Collections Unveiled – Mazda Familia

Our biggest collection feature to date; South-East Queensland Mazda legend, Danny Irvine opens the doors for us to see his incredible collection of Mazdas, and speaks to us about his history, and how Mazdas and the rotary engine itself steered the course of his life. 

You can follow Danny here through his INSTAGRAM

1962 Mazda K360 • 1963 Mazda T1500 • 1964 Mazda T2000 • 1966 Mazda R360 Coupe • 1966 Mazda P360 Carol • 1968 Mazda Cosmo Sport • 1968 Mazda B360 Pick-Up • 1969 Mazda Cosmo Sport • 1969 Mazda Familia • 1970 Mazda R130 Luce • 1971 Mazda T2000 • 1973 Mazda B360 Panel Van • 1978 Mazda RX-7 • 1982 Mazda 626 • 1982 Mazda RX-7 • 1985 Mazda Cosmo • 1986 Mazda RX-7 • 1988 Mazda Luce • 1989 Mazda MX-5 • 1991 Eunos Cosmo • 1991 Mazda RX-7 • 1992 Mazda RX-7 • 1992 Autozam AZ-1 • 2003 Mazda RX-8 • 2005 Mazda MX-5 • 2005 Mazda MX-5 • 2005 Mazda 6 MPS • 2010 Mazda RX-8 • 2021 Mazda MX-5

Hi, I’m Danny, and this is my collection of Mazdas.

It all began for me back in the late ’70s when my uncle had purchased one of the first RX-7s into Australia. I clearly remember sitting in the middle of the back seat there and being able to see the instrument cluster and watch this tacho needle spin all the way around to probably what felt like forever but it was about 7000 rpm and it was just a silky smooth memory and the sound of that engine.

Of course, no Mazda collection would be true without the RX-7.

Little did I know what was actually powering that car and what would be such an important part of my my life today. To put it simply that was the start of my passion for the Mazda rotary engine.

I never actually envisaged ever having a collection of this size. I’ve always thought I’d have a few cars, but it’s just a circumstance resulting from opportunity that this has all happened. Now the collection has a number of realms to it. Originally it was all on the basis of Mazda’s rotary powered cars but as I learned more about the Mazda marque and their history there’s other key cars that I’ve added to the collection.

The first being their first passenger car which is a 1960s R360 coupe which was Mazda’s first passenger car.

Prior to that they had built three-wheel trucks of various sizes for industry.

It was whilst at high school in year 11 that I really became aware of what the rotary engine was. A gentleman I worked with had an RX-2 rally car with a 13B, what was called a hyper port engine and also known as a large extend port. After taking me for a drive in that, that was it for me. That was the car I had to have when I had my license and unfortunately I wasn’t able to get straight into a rotary-powered car, but my first car being a Mazda 626, a few years later the engine out of that Capella Rally car wound up in my 626.

I could never have imagined where this collection has taken me with regards to the number of doors it’s opened for me. Back in 2017, I was a guest of Mazda Europe to attend the official opening of Mazda’s only other museum outside of Japan in Augsburg, Germany, which is owned by the Frey family.

The other significant event of 2017 was the 50th anniversary celebrations of Mazda’s rotary engine and also their first rotary-powered passenger car, the Cosmo Sport. This saw me attend two events in Japan, one in Hiroshima with the Cosmo Sport owners club of Japan, where we had about 30 Cosmo Sports together for a couple of days.

The Cosmo Sport is a very special car, and I’m honoured to have a couple in my own collection.

Unfortunately, the celebration was cut short due to a typhoon that was passing through. But that certainly cleared the weather for us up at Mount Fuji Speedway for the 50th anniversary celebrations of the rotary engine.

The event in Fuji Speedway brought out a number of different historic Mazda race cars, everything from the 757, a Le Mans car, to some of the first ever early rotary powered race cars that ever raced in Japan.

In my collection I have a 1986 model HC3S Luce, which is the 13B turbo powered 929 that we had in Australia. It is original condition with the doilies on the driver and passenger seats and it’s also got the very deep red velour interior which you would never see on a car these days.

The most unique car in the collection would have to be the Autozam AZ1. The AZ1 was a joint venture, so it was a collaboration between Mazda and Suzuki. There were two platforms built, one obviously for Mazda and one for Suzuki, and there was only about 4,400 cars made in total. The key part about that vehicle, it’s mid-engine with gullwing doors, and all the body panels are plastic, so it’s really quite lightweight. And the other thing is it’s a kei car with only a 657cc engine capacity, three-cylinder turbocharged, so it’s actually quite zippy on the street.

With all going to plan, I’m hoping to make it back to the track in my own open class Time Attack car, which is based on a 2005 NC MX-5. Not quite how it originally left the production line, but still a Mazda heart in it, a triple rotor peripheral port rotary engine, coupled to a sequential six-speed paddle-shift and a full aero package designed by Andrew Brilliant from AMB Aero. So I’m very excited to finally get back to the track after almost 10 years in that vehicle since I debuted it.

I never thought this hobby, which has clearly turned into a major passion in my life, would have become such an important part of my life. It’s opened so many doors for me globally, not only for business but personally. I’ve had the opportunity to share my passion for the Mazda mark through a number of events around the world. I’ve given a number of presentations talking about my collection and also my association with Mazda. I’m eternally grateful for the opportunities that this collection has presented me and I look forward to many, many, many more years.