Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse Young SMOTY first runner-up: Jake Matheson’s 1974 Mazda RX-4

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Our first YSMOTY ’26 runner-up is Jake Matheson’s wild, 1100hp, turbo rotary-powered 1974 Mazda RX-4. Based in Sydney, Jake is a mechanic who has a real passion for classic rotary machines, and he built the Mazda with his own two hands.

The street-and-strip demon has already gone mid-eights, but Jake has a lot more planned for the angry little Dorito.

Congrats, mate! Tell us a bit about the Mazda – it sounds like you’ve built pretty much all of it yourself?

Yeah, I’m a mechanic, so I did the engine, wiring, and even the bodywork. A mate did some of the bigger fab jobs, and I had another mate spray the car after I did the bulk of the bodywork, but it’s very much a DIY type of build.

Is there a particular reason you went with an RX-4?

I prefer my old-school stuff. I’m not the biggest fan of the newer, plastic-bumper JDM sort of scene. I wanted to do an RX-4 because it’s different; everyone does the R100s, RX-2s and RX-3s. There’s not as many tough RX-4s, so I thought, why not?

And it’s running a spicy-looking rotary!

I built it. It’s got Billet Boss front, rear and centre parts, but it still uses Mazda housings and rotors, because you can’t get that sort of billet support for a rotary yet. It’s got one of my extended mild ports in it, with a different style of semi-peripheral port. I just like the sound and feel of them – there’s nothing like the powerband of a two-stroke, but in a car.

Have you got a rough idea on power?

It has been dynoed, but we don’t really shoot for power on the dyno. I just focus on the tune at the track. At the moment, it’s making about 1100-1150hp, going off the mph and weight calculator from the track date. It has a Precision 9108 turbo, and the full Haltech catalogue – Nexus R5, PDM16 and all the sensors. We’ve also got the nitrous we still haven’t sprayed at the track yet. I set it up as a wet system so we can use it down the track as well as getting the car up on the converter.

How quick has this thing gone now?

It’s gone 8.42@140mph with a back-off; the ’chute was out at the 1000ft mark. That was on 43psi of boost, so it had about 30psi pulled out of it, because it’s tuned to 72psi. I just wanted to get the car from A to B, as that was the first hit it made. It went 137mph to the half-track and 140mph in the deep with the back-off, so there’s plenty more there to use.

She’s hooking, then! Is the goal to get into the sevens?

Yeah, I’d like to see this car go a 7.70 at 180mph-plus as a true street car, as it’s heavy compared to a lot of the other Mazdas of the same era. It’s a fairly new build – that test for the 8.42 was only in August – but it has been to some cars-and-coffees and stuff like that. The plan is to do a bit more cruising soon, but I want to do the deal at the track first. Then I’ll swap the turbo out for one a little bit smaller, just so it’s a bit nicer on the street.

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