Rare stolen Mazda found after eight years

An owner ‘who never gave up looking’ is set to be reunited with his beloved stolen Mazda after eight years.

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A Melbourne person is set to be reunited with a rare Mazda R100, stolen from a property in the Melbourne suburb of Ivanhoe in 2013.

Gisborne Police in Victoria were alerted to the possible location of the stolen rotary-powered coupe last week. Along with Kyneton Police and Macedon Ranges CIU, they descended on a property in Lancefield, about an hour north of Melbourne, following a reported sighting of the rare Mazda.

Officers questioned a 26-year-old man at the property, but subsequently cleared him of any involvement in the theft of the car.

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The car is now in the hands of the police undergoing forensic examination before making its way back to the original owner, of whom police said, “never gave up looking”.

Police have also started a new investigation into the theft and are appealing to anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.

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Priced at $2790 when new, the Mazda R100 landed in Australia in 1969, the first mainstream and affordable car to feature the then-radical rotary engine.

Its two-cylinder rotary engine displaced just one litre, pumping out then-noteworthy 82kW (110hp) and 134Nm and could, according to reports, cover the quarter-mile (402m) standing sprint in 16.4 seconds – respectable for the time.

The R100 name referred to the coupe’s rotary engine and the 100 horsepower benchmark – big for the era – it exceeded.

Today, R100 coupes are exceedingly rare and can command big money. Recent online listings report prices between $40,000-$150,000 for nicely-maintained and often performance-enhanced examples.

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