Bell’s famous Dazda still alive and kicking
- 5th March 2025, 9:30am
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by Peter Whitten
Back in the 1980s, the Dazda was an Australian rallying icon – a Datsun 1600 fitted with a Mazda Rotary engine.
The most famous of these rare machines was the Pedders Suspension sponsored car driven by the flamboyant Hugh Bell.
A three-time Australian Rally Championship round winner, Bell never tasted championship success in his Dazda – that would need to wait until the 1985 season in a Mazda RX7.
He came ‘oh, so close’, though.
In the 1983 Alpine Rally, Bell was leading by 57 seconds going into the final stage, but hit a rock and bent a tie-rod on the Dazda, dropping over a minute.
It was heartbreak for he and navigator, Paul Patterson, who eventually finished second by just nine seconds to Ian Hill and Phil Bonser in their ex-works Ford Escort RS1800.
The rally had already seen the demise of Greg Carr (Fiat 131 Abarth), Dinta Officer (Mitsubishi Galant) and Geoff Portman (Nissan Bluebird) among a quality field.
The Dazda is still alive, and according to the car’s current owner, Ron King, it had a big-horsepower motor.
“The ’83 engine was from Rod Millen in New Zealand, a 13B with a reported 300 brake horsepower,” King said.
“When I bought the Dazda in 1984, Hugh took his motor and gearbox out and put them in the new Mazda RX7 that he’d built.”
The engine King built was much less powerful, but it is still a 13B that produces around 220 horsepower, built by the team at MAZSPORT.
The car is still in the original 1983 Alpine Rally colours, and is pictured in Ron King’s workshop.
Interested in finding out more about Hugh Bell and his incredible Dazda? Read our feature story below, and another detailing South Australian Barry Lowe’s original Dazda.
