#rotarypickup

A belated birthday present from @t2stu. He knows me so well. #hotwheels #hotwheelsrotarypickup #hotwheelsrepu #hotwheelsmazdarepu #hotwheelsmazdarotarypickup #repu #rotarypickup #mazdarotarypickup (at Pulborough) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsm161JFhPN/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1wn2xjakm9wyg

Good Night @ogmotoshow #mazdarepu #mixinggasandhaulingass #rotarypickup #rotarypower (at OG Motoshow) https://www.instagram.com/p/CT_wcpSDjlj50rWrg5iQ4Xq-cRH35t0_CISGjM0/?utm_medium=tumblr

Chicken Tax or no, in the late 1960s and particularly the early 1970s, tiny Japanese pickups stormed the U.S. west coast. From about 10K units a year in 1966 when only Toyota and Nissan were in the action to 200K in 1972, the year Ford and GM sourced tiny trucks of their own from Isuzu (the Chevy LUV) and Mazda (the Ford Courier). The Courier was really Mazda’s B1600 (intro. 1965), and Mazda began shipping over B1600s itself in 1973. Brand fanboys might quibble but most of the little pickups were broadly similar, mechanically and physically - all designed for the same buyers in Japan and adapted for the USA. Similar, that was, until Mazda decided to drop something truly different in the spring of 1974 - the #RotaryPickup (REPU). The timing of the #REPU ensured it would wind up a historical footnote, but it made perfect sense at the time. Mazda was riding high in 1972-73, with U.S. sales growing at 200% a year and having already built 600K rotary cars at a time when giants like Citroën and GM couldn’t make the rotary work. Kenichi Yamamoto’s Rotary still had issues, particularly with side seals, but it worked and delivered gobs of smooth power. The REPU mated the 110-hp 13b engine with the B1500 body - but the mods didn’t end there. The front track was widened by 6” (15cm), the rear by 5” (13cm) and the front fenders and bed were given muscular-looking flares to suit. Front discs were standard, a class first. Inside, the interior was given nicer materials, even fake wood, and the truck got a long options list. It was the earliest “compact sport truck.” The 2,900-lb. REPU would be considered slow today, but in 1974 it delivered lighting speed compared to the piston engined trucks - up there with larger, heavier V8 trucks. It was better on gas than a V8 F-100, but not by much - 14-16mpg made it a pariah in the wake of OPEC. Many compact pickup buyers bought for MPG - the REPU, made for North America only, was great to drive but didn’t fit the market. About 16,000 were made overall, the vast majority of them built in 1974 with hosts of leftovers being sold in 1975. Mazda almost collapsed from the OPEC fallout, but the slow-selling REPU limped on into 1977.  https://www.instagram.com/p/CEj4cgZF_PZ/?igshid=rvhbmdehdjyl

Old school #mazdarepu #rotarypickup (at Silver Lake, Los Angeles) https://www.instagram.com/p/CArvnfGg8yqWHZuDN0MLNvzza5xmrWyKFrDdos0/?igshid=1a8vepggnelt5

Mini truckin..... #mazdarepu #rotarypickup (at Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAkIQfbAC54KbT98dJ7ZSCI2tpGiMC8qLC3rK40/?igshid=13u6hn3162p5s

Via Hiroshima Rotaries | #TopMiata #mazda #mazdabseries #rotarypickup #rotary #rotaryengine #rotaryenginepickup