The revolutionary Mazda you might never have heard of

By Martin Buckley

| 13 Apr 2026

Classic & Sports Car – Mazda R100 Coupé: quiet revolutionary

There is much to be said for starting from scratch in the car-making game.

You can approach matters with fresh eyes, avoiding past mistakes and the manacles of tradition, and all while assessing the commercial landscape with a dispassionate rationalism.

Thus it was with the Japanese motor industry as it blossomed in the late 1960s and early ’70s.

It was not merely a case of newcomers learning not to run before they could walk.

The Japanese, with no real tradition of automobile manufacture, enjoyed the luxury of being able to sit back and see what worked – and what didn’t – from both product and industrial points of view.

It’s time for the Mazda R100 Coupé to step out of the Cosmo’s shadow

Simple, dependable and well-made cars appeared to be the message, built to serve the end user rather than satisfy engineers’ egos.

Characterless, tinny and gruesomely styled in some instances, for sure, but customers would prove more than willing to overlook these shortcomings if the price was right and the product was dependable.

It was the birth of the car as a consumer durable – ‘white goods’ as we might say today – and when individualism was engineered out in favour of a merciless banality.

And the formula proved very successful. Build them simple and build them bland, but build them well.

The Mazda R100 Coupé’s hubcaps are a rare commodity

Most of all, build lots and lots and lots of them, so when supplies from rival firms dry up (probably due to strikes), you can step in with immediate delivery in a full choice of colours.

From its first, faltering steps barely a decade earlier, Japan was becoming a threat on all fronts, shaping up to dominate a landscape that, largely through its own arrogance and complacency, was ready for the taking.

As with its cameras, motorcycles and transistor radios, its once clumsy and unappealing automobiles were becoming distressingly acceptable by the turn of the decade, even desirable in some terms.

The compact and neatly proportioned Mazda R100 has room for four in a cosy cabin

What these cars might still have lacked in certain areas of styling and technical finesse, they more than made up for in terms of finish, high standards of equipment and value for money.

The world was ready for them, which was just as well because most of the two million cars its industry built (increasing by 30% annually) were for export rather than for the domestic market, where there were still barely the roads fit to drive automobiles on.

Where the likes of Nissan and Toyota shied away from high-tech solutions, Toyo Kogyo, the company that marketed Mazda cars, did things slightly differently.

This classic Mazda looks great in this Lexus metallic hue

It was far from the biggest operator, but, having thrown in its lot with the rotary engine, punched above its weight with its large waterfront factories in Hiroshima.

Toyo Kogyo bought the rights to build the Wankel engine from NSU in 1961 and was soon outflanking the Germans.

Its engineers made a working prototype before the first units had even arrived from Neckarsulm.

Its production motors were, arguably, more dependable, less thirsty and more powerful than the originals.

If Datsun and Toyota could capture the minds and wallets of customers incentivised purely by value for money, Mazda hoped to command the attention and respect of the connoisseurs and taste-makers of automotive culture.

‘The pulsing, two-stroke throb at tickover softens into a turbine hum as the revs rise’

If it hedged its bets by continuing to produce, concurrently, utterly unremarkable, piston-engined cars (such as the Mazda 1000 and the pretty, Bertone-styled 1500/1800 saloon), it unmistakably set the tone of its ambition straight out of the gate with the futuristic-looking 110S Cosmo, a rotary-engined, sports-car flagship that drove as well as it looked but, being largely handbuilt, was not cheap.

What was required was a means of spreading the Wankel fairy dust in the form of a more affordable, more exportable car based on the established, piston-engined platforms.

Enter the 1968-’73 Mazda R100.

This Mazda R100 Coupé isn’t a restomod, but it’s been subtly enhanced by the team at Silver Fern Performance

Unremarkable in all things other than its engine, it was based on Mazda’s second-generation Familia, the car that, from 1963 in first-generation form, had brought the company out of the kei-car class (with the R360 and Carol) into the small family saloon market.

The car we know as the R100 Coupé was shown as a prototype alongside the Cosmo at the 1967 Tokyo motor show, based on the new Familia 1200 Coupé and badged RX-85.

It was introduced in its home market as the Familia Rotary Coupé in July 1968 (but badged R100 – less of a mouthful – for export) and differentiated itself from the piston-engined models by way of a more prominent bonnet, grille and bumper shape, along with circular rear lights and appropriate badging.

Mazda R100 Coupés for the North American market were fitted with circular headlamps

The Mazda R100 was an interim product, sitting between the exotic, somewhat exclusive Cosmo and the mass-produced RX-2/RX-3/RX-4, a huge 725,000 examples of which were built between 1970 and ’78. These models paved the way for the success of the marque’s RX-7.

The R100 was also produced for its home market in four-door form as the SS Rotary Sedan.

In both cases it ran bigger, 14in wheels, disc front brakes and a larger, 13-gallon fuel tank to accommodate an 18-23mpg thirst.

In Japan, this greediness was somewhat offset by the cheaper, under-1-litre road-tax bracket applied to the Mazda R100.

This Mazda has a highly modified 12A engine making 200bhp

Its 0820 Type 10A, twin-rotor, 100bhp engine – 491cc per rotor – was less highly tuned than the Cosmo’s but could be built at the rate of 4000 a month, at a time when NSU was only making 750 Ro80 engines a month.

It featured cast-iron rather than alloy side plates, cast-iron rotors, side inlet porting and two spark plugs per cylinder.

Its twin distributors helped slightly staggered ignition timing, and carbon apex-seals were used for their longevity and self-lubricating qualities.

Within a few years, Mazda would prove the compact, smooth and powerful rotary unit was a feasible everyday technology.

The Mazda R100 Coupé has discreet vents in its neat C-pillar

The R100’s case was helped by notable success in endurance events: in 1969, Mazda R100s won the Grand Prix of Singapore and Suzuka All-Japan Grand Cup, scored fifth and sixth at the Spa 24 Hours, and took fifth in the Marathon de la Route at the Nürburgring.

The architecture of the car, a dinky fastback of unmistakably Japanese origin, was identical to that of its piston-engined sibling: a steel monocoque-bodied, close-coupled four-seater with front MacPherson struts and a leaf-sprung live rear axle.

Standard equipment included a toolkit, a neat plug-in inspection light and a 6800rpm warning buzzer that, in unison with a device that shut down the Hitachi carburettor’s second choke, protected the engine from over-revving.

The Mazda R100 Coupé’s circular rear lights are another nod to rotary power

In original, four-speed form the R100, usefully lighter than the Cosmo, would do 60mph in second gear, 80mph in third and anything between 108 and 112mph flat-out, depending on whose version of events you believed.

At a relaxed 100mph cruise, it was pulling 5250rpm (it was fairly high-geared), but only doing about 14mpg.

The car pictured here, FVG 673J, was shown at Race Retro in 2025, having emerged from an exhaustive rebuild at Silver Fern Performance, a marque specialist in North Wales.

Its restoration is the product of devoted collaboration between owner Ryan Theodore and Dwayne Aislabie of Silver Fern.

This modified Mazda R100 Coupé has a five-speed gearbox, but the original lever was retained

Most of the decision-making took place over WhatsApp, with Ryan living between his home in Sydney, Australia, and work projects in Qatar.

The beautiful, dark-green paint is a Lexus colour, courtesy of Colin Williams of Bayside Services, who invested 400 hours into the fully rustproofed and seam-sealed bodyshell, in which the owner was keen to engineer-out as many rattles as possible.

“It is not a fully-fledged restomod that overwhelms the original chassis,” says Ryan, an enthusiastic collector of rotary Mazdas, “more of an ‘OEM-plus’ restoration that respects the original concept while incorporating subtle enhancements.

“It’s a pure road car that will not see a track day, never mind a race. The original character of the car has not been compromised; it’s what Mazda might have produced if it had continued making the R100.”

The Wankel engine’s Reuleaux triangle outline appears on the Mazda R100’s grille badge

Beautifully presented in the surgically clean engine bay, the compact rotary unit is now a bridge-ported 12A with Series 1/2 RX-7 housings, modified exhaust ports and enlarged inlet tracts, and with the front plate modified to allow for side-mounting of the engine, as the 10A was originally installed in the R100.

The rotors, lightened and balanced, are of RX-7 S2/3 origin; likewise the ignition system, five-speed gearbox, rear axle and rear discs.

The front discs are standard R100, but the boot-mounted servo is a modern, electronic job.

The high-output oil pump, stainless-steel exhaust (with twin silencers and 3in ‘dump’ pipe) and large-capacity radiator are custom items, as are the limited-slip differential and high-output coils.

There’s an oil cooler and a modern alternator, and the battery has been moved to the boot.

These seats were unique to rotary-engined Mazda R100s

I had forgotten how small these early Mazdas were: at 4ft 10¼in (1480mm) wide, this pretty little classic car is also narrow for its length and looks almost freakishly tiny among obese modern motors.

It sits a little lower than the original, but does not look slammed – the sad fate of too many ’70s classics these days.

The wheels are standard R100 steels, and if I told you how much the hubcaps are worth you wouldn’t believe me.

Shoulder room in the cabin is at a premium for two slightly above-averagely built males.

With the seats set right back, there is no legroom in the rear – and not much headroom, either.

The rotary-powered Mazda R100 Coupé’s bonnet, grille and bumper differ from the piston-engined model

The thinly padded seats recline, have built-in headrests and, like the dashboard, were unique to the rotary-engined versions of these Mazdas in export markets; in Japan, some top-specification, piston-engined Familia models had the same dash.

With its central stack of instruments, it evokes the look of the Cosmo’s fascia, with a hint of Alfa Romeo or Lotus, complete with a (real) wood-rimmed steering wheel, a map light, and separate ammeter and oil-pressure gauges.

During the restoration, Dwayne managed to retain the car’s original four-speed gearlever, which exits at a pleasing angle from the base of the console.

The Mazda R100 Coupé’s busy centre stack in the compact cabin

With double the amount of power it had when it left the factory, you can take it as read that this diminutive Mazda R100 goes down the road in a pretty nifty fashion – without, we are pleased to report, being a crazy hot rod.

It certainly goes about its business far more assertively than its arguably somewhat apologetic looks could suggest.

The gently pulsing, two-stroke throb at tickover softens into a turbine hum as the revs climb.

Pull away, and you’ll discover that the clutch is light and smooth, while steering that initially seems vague around the straight-ahead improves as the speeds rise.

The Mazda R100 was also offered as a four-door saloon in the Japanese market

Dwayne has engineered-out the original soft damping and tendency for the rear axle to hop sideways, and made this classic car’s handling flat and neutral up to high cornering forces.

The Mazda R100’s slender build accentuates its nimble feel, and the brakes are magnificent in terms of both power and balance.

Like most Japanese gearboxes, this one has a sweet, light and precise action.

With that extra ratio, the main limit on top speed must be the ability to keep the car’s front wheels in contact with the ground.

Hold it in second or third gear, and the power just keeps coming, becoming smoother.

This classic Mazda’s real wood-rimmed steering wheel

I instinctively change up early, but there always seems to be power to spare. There is also plenty of low-speed urge, with no feeling of snatch.

Rare though it is today, the R100 was not especially uncommon in its period: total production through to 1973 was 95,800 units.

It spearheaded Mazda’s assault on the North American market (US models had circular headlamps) in 1971-’72, and about 1500-2000 went to Australia, where its performance and $2790 price-tag put it in the same class as a variety of big Fords and Holdens.

Its impact in the UK was minimal, though: certainly, very few made it here.

‘With that extra ratio, the main limit on top speed must now be the ability to keep the front wheels on the deck’

There were still only 30 Mazda dealerships in Britain back in 1970 and, priced at £1649, the R100 was too much of an oddity to gain much traction against the likes of Ford’s cheaper and faster 3-litre Capri, the nifty Opel Rekord Sprint, and a variety of coupés on offer from Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Fiat.

Any pre-RX-7, rotary-engined Mazda is a rare sight out on the roads or at a classic car show today, but with only three or four known to be in the UK (out of an unknown total imported), the R100 has a semi-mythical status – second only to the original Cosmo.

Images: Jack Harrison

Thanks to: Silver Fern Performance

Factfile

Mazda R100
(specifications for standard car)

Sold/number built 1968-’73/95,800
Construction steel monocoque
Engine alloy/iron 982cc twin-rotor Wankel, Hitachi twin-choke carburettor
Max power 100bhp @ 7000rpm
Max torque 98lb ft @ 3500rpm
Transmission four-speed manual, RWD
Suspension: front independent, by MacPherson struts, anti-roll bar rear live axle, leaf springs, telescopic dampers
Steering recirculating ball
Brakes discs front, drums rear, servo
Length 12ft 7¾in (3854mm)
Width 4ft 10¼in (1480mm)
Height 4ft 5in (1346mm)
Wheelbase 7ft 5½in (2273mm)
Weight 1770lb (803kg)
0-60mph 10.9 secs
Top speed 108mph
Mpg 18-21
Price new £1650