They say that birds of a feather flock together. Eastern Europe’s Romania was probably one of the least likely places on Earth where Mazda’s rotary engine could kickstart a group of petrolheads bent on almost worshipping the Hiroshima Screamer.
For decades, car enthusiasts here have mostly been followers of German Engineering, with the likes of BMW, Audi, and Volkswagen ruling the scene. The affordability and availability of these cars and parts for them have been the driving force behind those decisions.
Several years into the 21st century, more homes started having access to the Internet. That kicked off a new wave of enthusiasts who desperately wanted to explore Japan’s line of sporty cars. The Honda community was the first to tinker with fast Civics, S2000s, CRXs and the Del Sols.
The Mitsubishi and Subaru crowds weren’t too far behind. Many dreamed about getting into a Toyota Supra or Nissan Skyline GT-R due to their connection with the Fast and the Furious, but few managed (or even genuinely tried) to pursue that dream.
Some tuning shows in the country would occasionally feature one or two Mazda RX-8s, but those weren’t enough to kickstart the rotary revolution. It was Florin Cozmuta that first showed car enthusiasts here what Mazda’s unusual engine could really do, as he flew in his RX-7 drift car from South Africa for various demos and touge videos.
He would ultimately focus more on his Skyline and Toyota Supra, leaving the rotary dream behind. But behind the screens at home a group of young people were slowly becoming obsessed with 13Bs, 20Bs and 26Bs.
Watching Hot Version and Best Motoring from Japan was just the inception of an idea, which continued with the likes of Mad Mike and Rob Dahm among others. By 2016 or 2017, Dragos had met Andrei, who was the first of the group to buy an RX-7 (Romanian barn-find if you can believe it).
It wasn’t long after that Dragos bought the second-generation (an FC) from Greece, and his passion for it soon infected Mike who found a superb FD in the United Kingdom. Just months later, the idea that had been brewing in these guys’ minds for years came to be: Brotorheads became a crew.
Sorin already had an FB and an FD but was living in France for several years, and then another Dragos showed up with a hillclimb-spec Mazda RX-8. Ciprian, Florin and Marian soon joined the squad too. We wanted a group of like-minded friends, a sort of rotary-focused fellowship where we would treat each other like family, like brothers.
It would be a place for us to help each other with advice, parts, labor, and to obviously celebrate our love for Mazda’s technological marvel. Going to events together, more people have joined the group, with RX-8s making up the biggest part of the line-up these days.
Some prefer to roll with the OEM style, while others are always thinking about the next upgrade. One of our goals from the get-go was to put these cars to the test on the racetrack, with Time Attack and Drifting in mind.
Even though we started our Social Media channels back in 2019, we’ve always thought about having our own website, online shop and forum. Call it nostalgia, but we wanted a place that would feel like home for our members, aspiring members and people who are passionate about rotaries and racing in general.
And this is the first page of a new chapter that we’re opening today, as we’re preparing to pursue some more serious goals regarding motorsports, driver education and safety, technical developments and storytelling for the future. Praise the Hiroshima Screamer!
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