On Planet Rage #240, a producer wrote in about his latest garage project: a 1977 Mazda REPU getting a motor swap and some body work. The hosts had never heard of one before — turns out it’s real, and it’s the only pickup truck anyone has ever built with a rotary engine. REPU stands for Rotary Engine Pick-Up: Mazda sold it in the U.S. and Canada from 1974 to 1977, powered by a 1.3-liter twin-rotor Wankel making around 110 hp — more than any rival compact truck of the era — backed by a 50,000-mile warranty and a TV ad campaign starring Rod Serling. Mazda only built about 15,000 of them before pulling the plug. It’s a certified cult classic now, which tracks, since a listener is still wrenching on one 49 years later.
Check Hemmings or Bring a Trailer if you want to see what they’re going for these days.
[Planet Rage #240 2:06:44]
