My Hot Wheels Stories: Mazda RX-7

It's been a while since my last post.

Now, we'll talk about a yellow Mazda RX-7. It's a part of 2014 HW City. I got it at a supermarket, easy catch. :D

Mazda RX-7 made the debut at Hot Wheels as 2012 New Models by Designer: Jun Imai. He is really the advocate at Mattel, pushing for the inclusion of old school Japanese cars in the Hot Wheels lineup.

Real Life

The Mazda RX-7 is a sports car produced by the Japanese automaker Mazda from 1978 to 2002. The original RX-7 featured a 1,146 cc (69.9 cu in) engine. The RX-7 replaced the RX-3 (both were sold in Japan as the Savanna).

The original RX-7 was a sports car with pop-up headlamps. It was offered as a two-seat coupé, with optional "occasional" rear seats in Japan, Australia, the United States, and other parts of the world. The rear seats were initially marketed as a dealer-installed option for the North American markets.

First Generation / Series 1 (1978–1980) is commonly referred to as the "SA22C" from the first alphanumerics of the vehicle identification number. In Japan it was introduced in March 1978, replacing the Savanna RX-3, and joined Mazda's only other remaining rotary engine powered products, called the Mazda Cosmo which was a two-door luxury coupe, and the Mazda Luce luxury sedan.

The lead designer at Mazda was Matasaburo Maeda, whose son Ikuo would go on to design the Mazda2 and Mazda RX-8. The transition of the Savana to a sports car appearance reflected products from other Japanese manufacturers. The advantage the RX-7 had was its minimal size and weight, and the compact rotary engine installed behind the front axle, which helped balance the front to rear weight distribution, and provide a low center of gravity.

Racing versions of the first-generation RX-7 were entered at the prestigious 24 hours of Le Mans endurance race. The first outing for the car, equipped with a 13B engine, failed by less than one second to qualify in 1979. The next year, a 12A-equipped RX-7 not only qualified, it placed 21st overall. That same car did not finish in 1981, along with two more 13B cars. Those two cars were back for 1982, with one 14th place finish and another DNF. The RX-7 Le Mans effort was replaced by the 717C prototype for 1983. In 1991, Mazda made racing history becoming the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to win the 24 hours of Le Mans. The car was a 4-rotor prototype, the 787B. To this day, Mazda is still the only Japanese manufacturer to have ever won the prestigious 24-hour Le Mans race outright. Mazda is also the only manufacturer to win the 24 hours of Le Mans race using something other than a reciprocating piston engine.