At the August 21st Drift Buffet event, we ran into RMR’s Rhys Millen, and got the inside scoop on the Millen family’s plan to add another drift car to the garage. Rhys’ father and mentor Rod Millen will debut his new Mazda RX-8 car at the Formula D event at Irwindale on August 27th.
The car, a new Mazda RX-8, was built specifically for a new company called “Grenade” by RMR in Huntington Beach. Using the knowledge gained through building the GTO for Pontiac, RMR built the car from the ground up, complete with gutted fiberglass doors, lexan windows, a widebody kit, and other one-off parts.
The car will debut alongside a Blue RHD Nissan 180 Team “Grenade”, which is coming over from Japan. Grenade is a Japanese company which will make their stateside debut at the event, although they have already established themselves in the Japanese D1 series.
On a side note, Rod blew out the motor at the end of practice on 8/21/05. Look forward to seeing him at the new 2006 season of Formula D. The engine was not ready before the finals.