REVISITED: NZ man rotary-swaps a Ferrari 456, upsets Ferrari

We're looking back through some of our most-viewed content throughout the year, and it turns out you couldn't get enough of this one! Kick back and relive one of the standouts from a tumultuous 2020.

You might not recognise the name Reuben Bemrose, but Ferrari sure does. That’s because Reuben Bemrose built a Mazda 13B rotary-powered Ferrari 456.

Now, before we carry on, we should note that it’s not as if Bemrose took a pristine example of Ferrari’s 1990s V12 grand tourer and turned it into what he now calls the ‘Rotorrari’. He actually found the 456 as a shell, with no engine, and a lot of damage.

You could argue it’s in better condition now than when he found it. But Ferrari doesn’t see it that way and has expressed its ire, something we’ve previously seen inflicted upon music producer Deadmau5 for his Nyan Cat-liveried ‘Purrari’.

Bemrose has begun to enter the Rotorrari in competitions and take it to track days, even being awarded a ‘best conversion’ award at a rotary event. The rumours are true, Kiwis love rotaries.

Attention has also started rolling in from international media outlets – and of course ‘Hert’ from Hoonigan is all over Bemrose’s comments sections on each post about the Rotorrari.

Okay, given Ferrari’s protectiveness over its brand image, we can see why a car like the Rotorrari would be a particular target for its legal team.

So, in response to Ferrari’s complaints, Bemrose took the opportunity to… er, apologise… when he was the subject of a segment on an NZ chat show.

If there’s one thing we can say about Bemrose based on his Instagram presence, and his brief interactions with media, it’s that he likes a laugh. That’s why his Rotorrari is probably going to be a persistent thorn in the side of Ferrari.

If you ask us, however, seeing a car become a project like this is miles better than seeing it rot away in a field with no engine.