At first glance, this beige Mazda looks like a stock 1985 model with nice wheels and larger rear tires. Other than the exhaust pipe exiting through the right front fender, you might not give it a second thought. However, this turbo LS-swapped RX-7 is heavily pro-street inspired under its mostly factory-appearing exterior.
Other than the wheels and tires, this RX-7 appears rather unassuming. But if you give it more than a passing glance, you’ll notice the details that give away its performance.
Until you hear it roar, then you know Bonnie and Pat Arseneau’s car is anything but a tame grocery-getter. With a 600-plus horsepower LS V8 and a custom-built chassis and driveline, this RX-7 is more at home cruising the highway than prowling the grocery store parking lot.
Pat is known among Dunedin, FL, enthusiasts as someone who puts the same efforts into his profession (he operates Pat’s Auto Service) as he does with his personal cars. He owns a few fat-tire, blown vehicles – a Chevy II Nova and a mid-eighties Monte Carlo – so the Mazda project is his first small-tire LS build.
Although this is Aerseneau’s first small-tire build, his RX-7 got all the attention to detail that his other big-tire pro-style cars received.
Starting with mostly a bare rolling chassis with the rear metalwork removed, Arseneau combined his skills with the help of several of the Tampa Bay area’s performance specialists to complete the build.
Arseneau utilized all of his automotive skills, plus the help of some talented friends, to get the RX-7 from a bare chassis to what you see now.
Arseneau bought the car about two years ago and began the build to attend the 2022 Turkey Rod Run in Daytona Beach to participate in a 100-car celebration of blown pro-street-style cars. Despite the challenging timeline and difficulty getting timely delivery of parts, the Mazda was ready. “Waiting on parts is the hardest part,” Arseneau says. “ After waiting months for parts, by the time you get them, they have a new version.”
I worked after work most nights and usually 20-plus hours each weekend to finish the first stage of this car for the Turkey Rod Run. – Pat Arseneau
While the front suspension is mostly stock Mazda with minor modifications, the back half of the car is custom, with the bulk of the work done by Doug Carty Race Cars in Seminole, FL. The rear suspension is a custom-built four-link system with a Strange Engineering 3.73 rear spool, Strange 35-spline axles,…
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