Back in my younger far more foolish days I purchased myself a Mazda RX4 Couple. I was the proud owner of a 13b Rotary powered car. I spent an inordinate amount of money on the stereo, exhaust system and whatever else it needed. The thing went fast. I knew that as did the police, many times.

When I decided to go to Bible College the car needed to be replaced by something more sensible. Anything would have been more sensible than that car to be honest! I was sad when I sold it, but not gutted because I didn’t know what it was worth, and if I had been asked would have said it was easily replaced.

The past few decades have been spent with different vehicles, one of which has featured on this blog, namely the Zook. Truth is I have always had a keen interest in cars and mechanics. If I had followed my own thoughts at a younger age, pre the Rx4, I would have been a mechanic. But the pressure was on to go to university. I went to Uni and dropped out.

Fast forward a few decades and I found myself car less again having moved to Melbourne and a self described ’empty nester’. Both kids are adults and Melinda has a sensible car.

I set about thinking about what I wanted and toyed with the idea of an Rx7. The earlier ones are out of my budget but not by a lot. However the idea of having an older car which would need expensive rebuilding to make it reliable wasn’t that palatable. The later model ones are pushing upwards of $60,000 now, as are the 1973 onward Rx4’s.

So I pondered the idea of an Rx8 with the Rotary Renesis Motor. The issue with the Rx8 is that you don’t know what you are going to get. A well maintained version will last the distance. A poorly maintained one will not. So I rang the local Rotary specialist and he found me one with a motor which will need some serious work. That means the car itself was inexpensive for what it is.

What I have is a very clean lovely Mazda Rx8 Coupe. Once finished I don’t plan to sell it. Part of me thinks it will increase in value. Not as much as my Rx4 did perhaps!