The First Step to Restoring the 1984 Mazdaspeed 84G Group C

Forget landscapes of unparalleled majesty. Don’t even think about hobbits. The most exciting thing going down in New Zealand right now is the restoration of a magnificent artifact of Mazdaspeed’s Group C history, which just put rubber to road on the North Island’s spectacular shores.

Our friends at The Motorhood were there to devour the scene when Mortimer Motorsport pulled the historic machine, chassis 84G 07, out of its container. The car looks like it’s sat still for a few decades, which is exactly what cars don’t like to do, but otherwise looks in serviceable condition.

The Motorhood report that Mortimer Motorsport will strip and rebuild the car over the next fifteen months. It’ll be ready to roll in time for the Le Mans Classic in June of 2016, after which it’ll head back to Japan to be involved in festivals at Fuji Speedway and Suzuka.

The car ran under number 17 in the 1984 Fuji 1000 with Yoshimi Katayama and Takashi Yorino at the wheel. Behind their heads sat a twin turbocharged, 500 horsepower, 13B rotary designed to do battle with the V6s of Nissan and Toyota. The progeny of that motor and turbo would eventually be found in Mazda’s classic RX7s.

For more information, and updates as the restoration gets underway, check out The Motorhood here. We can’t wait to see this beast back to full glory and hear that glorious 13B wind up again!