You’ll see all sorts of vehicles at drag-and-drive events, and Mark Snellman’s ride had most spectators at the 2024 Sick Week event stumped as to what it was. You had to be well-versed in the import world to know that it was a 1993 Mazda RX-7.
“It was an ex-drift car and I got it for under $2,000,” said the Orlando, Florida, resident. “It was running and driving, but had no front end, no interior, and the wiring harnesses were chewed up.”
Still, the Mazda was equipped with its legendary 13b rotary engine and factory twin turbochargers.
“At the time, I had a couple of other third gen RX-7s that were much nicer,” Snellman explained. “This one popped up on Craigslist. I could drive it, autocross, and wheel-to-wheel race it, and I wouldn’t get mad if someone bumped it. I had OEM parts to throw the front end back on, replace the damaged wiring harnesses, and a Power FC, the standard aftermarket plug-and-play ECU to run the car.”
Digicar
Snellman decided to wrap the car since the paint was terrible. This was done right around the time that wrapping cars really started to become popular. He hired a friend to wrap it and make it look different.
“He was about to order the wrap and said we should do something crazy,” Snellman told us. Michael Bodie of ATC Window Tint covered the coupe in a digital camouflage wrap, and Snellman decided to call it Digicar.
“With 7-18 psi of boost, I had a ton of fun with it. As with all rotary engines, the more boost you throw at them, they need more timing. Eventually, you crack the seals and that’s what happened to the engine that came in the car. It went into the graveyard with my other rotaries,” Snellman says.
The 6.0-liter LS engine was fitted with a previously used cam kit, LS9 head gasket, LS7 lifters, and a Brian Tooley Racing intake manifold. The turbo manifolds are cast stainless units from Armageddon and sold through Summit Racing. VS Racing blow off valves and wastegates manage the boost pressure from the VS Racing 67/81 turbos.
Snellman knew the Digicar was the one to have fun with, but he had another RX-7 that was LS swapped and liked how reliable it was.
“I had a bunch of broken RX-7s and decided to consolidate them all. I was just going to take all of my favorite parts and put them into my favorite chassis. I didn’t need a primo interior car, so I swapped my carbon doors and hatch, and moved the LS swap to this car. Two months later, I broke the factory rearend the moment we…
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