CarBrandLogos archive · Mazda · 1978

MazdaMazda RX-7

Three generations spent proving a rotary sports car could be more than a curiosity.

Photo: Mr.choppers · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in Mazda history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Mazda RX-7, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The 1973 oil crisis nearly destroyed Mazda. Its rotary engines were smooth and compact but thirsty, and a company that had bet its identity on them found itself with unsold stock and a banking rescue. The response, in 1978, was to stop selling the rotary as a technology and start selling it as a sports car.

1984 Mazda RX-7 coupe · OSX · Public domain

Design and engineering

The first RX-7, the SA/FB, was a light front-mid-engined coupé with pop-up headlights and near-perfect weight distribution, made possible by an engine small enough to sit entirely behind the front axle line. It was cheap, quick and reliable enough, and it sold in numbers that no previous rotary had approached — particularly in the United States, where it also began a long run of success in IMSA GTU racing that made it one of the most successful cars in the history of American sports car competition.

1983 Mazda RX-7 GSL, front left · Mr.choppers · CC BY-SA 3.0

In production

The second-generation FC of 1985 grew heavier and more sophisticated, borrowing Porsche 944 proportions, adding independent rear suspension and offering a turbocharged version. The third, the FD of 1991, is the one that made the nameplate famous. Its sequential twin-turbocharger system — a small turbo spinning up early, a larger one taking over higher in the range — was fiendishly complex, but the car around it was extraordinary: a compact, low, beautifully proportioned coupé with steering and balance that stood comparison with anything at twice the price.

1985 Mazda Rx-7 GSL interior · dave_7 from Lethbridge, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0

Legacy

It was also fragile in the wrong hands. Apex seals disliked neglect, the turbo plumbing disliked heat, and second-hand FDs acquired a reputation that was as much about maintenance as design. Emissions rules ended sales in most markets during the 1990s; production for Japan continued to 2002, by which time 811,634 RX-7s of all generations had been built. The RX-8 replaced it, and the FD's reputation has only grown since.

At a glance