RX-7 — Mazda’s rotary engine sports car

by Brian Long

Mazda launched its first rotary-engined car – the Cosmo – in 1966, and was the only car manufacturer to solve the major problems associated with Wankel’s radical engine design so that the unit’s potential could be exploited and enjoyed. Launched in 1978, the RX-7 provided effortless and uncannily smooth performance, attributes that endeared the model to enthusiasts through three generations of production. With each reincarnation the RX-7 became more of a Grand Tourer and less of a sports car (a mantle handed on to the MX-5/Miata); global sales reduced as the car moved upmarket until, in the new millennium, the model was only sold in its native Japan.

This is the updated and enlarged third edition of the definitive international history of Mazda’s extraordinarily successful Wankel-engined coupés and roadsters, up to the end of production and the introduction of the RX-8. Advice on buying your own RX-7, plus coverage of the RX-7 in motorsport, and production figures.

Lavishly illustrated with good quality colour photographs, this book provides an in-depth insight into this amazing production automobile. A must have for any RX7 enthusiast.

Contents:

• A brief history of Mazda
• Birth of the RX-7
• The legend grows
• The second generation
• The third generation
• The RX-7 in competition
• The twilight years
• RX-7 buyer's guide
• Production figures

Buch, Softcover, 21 x 25 cm, 216 Seiten, 425 überwiegend farbige Abbildungen, englischer Text