Thirty-one-year-old Skotchdopole, whose daily driver is a Mazda RX-8, came across his now 50-year-old REPU in Denver, Colorado. “They’re a bit tough to find,” he says. “It belonged to a rotary shop owner, and he showed me pictures of the truck lined up at the drag strip at Bandimere Speedway from before I was even born.”

Despite this pedigree, the REPU still packs plenty of punch. The acceleration the rotary engine provides, Skotchdopole says, is “exhilarating”, while the minimal body roll and feedback when cornering has that unique Mazda touch. “I still use it as my shop truck for my business – Rotor Rehab,” he says. “We specialise in bringing rotary-powered cars back to life and get them back on the road. I’m sure there have been hundreds of rotary engines and tyres in the REPU’s truck bed.”

As for the “rotary power” decal on its rear? “That’s to let everyone else know just how special it is,” says Skotchdopole. Now 50 years since the REPU’s debut, this “king of the mini trucks” remains “absolutely fantastic”, he smiles. “It’ll go forever.”

FERDI VAN HOUT’S MAZDA RX-4

In the Netherlands, 41-year-old Ferdi van Hout also holds a special relationship with Mazda’s rotary engine technology. Van Hout has owned a 1991 RX-7 FC Turbo and a 1975 Mazda 929, and his love for these “old-school rotaries” saw him start a restoration project with an eye-catching 1974 Mazda RX-4 – a culmination of RX-7 and MX-5 parts, and even a few that he built himself. “I wasn’t even the highest bidder for the project,” he says. “But to the seller, I was the right guy to finish his work and make it a one-of-a-kind build.”

It would take van Hout over four years to make the RX-4 roadworthy, with the vehicle undergoing a full restoration from the ground up. While it’s a project that “will never truly be finished”, he says, he made sure to go back to the seller and show the fruits of his labour. “Seeing and feeling the car alive brought tears to his eyes,” he says. “He remembered every corner of the body and what had been done.”

Since then, the RX-4 has seen plenty of action, with joyful countryside cruising and, more remarkably, playing a key role in van Hout’s wedding day. “We got married in this car,” he says, visibly proud. “It’s now a big part of our life story.” Van Hout also takes the RX-4 to circuit days at Circuit Zandvoort – the home of the Dutch Grand Prix – with the Dutch Hadi-Mazda Club, a community of Mazda enthusiasts whom he describes as being “like family”.

There’s plenty of external attention, too. “I can’t go anywhere without people taking pictures,” van Hout says. “There’s lots of turning heads and thumbs-ups when people pass me on the highway. Everyone just loves the car.” Despite this, its origins remain a mystery for those watching it speed by. “Nobody knows what it is,” he says. “The surprised look on people’s faces when they hear it’s Japanese is pure gold.”

For Thorén, the RX-7 (which has been nicknamed “Feisty”) has been a catalyst for lifelong memories made with local communities. “The rotary engine alone has created such a passionate community who understand each other and have mutual respect,” she says. “I also organise an event called Sevens Day in the Brisbane region, which has become a bit of a worldwide celebration.”

Having owned the RX-7 FD for seven years, Thorén has been hard at work accentuating the vehicle’s shape, including a vented bonnet, gunmetal wheels and carbon-fibre detailing. It’s a hot ticket. “People ask if I’ll ever sell her, and I reply that I’ll be buried in her. I absolutely adore this car,” she says. “Only Mazda would have the mettle to make something so different work.”

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