I am constantly told that my car is one of the best examples of its class still on the road today. The praise is not lost on me, and I choose to remain humble with the unprompted commentary for what has inspired a lifelong commitment in the car enthusiast community. My young boys, familiar faces in this community, have already put dibs on their father’s car and at least one has already requested I leave it to him in my will. High stakes game indeed, my friends!
From her production origins in Hiroshima, Japan, she is a mica grey 2005 Mazda 3 SP23 BK Series I 5 door hatchback that was sold to her first owner at Belconnen Mazda in April that year. While outsiders and Mazda staff choose to identify by badge and numbers, to me she’s April ‘Tiger’ Tanaka – so named for her production month and her unsuspecting speed, agility and commitment to the good cause of Mazda as per the head of the MI6 Japan Headquarters in James Bond’s 1967’s adventure You Only Live Twice.
You only live twice is appropriate for this tale; I am April’s second owner, and the journey has been one of immense family involvement, adventure and thrilling turns that could only have been written for audiences. Per the tagline, ‘and TWICE is the only way to live!’
In the distant past, the 1990’s were a time of friendships and living free. Young Justin and his mates enjoyed what we still call ‘the golden age’ of our childhood. After school hours were spent riding our BMXs around West Belconnen until late into the summer evenings, piling into the lounge rooms of those lucky enough to have raised funds for a Nintendo 64. Concurrent to the cause was my dad, Kerry, who would attempt to engage me in his vehicle passions by way of assisted oil changes on his Datsun 180B.
Dad had come from an era of involved car ownership. An early upstart of the Australian Public Service, he took time away to see the world before returning to explore Australia with a beat-up Holden Belmont panel wagon. He then moved onto a gorgeous blue Datsun 200 Triple S, followed by a Nissan Bluebird, among others. As the country evolved and so too did his family life, these cars gave way to a V8 Holden VB Commodore as the next decade dawned. When it was sold around 1990 due to boot rust, his car ownership became flat with work leases on standard Commodores before he finally took in a second car, HIS passion car, with a return to the Datsun 180B.
Dad had some truly great vehicles in his time, representative today of an era where steel and metal were king, interior safety was light and power steering was only just emerging (Images courtesy of the Bush Family Archives)
He’d spend weekends tinkering with it, later teaching me how to drive at age 14 as I grappled with a stupidly big timber steering wheel, pull clutch and lack of power steering. It was beat up, the paint broken and frame rusted – but it didn’t matter, for all those years he simply hoped his enthusiasm would find inspiration in his eldest son. Unfortunately, my personal and academic pursuits were elsewhere and after a seven-year battle with terminal cancer, dad couldn’t go on any longer. He would slip away at age 50 on Wednesday July 3, 2002, after a life so full of love and fatherhood, with the cars and enthusiasm he had given his down time soon passing into memory. I was only 16.
A world away and a year later, the first-generation Mazda 3 SP23 was unveiled at the 60th Frankfurt Motorshow with an October launch in Japan that same year. It was well received for its performance, handling, styling and interior – trim levels were a standout and pricing adequate for a wide market impression. It continued Mazda’s long standing Familia range; a family orientated saloon. Based on the Ford global C1 platform, it emerged in two body styles, a four-door sedan/saloon and a five-door hatchback, branded the Sport version in the West.
The design work was spearheaded by Chief Designer Hideki Suzuki, beginning in 1999, at three Mazda design centres in California, Frankfurt and Hiroshima. In 2001, Designer Hasip Girgin’s concepts were chosen as a finalist and he was sent to work in Hiroshima for 6 months, after which the final design was agreed for the scheduled 2003 production year. It would become a hit in several countries including Australia, where the sleek design, reliable output and dynamic ability for our long roads and varied environments saw the five-speed manual, 2.3 litre engine (making 154 bhp (115 kW) and 150 lbf·ft (203 N·m)) answer the call for a solid family vehicle.
It was a car that would leave no demographic disappointed with their decision to buy into a mid-range option at the time; brimming with leather seats, curtain airbags, six-disc CD stacker and BOSE sound system, then-new 17-inch alloys, electro-hydraulic power steering and a longer wheelbase. An option in the United States added a sunroof, though some examples did make it to Australian shores. Series I would hold a firm market value from 2004 to 2006 before a Series II, six-speed option and facelift was offered to consumers from 2007 to 2008 with additional engine output.
With Mazda far from the mind, personally the new millennium was a time of bad life decisions. Battered by the fallout from loss and seeking comfort in the here and now, money was wasted, and a lack of appreciation saw a Nissan Pintara, Holden VS Commodore, Lancer GLI coupe and a Ford XR5 come and go in quick succession. By the time 2011 rolled around, I found myself maturing with a new partner and a foot in the door at Channel 7, early film industry inroads and attention spruiked by a white 2005 Mazda SP23 sedan from a car dealership in Liverpool, Sydney. The seeds were planted for a turn to the car enthusiast community that had eluded my own father.
It strikes mates and fellow community enthusiasts that I am, in the technical sense, not a car person. I deeply appreciate and admire April and her brethren in the Mazda back catalogue, but the technical and mechanical workings are often best left to my wizard serviceman and good friend, Alex. When April emerged from a second-hand sales lot in 2013 after some time being spied by yours truly at a local business under its previous owner on his way to work, the feelings began to change and an investment with the heart saw forums googled and enthusiast pages sourced to make some minor changes that helped me to feel like I finally contributing in my own way.
That contribution includes the removal of the side door strips and badges, front headlight eyelids, Sharkfin aerial application, MPS spoiler replacement, number plate delete, muffler switch and 18-inch RX8 alloys on standard low King Springs. The last upgrade saw the wheels switched to my dream set – 19-inch Mazda 6 Atenza shadow chromes on a set of ex-track tyres and new coilovers provided by friends from MazdACT. Constant maintenance in the stock internals has given a fantastic journey, minus the air conditioning and engine mount failure in 2024 that saw respective replacements for both. The interior cabin, well maintained and with a particular note to the BOSE sound system and leather option, round out an amazing car.
Still ahead at the time of writing is a front headlight restoration, re-stitching work on the driver’s seat and removal of a scratch to the rear tint glaze on the boot door glass. When the financial situation becomes available in the far future, complete removal of all gutter rash and repainting of the Atenza rims will see April become complete and heading towards heritage vehicle status in 2035. By that time, my little boys will be young adults and the anticipation that their time will come to finally be in the driver’s seat is one I relish – from capsule to car seat to passenger to finally, pilot.
April has had to contend with parent life since 2015, demonstrating capacity and able design to fit a wide range of cargo in her boot space when needed (Images courtesy of Austography Film Image Inc. and Tyler P. Media)
With Mazda making big strides in the development of its SkyActiv options and gaining further efficiency through improved engine and platform systems, the legacy of the SP23 is never far from enthusiast discussions but often overlooked by its successor in the SP25, which appeared in the BL series from 2009 onwards. Sales have remained steady since that time, with the series continuing through several facelifts, dimension changes and remodelling to fit the brand’s much talked about Kodo design aesthetic – that the driver be one with their vehicle.
It’s one in which I can fully relate as I approach my first 40 years around the sun. April has been my constant, from the loss of several close family members to delivering two of my boys to the hospital in record time, to interstate journeys as far afield as Queensland’s Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast to the beautiful Victorian capital of Melbourne. She has provided filming services on Canberra’s biggest online series with Tim the Yowie Man to starring as a wedding vehicle and racing The Picnic Train. She would act as my rock when my marriage fell apart, got me through the mass job cull of a misguided ABC executive decision and held my nerves steady through the 2019 South East Bushfires and Covid-19 pandemic.
April in her role as camera vehicle on the Tim the Yowie Man – The Series episode Haunted Burnima Homestead near Bombala in 2017, and posing with The Picnic Train’s locomotive R766 at Easter 2025 (Images courtesy of Austography Film Image Inc. and Anthony Oh of AO Graphics)
She can’t be re-produced, replicated or simply rebuilt when and if it all goes wrong – like Tanaka, she’s a gutsy Japanese personality that has lived twice and continues to give that thrilling feeling of speed and response on every single drive, from school drop offs and pick-ups to work commutes, shopping runs and her starring role as one of the flagship vehicles of MazdACT (Mazda’s of the Australian Capital Territory). She has led enthusiasts and mates across the landscape every single month for several years but, most of all, she has taken a boy with little interest in cars to a place he never knew existed featuring amazing mates, professionals and enthusiasts that have lifted said boy from his darkest moments back to the outgoing and soaring spirit he so truly desires.
And it’s those spirits that should never be diminished, whether a daily driver or mad cut rotary owner. I will forever be indebted to Mazda for their unwavering support in my life’s journey and continue to nurture April as we gracefully age together. Reaching into the ether, I admit now that on every single MazdACT cruise or event that I carry my father with me, imagining his words and eternally wishing I could hear his thoughts on seeing his little boy finally immerse himself in a car community with fellow enthusiasts. The final word goes to him, from the distant past, when he said mate, life is what you make it.
April on tour south of Yass on The 2024 Snowy Mountains Cruise and parked with club banner and guests of Heritage Nissan Canberra Region for Back to Corin Dam in 2025 (Images courtesy of Zach Pyle Photography and Tyler P. Media)
Making it is something Mazda has also held firm as they pursue style and performance in the shadow of the renewable’s revolution, even if, sadly, the SP assignment has concluded. The 2019 BP series saw the return of the GT and Astina platforms with a hybrid version briefly available in the Australian market and a United States only AWD turbo option appearing in 2024. What the future looks like for the brand is currently speculative, but with the creation of the Mazda Spirit Racing outfit and pursuit of a new turbo hatch for the sporting world, there is every chance this development will have flow on effects for the next generation 3 which is due for a facelift and redesign in 2026.
For now, the enjoyment lies on the roads and at meets across the country as owners much like this one continue to keep the spirit of the Mazda 3 SP23 alive. It’s a feeling best summed up, however dated, from the original 2004 branding campaign for the vehicle; so just when I’m thinking, isn’t there a car out there I can get excited about? Wham! There’s this car with all this stuff, and as I’m thinking now here’s a car I can see myself in, wham! There’s this other car with all this stuff (referring to the hatch variant). Two cars, the same, yet different.
Like I said, and TWICE is the only way to live.
In addition, I would like to thank Mazda (notably, Mazda Australia) for the gift of April in my life. I would like to extend my thanks to Anthony and Toni at Precious Metal Panel Beating for their years of keeping her looking great when I let her down. To my close friend and amazing mechanic Alex Kerr for keeping her alive and happy and all my incredible colleagues, mates and confidants at MazdACT who have provided happiness, mentorship and just downright fun, always. Lastly, to my family for their love, tolerance and investment in the cause and lastly, Dad – I got there in the end, save for the oil changes (sorry mate!).
Photography and videography captured at the Republic Precinct, Maribyrnong Primary School and City West by Tyler Parrott at Tyler P. Media featuring Justin’s 2005 BK Series I Mazda 3 SP23. Additional media from the MazdACT Archives with contributions from Mazda, Austography Film Image Inc., AO Graphics and Zach Pyle Photography. Website article hosted, formatted and published by Kevin Ha at StreetScene. Words, research and story by Justin Bush. Edit, review and corrections by Nara Lloyd for MazdACT Stories, Autumn 2025.
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