The 7th wonder: Mad Mike’s ‘MADBUL’ FD returns

7 February, 2017

 

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I went to him with the idea of doing the RX-3 front swap on the FD. His response was ‘Kakkoi’, which translates to ‘cool’ in japanese

Mad Mike’ Whiddett’s FD3S has travelled the globe, killing tyres from Asia to America, and all over Europe. The long-suffering FD chassis has been loyal to Mike. It’s taken down some of the best names in the business and banged doors with hundreds of drifters. It’s the car that Mike first learnt to drift in, and the car that propelled him onto the world stage. In return, Mike has shown the car some serious love over the years, constantly updating its look and keeping it fresh, even with newer, faster and more powerful ‘BUL’s appearing in his stable. You might think that ‘MADBUL’ would eventually be pushed into the corner and left to gather dust, but that could not be further from the truth. We introduce to you version seven of everyone’s favourite FD.

It’s a transformation that Mike’s been waiting to do for over a year now, after working directly with Kei Miura of 6666 Customs to develop the first Rocket Bunny FD RX-7 kit, followed by the Pandem aero now worn by the RX-7. Ask the man what his favourite Mazda is, and he will tell you it’s the RX-3, but as for merging that into an RX-7 — now that’s just crazy talk, isn’t it …

Read the rest of this article in NZPC Issue no. 243 — Grab yourself a print copy at your local magazine spot, or at the link below:

To finish first, first, you must build a winner

Can-Am royalty
Only three M20s were built, including the car that was destroyed at Road Atlanta. This car was later rebuilt. All three cars were sold at the end of the 1972 season. One of the cars would score another Can-Am victory in 1974, driven by a privateer, but the M20’s day was done. Can-Am racing faded away at the end of that season and was replaced by Formula 5000.
These days the cars are valued in the millions. It was unlikely that I would ever have seen one in the flesh if it hadn’t been that one day my editor asked me if I would mind popping over to Taranaki and having a look at a pretty McLaren M20 that somebody had built in their shed.
That is how I came to be standing by the car owned and built by truck driver Leon Macdonald.

Lunch with … Roly Levis

Lunching was not allowed during Covid 19 Lockdowns so our correspondent recalled a lunch he had with legendary New Zealand racing driver Rollo Athol Levis shortly before he died on 1 October 2013 at the age of 88. Michael Clark caught up with Roly and members of his family over vegetable soup