soit wasa

caseof,whatdoyouneed,hereit is,goyour

hardest.”

Thersthurdlewasthecar’ssize,andthe

factit wasperceivedasa sportscar.Touringcar

regulationsdemandeda backseatof a certain

size,andtheMazdaroofmadeit tootight,sothe

factoryproduceda newrearsquabthatenabled

it to conformbythenarrowestof margins.

Curiously,themantaskedwiththejobof

measuringthecarwasCAMSofficial(andOran

Parkpromoter)AllanHorsley,whotwoyears

laterwouldperchancebeemployedbyMazda

Australiato beteammanagerof AllanMoffat

MazdaRacing.

“I remembergoingdownto thedocksand

measuringupthebackseat,andit hadan

indentationin therearseat,”Horsleyrecalls.“The

measurementfromthereto the

ceilingwasthekeymeasurement.

In myview,theyputthat(modied

rearsquab)in therejustto makeit.

Manufacturersin thosedayswould

dothingslikethatfortheFIA

homologation.”

HorsleysaysalltheRX7she

eversawafterwardshadexactly

thesamerearseat,butthatdidn’t

stopmanyfansandrivalsalike

fromclaimingit wasstilla sports

car,nota touringcar.But,in

termsof controversy,thatwasthe

leastof Mazda’sproblems...

Let thepoliticsbegin

H

aving accepted the challenge of taking

the RX7 racing, Moffat went to Japan

and met with the father of the rotary engine,

Kenichi Yamamoto (later to become company

president), then travelled to the US to test an

IMSA-spec factory car that had won its class

in the Daytona 24 Hour. He drove this car for

several days at a track just outside Washington

and was staggered that over the course of

700km, the crew never needed to lift the bonnet.

With the Falcons, he noted sardonically, he

would have been lucky to do 7km.

Moffat was convinced the rotary-engined RX7

with its lithe handling and braking could be turned

into a winner in Australia. It could compete with

a V8, he thought, despite its little 1.2-litre engine

(officially 2.4-litres with the 2.0 equivalence factor

applied by the FIA/CAMS). The problem was

that its 270hp was produced at very high revs

and there was very little torque. The IMSA car’s

power-boosting modi cation called peripheral

porting, which pumped fuel and air into the

outside of the miniscule rotor housings rather

than from the rear like the road car, was vital.

Conventional piston-engined touring cars

bene tted from modi ed camshafts, valves and

rocker arms – all items the simple rotary engine

didn’t have – so Moffat  gured this would be a

reasonable request. He would soon discover that

many thought otherwise.

Moffat continued campaigning his old XC

Falcon on a shoestring budget in 1979, and after

yet more expensive engine failures at Bathurst

he was virtually broke. He was forced to put on

Moffat liked what he saw in the RX7,

and Mazda liked the idea of the star

driver representing it. Mazda’s sales

success in the Australia dates back

to the days of the original RX7.

John Croker

Ray Baxter