Mazda, Millen enjoyed a glorious decade of SCCA ProRally from 1980-89

Mazda enjoyed a decade of serious SCCA ProRally competition in the U.S., led by New Zealand native Rod Millen.

After successfully campaigning Mazdas in his native New Zealand, Rod Millen won the 1979 NARRA title for another manufacturer. He rejoined Mazda for a serious run for the 1980 ProRally title, driving an RX-7 to five open class victories and finished second in the championship. Fellow New Zealander John Woolf took an RX-3 to victory in the Susquehannock Trail Rally.

With a full season of development for his RX-7, Millen cruised to the 1981 title. He won eight races with Bob Kraushaar, who won the co-driver championship. Woolf upgraded to an RX-7 and repeated at the Susquehannock Trail event with Grant Whittaker.

Millen won four rallies in 1982 but finished second in the final standings to John Buffum, who had the advantage of a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Their rivalry would continue throughout the remainder of the decade.

Not to be outdone, Millen came back in 1983 with a custom-built four-wheel-drive RX-7. In a development year, he won two rallies but repeated as second in the championship. Millen returned with a brand new 4WD RX-7 in 1984, and won three events along with several runner-up results to enter the season finale in the points lead. He entered his brother Steve Millen in the Carson City, Nevada finale.

Rod had his lone DNF of the season with a bothersome transmission, and while Steve finished fourth, Mazda again took second in the driver and manufacturer points races. Rod Millen also finished second in the Pikes Peak Hillclimb in the new SCCA Production GT class. Richard Kelsey – a Millen employee – captured the championship in the new class in an RX-7 with a 12A engine.

Millen returned in 1985 with a lightened 4WD RX-7 with a refined front suspension. He won three races and entered the finale tied in the standings, only to finish second to Buffum at Carson City. This time, however, Mazda captured the manufacturer championship.

Millen faced major déjà vu in 1986 with a brand-new RX-7 with new bodywork and a 13B rotary engine. He managed to win the Sunriser Forest rally in Ohio enroute to second in the driver, co-driver (Harry Ward) and manufacturer chases. With the 4WD RX-7 not eligible for the Olympus Rally in Washington in December, Millen and co-driver John Bellefleur won Group A in a brand-new Millen-built Mazda 323.

Millen took his former 4WD RX-7 powered by a Racing Beat 13B turbocharged engine to the Pikes Peak Hillclimb in 1987. While he shredded his tires and finished sixth, Robby Unser captured the Group A title in Millen’s 4WD turbo-powered Mazda 323, Mazda’s first victory in the event. Millen ran in Group A with his turbo 323 that he ran at OIympus the previous year. With Buffum running in Group A, Millen cruised to five victories and the driver, co-driver (Ward) and manufacturer titles.

SCCA went back to Group A for 1988, with Buffum having retired from competition, Millen won the title despite a limited schedule in a new and improved 323 GTX. Running 14 points behind entering the finale, Millen scored his third victory of the season to wrap up the championships.Kelsey won the Rally Production GT class at Pikes Peak in a Mazda 323 GTX.

Millen’s final season of SCCA rally competition in 1989 resulted in six victories and the championship for himself and Tony Sircombe. Millen also won Pikes Peak for the first time, in Rally Production GT, setting a new class record in a 4WD MX-6. If that wasn’t enough, he teamed with Sircombe to win a rally in India en route to taking the five-race Asian Pacific Rally title for themselves and Mazda Japan.

While SCCA continued to stage Pro Rally through 2004, that was to be Mazda’s final overall championship. Millen did take two curtain calls from his retirement, winning a pair of major victories for Mazda. He took an open and overall victory at Washington’s Rim of the World Rally in his 323 GTX with Sircombe in 1990. The following year, he returned to Pikes Peak, winning the open class in an RX-7.

Watch Pikes Peak on the RACER Network and the RACER+ app live on June 22.