Mazda RX-7, Auckland automotive fabricator Arnie Nguyen dropped jaws when he rolled up to the ’99 4&Rotary Nationals Show in his new ride. A year in the making, the 1992 S6 Mazda RX-7 combined some of the finest performance parts available at the time with Arnie’s own metalworking skills, and the result took New Zealand street-legal performance import machinery to the next level.

Leaving no facet untouched, the FD3S was the complete package, featuring not only a full-house engine room packing a 450hp 13B turbo punch, but also enhanced body lines and custom pearl paint, deep-dish rims courtesy of an ex-JGTC race car, and a well worked over interior.

But the real recognition for the RX-7 came the following year, one month after was it featured on the May 2000 cover of NZ Performance Car (issue #41), at which point it boasted an astonishing (for the time) 11.4-second ET. At Champion Dragway’s Outlaw Drags, to the dismay of the V8-orientated crowd, Arnie did what they said couldn’t be done: he ran a 10-second pass.

It was a pivotal moment for the burgeoning Kiwi import drag racing scene, as Arnie claimed his well-earned place as the inaugural member of the NZPC 10-Second Club.

Arnie campaigned the Mazda for a couple of seasons before taking it off the road for a more serious drag-orientated rebuild. Burning methanol, the RX-7 returned for the 2002 4Rotary Nationals Drags, where Arnie struggled to get the power to ground. What ensued that day was one of the wildest import passes down the strip ever witnessed — the rear of the bad-ass Bat missing the barriers on both sides of the track (yes, both sides!) by mere millimetres. In an effort to send the power in a straight line, chassis and suspension work followed, but the iconic car hasn’t seen the light of day since. What’s good to know is that Arnie — who these days is perhaps better known for his part in the development of Heat Treatments Racing’s world-beating GT-R — still owns the RX-7. Better still, he tells us it will be returning to the strip soon wearing NTA High Performance Engineering livery – the name of Arnie’s recently opened workshop. Times may have changed, but you can’t take anything away from the car that started the New Zealand import drag racing revolution.
1992 Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) – Specifications (When featured)

Engine: Mazda 13B twin-rotor, cross-drilled eccentric shaft, 3mm apex seals, Garrett TV51R turbocharger, custom stainless exhaust manifold, HKS external wastegate, Trust Type R blow-off valve, GReddy Drag intercooler, HKS Super Power Flow filter, 80mm custom stainless exhaust system, aluminium surge tank, 2x FC3S fuel pumps, SX fuel pump, XRP Speedflow lines, Paxton adjustable fuel pressure regulator, 4x factory injectors, 4x 390cc extra injectors, custom fuel rail, HKS AIC additional injector controller, A’PEXi Power-FC engine management system
Driveline: Factory S6 5-speed gearbox, OS Giken twin-plate clutch, C’s short shifter
Suspension: Ohlins adjustable shocks/springs, Cusco front strut brace
Wheels/Tyres: Panasport Racing alloys – 17×9.5-inch front, 17×10.5-inch rear, Yokohama A520 tyres
Exterior: Knightsport front bumper, RE-Amemiya headlights, flared rear guards, custom red/crimson pearl paint, Mazdaspeed rear wing carbon blade
Interior: Mazdaspeed seats, GReddy shift knob, GReddy meters, RE-Amemiya boost meter, Auto Meter Sport-Comp 5-inch tacho
Performance: Dyno Power – 451hp @ wheels, 0-400m – 11.40 @ 196kph

Words & Photos: Brad Lord