1970 Mazda Familia/R100 Coupe

Description

The Mazda R100 used the 0820 rotary engine similar to the one used in the Cosmo Sport Series II. It was a 2 door 2+2 coupé and was produced from 1968 to 1973. It was also known as the Familia Presto Rotary and was quite ordinary except for its power plant. Power was rated at just 100 hp (70 kW) due to a small carburetor (thus the "R100" name).\\The 10A was greatly revised for the wide scale production of the R100/Familia Rotary. A lot of the changes were made to help reduce the production cost of the motor. Some of these modifications were the use of cast iron in the side housings, aka the plates, less-expensive moulded aluminium for the housings (instead of sand-cast), and finally the a new chrome-steel for the eccentric shaft. The port configuration remained the same, although the exhaust was no longer routed around the rotor housing.

Following on the success of the Cosmo Sports at Nürburgring in 1968, Mazda decided to race another rotary car. The Familia Rotary Coupé won its first outing, at the Grand Prix of Singapore, in April, 1969.Next, the company took on the touring car endurance challenge at Spa, the Spa 24 Hours. For 1969, Mazda entered a pair of Familia Rotary Coupés. The cars came fifth and sixth the first year after a quartet of Porsche 911s. The Familia also placed fifth at the Marathon de la Route at Nürburgring in 1969, the same race that the Cosmo had bowed at the previous year. Finally, Mazda took the Familia home for the Suzuka All-Japan Grand Cup, where it won easily.

These early Mazda Rotary's have gained a worldwide following with very few cars surviving in original condition, these early Rotary cars are now highly sought after by collectors.