Justin Viens: 1992 Mazda RX-7

For Justin Viens, it all started in 2008. "I was 19 and working as an apprentice technician," mentions Viens, "reading car magazines and dreaming about buying a Toyota Supra." While on a road test one day for work, Viens happened to pull into a parking lot and spotted a beautiful black 1992 Mazda RX-7 that had just been imported by a local importer and he immediately fell in love. "I couldn't get to the bank fast enough," states Viens.

Viens got into the drifting scene with the RX-7 for a while and met a lot of great people. "I ended up hitting a wall while drifting at my local raceway's Drift Nights in 2013," he remembers. Viens did a fair bit of damage to the right front of the car and ended up tearing it right down until nothing but the chassis was left. "At that point I decided I wanted to take the next step and build something nuts that had that wow factor!" He spent the next 5 years coming up with a bunch of wild ideas and brought them to life. Some (of the ideas) were too wild and didn't make the cut.

When it came to deciding the engine, Viens wanted something that was rarely done with the RX-7 chassis and something that looked good and not shoehorned in to make it fit (cut hoods, bashed-in firewalls, etc. The result is what you see today - a beautiful metallic red RB26, perfectly situated under the hood.

His dad, who is more into computers than cars, was actually over at his house many nights helping him complete the project. "Everything from the custom fuel tanks, fabrication, engine mounts, all the body work and paint," mentions Viens, "were done in my garage by the two of us." The only thing that they didn't build, design or put together, was the roll cage.

Some of Veins' other builds include a turbocharged Volkswagen Rabbit, a couple of custom motor bikes, an almost-complete BMW E30 with a rotary engine, and an LS1-swapped FR-S, which he currently still has.

"My biggest inspiration and what keeps me motivatedis the car community. To be apart of something so inclusive, diverse and something that's always changing and full of great people, just sucks a person in and doesn't let go."

Owner: Justin Viens
Location: Luduc, AB
Vehicle: 1992 Mazda RX-7
Horsepower: 300-350 whp (estimated)
Club: n/a

SOCIAL

Facebook: /JustinDVI
Instagram: @justin_dvi

Photography by @laurenfrotch.