Like A Boss

JR Motorworx has built a bonkers Mazda RX-7 that has got everyone talking...

- Dangoodyer

Right now I am a little bit confused…what’s going on here?...what is this?’ said one confused YouTube blogger when the car broke cover at JDM Combe earlier this year. You can understand his confusion. The front-end is a mix of old and new, the arches wider than Danny Dyer. Only the roof line reveals what the car really is, although the RX-3-style headlights and front grille are a hint at the manufacturer. Step round to the rear and you’re slapped in the face by a bonkers exhaust, displayed like a pair of shiny metal testicles. It’s a warning for any car that follows too close. Subtle this car is not.

It's a trouble-maker. Noisy, fast and in-your-face, it’s here to cause an argument. Love it or hate it, one thing you can’t do is ignore it. So it seems like Jay Murray has built the perfect car to showcase the skills of his company, JR Motorworx in Devon. They offer everything from servicing and repairs to crazy custom builds like this.

Somewhere under the heavily modified exterior is in fact an FD3S Mazda RX-7. It’s covered in a Pandem Boss wide body kit. To be more specific, this is the fourth of this type of kit ever sold by TRAKyoto in Japan. It wasn’t easy to get hold of. Jay explains: ‘I saw renders of the kit online last year and thought it was already available to buy. I contacted GReddy in California, the official TRA-Kyoto distributors, but they told me the kit wasn’t even out yet.’

At the time, Jay was having the engine rebuilt by Rotary Revs in Leeds. As is often the case, a relatively simple engine refresh had grown into a full-on rebuild, this time with a bridgeport and a big single turbo swap. So with some extra weeks to play with, Jay contacted GReddy every few days until the kit was ready.