In the late 1970s, Mazda was starting to come out with some very fresh, clean bodylines. Lines without that all-too-common Japanese fussiness about them. Of course, we all know about the high-profile sexy little Series 1 RX-7, but what about Mazda's other sporty car - the 626 coupe? This vehicle wasn't much of a high-performance machine, mind you; it took until the turbocharged FWD 626 coupe of the mid 80s to find any worthy grunt. This was followed a few years later by the MX-6 turbo and then the swoopy 2.5-litre V6 MX-6. Indeed, this is one solid string of good-looking, subtle-aging vehicles.
The unconventional idea to do up a '79 Mazda 626 coupe was originally that of Pat Axiak - the brother of man behind Sydney's AXE Performance. However, this car is now the proud possession of one Scott Jackson - the lucky guy who spied it in a modified car magazine and, later, advertised For Sale in Unique Cars. Of course, Scott simply couldn't resist the opportunity to snap up such a rare find. He'd already owned a '79 626 coupe onto which he had thrown a set of Simmons wheels and lowered springs. Despite leaving the 2-litre SOHC four stock, Scott recognised how "really nice" these cars are. Well built, reliable, simple and clean styled.
After having walked around Pat's yellow 626 kicking the low-profile tyres, it didn't take long before Scott agreed to hand over the desired amount of readies and proceeded to drive it back to his house. That 8-9 hour drive, mind you, is the furthest that the car's travelled since Scott bought it back in '97. As you've probably guessed from looking at the pics, this is a pure show car. It might get driven on the street once a month, but that's about it.
With Scott very focussed on the show scene, he and the car have (so far) scooped awards for Top Rotor at the '98 Jamboree and Top Car of the Show at this year's Jamboree. That last one, by the way, it a pretty good trophy to get... Back this up with some Top Car awards at local shows and you can understand the level of detailing that's gone into this 626.
Bought already prepared as a show car, the 626 coupe remains almost the same as when it separated from Pat.
Body wise, a back-to-bare-metal respray in a custom mix yellow brightened the overall look and attracted attention to the car's pretty lines. This cosmetic work wasn't just focussed on the exterior, doorjambs and engine bay - the whole undercarriage was also stripped of its factory tar covering and given a thorough spray. To say this car is colour-coded is an understatement. The same shade of yellow extends to the handles, locks, wipers, bumpers, mirrors, trims and sills; even the window mouldings. As they detracted from the beautiful profile, Mazda's factory protector strips are long-gone.
Rather than make absolutely everything yellow, however, there were also liberal applications of contrasting grey. Grey details include the crossmember, (custom) engine mounts, suspension, oil cooler, sump, diff gearbox and more. Any area where there was too much yellow, grey was the "escape" colour.
Indoors, the eye-catching grey contrast is also used to good effect. Pat's Stage One was to strip everything thing out and start afresh with repadded and leather-trimmed Cobra Sprint seats, while the rear of the cabin is consumed by a padded half cage. That means there's no back seat, making this Mazda a true 1 + 1. Colour-coded plush pile carpet covers the floor, the console is left out and custom inset door trims block the ugly view of the window winding mechanism. The whole package is very well coordinated.
The stock Mazda 2-litre SOHC wouldn't have gained much cred with anyone - let alone the car freaks who were gonna be pouring over this car at shows. That's why it was pulled out and replaced by an extended bridgeport RX-4 13B. Pat's brother - Alf - assembled the motor with lightened twin rotors equipped with carbon seals. There's also a billet steel flywheel for total piece of mind.
With the requirement that the whole car stay road legal, emissions were kept down to an acceptable level with the fitment of a MicroTech D5 programmable computer. D5, you ask? Yep, that was the then "in" model, introduced over five years ago. Fuel is fired in at the base of twin 48mm throttle bodies atop of an ASK intake manifold, while that fabricated aluminium intake plenum is an absolute work of art. All the welds have been ground back so perfectly it looks like the whole thing has been cast. A convoluted tube feeds air in from behind the grille.
Not wanting to be lumped in with the drag racing crowd, the 626 carries 2-inch Racing Beat extractors leading into a 3-inch mandrel pipe with triple resonators and a muffler. In summary, the dBs are equivalent to that of a production car and it doesn't appear too extroverted either: the tip is nestled right up close to the body, not a focal piece on its own.
Backing the 13B is a bonded and riveted clutch, hydraulic one-tonne pressure plate and the standard 626 gearbox casing stuffed with Series 2 RX-7 gears. These are much more suited to the rotary than the ratios used with the piston motor. The 'box splines to a shortened RX-4 tailshaft running to a modified Mazda diff. The standard 626 housing is retained and came to Scott picked the car up spinning an ultra-short 5.1:1 race LSD. Since then, however, he's toned it down a bit and moved to a 4.11:1 ratio, which is much more relaxed at cruise. Twenty-eight spline billet axles ensure strength in the rear end.
Despite rarely being seen by anyone, the driveline and suspension are fully detailed. On top of the efforts Pat had put in, Scott has also given it the big once-over. Touches of white paint adorn the lowered Pedders springs - which drop the body 3½ to 3¼ inches - and the swaybars and Koni dampers. For now brakes remain standard, but Scott may soon change that situation. White is also the colour of the 16-inch Simmons V4 wheels that have somehow crammed their way into the standard wheel arches. Scott has, however, changed the rear track to accommodate the width of those tyres - 225/50 Pirelli P700s. Prior to this they were scraping occasionally under suspension compression.
If you want detail, take a look in the engine bay and the boot. Up front, there's a polished (custom) tower brace, radiator cover, rotor housings, alternator and the aforementioned plenum chamber. Add to this braided lines, concealed wiring, a relocated battery, and plated fasteners, and you're talkin' schmick. The battery now lives in the boot, where there's also a polished surge tank, exposed fuel pump and more braided lines. With the factory carpet gone in favour of a stripped'n'sprayed appearance, the mandatory grey splashing is a vinyl spare wheel cover. Only a fool would put anything dirty in this boot!
In summary, Scott hasn't done all that much to the car since he bought it. Why would he? What he has done, however, is go over the whole lot with a fine toothcomb doing stuff like filling in the screw holes for the headlight surrounds. Yep, it's this sort of attention to detail that wins car shows. And you get an even bigger buzz out of it when you're pulling trophies with something that isn't run-of-the-mill.
|