By Richard Hail
 Todd Budde’s entry into SEMA Battle of the Builders is a custom ’93 Mazda RX-7 featuring the front end of a ’70s Series 1 RX-3 grafted onto it. |
Todd Budde is the owner/operater at FabFitters LLC, Located in La Vernia, Texas. For more than 10 years, his shop has been turning out custom and original designs. Budde’s father was a Supermodfied racer, so there was always a race car in the garage that he was getting to work on. His passion for unique cars expanded from there.
Budde’s entry into SEMA Battle of the Builders is a custom ’93 Mazda RX-7 featuring the front end of a ’70s Series 1 RX-3 grafted onto it. The grille was updated and modernized with LED projector headlights. The fenders and side panels are an alloy of RX-7, RX-3, BMW M3 and VW Beetle sheet metals.
The original rotary engine was swapped out for a high-performance block manufactured by Billet Pro out of Australia. Two Garrett G42-1200 turbos are bolted onto the Wankel for some added freeway passing capabilities. The transmission, normally snugged up right behind the engine, has been moved to the rear of the car. PTP Turbo Blankets 3D-scanned the entire exhaust system and came back with a custom set of blankets to keep the heat output to a minimum.
Budde’s love of carbon fiber is evident as you can see it adorning the mirrors, skirts, interior panels and more. EVO-R taillights have been fitted to the rear and features the same sequential turn signal pattern as a Lamborghini. Wilwood brakes are evident behind the 19-in. Vossen wheels, which are wrapped in wide, low-profile rubber.
“So not only is it an opportunity for the trade to put their products out there, it’s also an opportunity for us as car builders to do innovative things like this,” says Budde. He continues, “No other platform allows us to take member products, put them together many times in custom formats such as this, and then showcase them and then have the world see them.”
Visit the SEMA Show YouTube Channel for more videos and builder interviews, and be sure to subscribe so that you don’t miss future episodes. For more details about the SEMA Battle of the Builders competition, visit www.semabotb.com.
Qualified industry personnel interested in attending SEMA360, the exclusive trade-only online marketplace taking place November 2-6, 2020, are invited to register at www.sema360.com.