Words: Peter ‘Pedey’ Kelly Photos: Quinn Hamill

Every once in a while a force within local import car culture emerges to change the entire scene. Whether it be Brett Lee-Sang’s Evo running its first 10-second pass at Champion Dragway, or perhaps Mad Mike’s Bat drifter popping its first opposite lock, these moments and the cars involved are what keeps this scene alive and kicking.

A new take on the notion of Rear-Windows?

Here at NZPC we think we have found the next big thing. Yes, we are finally able to show our faithful readers the near-finished product of a build that we have been following for some time: Brendon Gilbert’s radical 1994 Mazda RX-7 Type-R. This awesome piece of machinery will surely be a catalyst, a vehicle that incites a full shake-up within the Kiwi show scene. Sure, it’s a big call to make but I’m sticking by it — this car is simply mind blowing!

Around three months ago I was in a fairly rare motivated state of mind and decided to give Brendon a call to tell him I had booked a studio to shoot his then half-finished RX-7. The heat was now on. Brendon had just eight weeks to take his rolling primered shell (as seen wowing crowds at this year’s Auckland Auto Salon) and turn it into one of the coolest cars we have ever seen.

I could almost hear Brendon’s heart sink as it dawned upon the poor man that for the next two months his social life would cease to exist, and that he could well develop an addiction to epoxy resin. But determined bloke he is, dates were agreed upon and threats of violent consequences for failure exchanged. The race was on. But before going any further the question must be asked: what on earth possesses a man to modify a car to this dizzying extent? “About a year-and-a-half ago Soundstream took me over to a massive event in Las Vegas called CES (Consumer Electronics Show),” Brendon told us. “It was an interesting experience checking out all the modified vehicles, but at the end of it all I thought to myself, I could do better than this. You see, most of the cars there had bodywork, motor work or sounds; very few had all three.

Batman eat your heart out!

But of those that were completely modified, 95 per cent of them were built by companies who had simply poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into these rides. So although I run an audio store, I didn’t want the RX-7 to be another demo car like those, I wanted it to be mine and be modified by myself and my friends — who I wouldn’t have got anywhere without — using a very slim-line budget. In saying that, obviously the Mad Soundz and Soundstream hook-ups helped immensely, and I wouldn’t have been able to get the car anywhere near where it is without them.”

Pulling up to the studio on the day of the photoshoot, we began the long and arduous task of sliding the Mazda off the trailer, an action that was beginning to cause a stir in the mid-afternoon inner-city heat — firstly because the trailer was hitched to a former NZPC feature car (Brendon’s air-bagged and ICEd-out Chrysler 300C wagon), and secondly because of the unique sight that began to emerge from deep within the enclosed compartment. One passer-by with a slightly confused look on his face sheepishly edged closer.

“That’s an RX-7, isn’t it?” I confirmed his suspicions and asked what he thought of the car. “It looks amazing! Although it kind of makes me wonder if it’s too modified though; does anyone ever drive it?” Well, not yet. But even though Brendon’s Mazda is about as modified as a car can get, he plans to have it on the road whenever he can. Whether that means a jaunt on the track, a big-balls burnout at a comp or a quick sneaky trip down to the beach during summer, the car will most definitely be driven.

Finally getting the RX settled in among the stark whiteout of the studio surroundings, we got our first good look at the finished product. A slick, odd-looking machine, the Batty almost appears as though Godzilla, or perhaps even Mothra, has perched itself upon a standard RX-7 as it left the Hiroshima-based Mazda factory, flattening it out like you would pizza dough. This, as you might have guessed, is thanks to the hundreds of hours worth of bodywork carried out by the visionaries at Tauranga’s Team Crash Repairs.

For the passenger…the question is headphones or ear-muffs? Oh and you might as well black-out the windows while you’re at it…

They are a dedicated bunch, and many a late night was spent widening the car’s waist and shortening its stature to create the one-off look. The car now sits so low (thanks to the four-inch roof-chop and D2 coil-over suspension), the roof line now peaks at a mere 40 inches high, equal to one of the lowest road-going cars of all time, the Ford GT-40. Seeing as Brendon has yet to buy a number plate for this super-low supercar, perhaps RX-40 might be a good choice.

I guess we will all just have to wait until its official public unveiling at the ’08 4&Rotary Nationals to see this hip-high work of art in a completely finished state, personalised plate and all.

Tuning Menu

1994 Mazda RX-7 Type-R (FD3S)

Engine: Mazda 20B triple rotor, factory twin turbo, 4-inch intake, 2x K&N air filters, custom bored-out throttle body, custom front-mount intercooler, 3-inch intercooler piping, Turbosmart blow-off valve, 4-inch custom exhaust system, 2x Bosch Motorsport fuel pumps, ZEX nitrous system, ZEX purge kit, MicroTech LTX-12 ECU, alloy 3-core radiator, alloy oil cooler, 3x Supercharge 1000 CCA batteries

Driveline: Factory FD3S 5-speed gearbox, H/D single-plate clutch, FD3S Type-R factory limited slip differential

Suspension: Fully adjustable D2 coil-over shocks/springs, Type-R spec 4-wheel disc brakes

Wheels/Tyres: 20-inch Dub Esinem alloys, Falken 235/30R20 tyres

Exterior: BN Sports Blister full widebody kit, 4-inch roof chop, BMW 3 Series roof, custom shaped rear end, custom split rear window, custom rear diffuser, custom taillights, custom air-ram actuated doors

Interior: Perspex seats, Perspex floor, Perspex steering wheel, custom fibreglass dash, custom fibreglass doors, smoothed floor, Auto Meter boost gauge, Auto Meter oil pressure gauge, Pioneer Vehicle Dynamic System

ICE: Pioneer 5750 DVD head unit, 5.1 processor, 2x Soundstream 15-inch subwoofers, 2x Soundstream PCA 12-inch subwoofers, 2x Soundstream PCA 10-inch subwoofers, Soundstream Reference 10-inch subwoofer, 9x Soundstream SST 6-inch midrange speakers, 2x Soundstream XXX amps, 2x Soundstream LWS-830 5-channel amps, 2x Soundstream LW4-480 4-channel amps, Soundstream LW2-420 2-channel amp, Soundstream Michelangelo D-Class amp, 10x Soundstream VHR screens

Performance: Untested

Driver Profile

Brendon Gilbert

Age: 42

Occupation: Manager, Mad Soundz Tauranga

Previously owned cars: Too many to list

Build time: 12 months

Length of ownership: 18 months

Thanks to: Steve & team @ Team Crash Repairs, Zano & wife @ Flaming Body Shop, Mike @ Soundstream, Carl & Pauline @ Mad Soundz Hamilton, AVS Car Alarms, Sikkens Paint, Supercharge Batteries, Stu @ True Colourz, Hinton, Thor @ Papamoa Hire, Sam & team @ Plastec, Adam @ FBI, Jonno Hawkins, Rohan, Willie Styles, Jarrod Holmes, Drew @ Mad Soundz, my Sam, Neil @ ABC Rental Cars, Peter Housham