WHAT THE HELL IS A HOLDEN DOING HERE: Mazda Roadpacer

February 2, 2010 3:47 pm Published by

I’m mainly putting this in its own post because as an Australian and a former rotary owner, I find this car absolutely hilarious.

It’s a Mazda Roadpacer AP, which is Mazda Japan’s version of one of the most Australian cars there is, the Holden HJ Premier.

The funny thing is, if you tried putting a rotary in a Holden in Australia, you’d probably receive horrible death threats at best.

The short version of the story is that Mazda wanted to make a new luxury car, so they bought complete shells of one of the heaviest cars they could possibly find, which happened to be from Holden in Australia, and put an NA 13B rotary in it for some reason. If you’re intereted, you can read the Wikipedia page about it, for more info.

For the detail freaks, here’s what the c-pillar badge looks like.

Here’s the model badge. Rotary engine inside!

If there was actually a Holden Premier in the kind of condition this Roadpacer is in, it would go for a fair bit of money back home. The fact it’s an even rarer rotary version makes it hilarious.

This makes me think about all the times I’d be sitting at the lights in my first car, an SA22C RX-7, having abuse yelled at me by a bunch of yobbos who pulled up in a Holden. “Get a real engine ya poof!” they’d say. I wonder how they’d react to this. To the Premier’s credit, it was usually a Commodore they were driving.

For the record, I saw the guy drive away from the venue, and couldn’t hear even the faintest rotary-like sound from the engine. Oh well, I might have been hoping for too much to hear a peripheral-port 13B idle coming from it.

Brap brap brap.

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This post was written by Alexi

18 Comments

  • Slag says:

    I think there’s still a mark on the floor from my jaw hitting it when I first heard about them years ago.

    Nice to see some proof of their existence!

  • 7shades says:

    I LOVE the interior trim in these. I’ve only ever seen one in the metal, and it had the most luxuriant floral patterned burgundy velour I’d ever seen, with cream accents and ivory vinyl wear surfaces.

    The kind of interior I’d imagine a Persian pimp would have custom ordered.

    Awesome. 🙂

  • banpei says:

    So far I’ve only seen that car in the Mazda stock photos! Nice! 🙂

    There was an (less) rare Luce Legato 13B on that meeting as well:
    http://www.bosozokustyle.com/content/meeting-monday-41
    Did you also take a picture of that car?

  • jay says:

    High fives at an all time high! 🙂 Way to kick in nostalgia of 80’s / early 90’s Australia. These are a rare sight on the road now though. Typically (back then) a family car, or for the guys who couldn’t quite afford GT Fords, V8 XA/B/C couples and sedans, Torries, Monaros, Valiant Chargers, and the classic yob car, the VB / C / K Commodore.

    An odd choice for Mazda. The Premier? Rotary? Cool. I wonder if it’s three on the tree?

  • Benny says:

    hahahaha sweet

  • D.K.C says:

    *Waits for the first 13b converted Premier rocking wat’s and a Domo Kun sticker to pop up on the Aussie JDM scene…
    lol

  • Mark Pakula says:

    I reckon if I spotted this in Japan my brain would explode.

    I for some weird reason, would like to drive one.

  • James says:

    ooo imagine rolling up to the burnout pad at Summernats (bogan festival of cars for the non aussies) and holding it flat. The force of the jaws dropping would be enough to spin the Earth out of orbit!!!

  • Rob_180sx says:

    I love them! As you may imagine I would putting a 13b in my 180 🙂

    There used to be a VL with a 20b in it I’m sure of it, used to do the Summernats thing.

  • RdS says:

    god yes. 😀
    its oh-so-tempting to change directon on my HJ GTS restoration; and pop on some visors, fender mirrors, and a 13b/20b. make a roadpacer GTS maybe. 😉
    mine, nearly done: 🙂
    http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j273/RdSss/IMGP3869.jpg
    http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j273/RdSss/IMGP3868.jpg

    i wonder if japanese roadpacer owners even know they can get fluted guards, front and rear spoilers, and other bits for their cars. make a nice gts replica there…. :p

  • StoopidFlanders says:

    I love these too. I even have a diecast scale mode of one, the bonnet opens and you can see a little rotary in there lol.
    Would be awesome to see a modded one, with a big port job and cranky idle.

    There was a VK Commodore done up like a Group A Brock, complete with 13B turbo and HDT13B plates, that used to get around my area. Cool because it was different.

  • Gumby says:

    I have a HJ ute and im praid to say that it dosent have a rottary.

  • debopacer says:

    Noriyaroさん、はじめまして。
    紹介していただいたロードペーサーのオーナーです。
    変わった車が好きで手に入れてから20年になりました。
    オーストラリアの人たちから見ると、どんな感じに見えるのでしょうか?
    やはり、変な車ですかね(笑)

    写真を撮られていたことに気がつきませんでした。
    掲載していただきありがとうございます。

  • Alexi says:

    どういたしましてdebopacerさん!

    In case you’re wondering, the above comment is from the owner of the car!

    Here’s a translation:

    Mr Noriyaro, nice to meet you.
    Let me introduce myself, I’m the owner of that Roadpacer.
    I like weird cars, and this one has been in my hands for the last 20 years.
    When Australians look at this car, what do they think?
    Of course, it must be a weird car eh? LOL

    I didn’t notice you taking photos of my car.
    Thanks for putting them up on your website.

    As he said, he’s into weird cars, so have a look at his blog –> http://blog.livedoor.jp/debopacer/

  • Rob_180sx says:

    20 years! Good on him.

  • dazza says:

    i still cant wrap my head around a hj in japan…and with a rotary in it it confuses me even more wtf? anymore info on these were they imported into japan and 13bs put in em and badged under mazda? hmm

  • Jarrad says:

    Oh wow, that’s something I never knew even existed.

    Love the Japanese touch of fender mirrors on it, it really is hilarious!
    Also, the comment on your RX-7 being bagged by the yobbos..
    Well, I’ve got a 1994 VR Commodore and… Well, we aren’t all misguided souls, looking to pour $10,000 into a V6 for the same effects bolt on parts would do in a Japanese car 😛

    I’d love to see the Japanese get a hold of some Commodores, and watch all the wondrous and crazy things they’d do to/with them. They do things that no one else would ever think of.
    Stock – they’ve got enough power to get sideways.
    Maybe you and all your bloggy powers could talk to a racer/importer… 😉

    Keep up the good work.