There's just so much to see.
When you talk about iconic Mazda cars, the MX-5 Miata will usually come up in the conversation. However, as brilliant as the little sports car is and always has been, it's the Mazda RX-7 that truly captured the imagination of the aftermarket tuning scene. It's a car with phenomenal handling and gorgeous styling - in FD3S guise at least - but the reason people love it is arguably more to do with its engine than anything else. The Wankel rotary is so loved that there are entire shows dedicated only to vehicles running one. One such show in Japan was captured on video and there's eye candy for days.
Countless RE Amemiya-kitted FD models are on display, along with at least one RX-7 featuring the iconic VeilSide Fortune kit seen in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Although not as popular, there are some RX-8 models too, ranging from daily drivers to extreme custom show cars. There's also stuff that the American market may be less familiar with, including the classic Mazda Cosmo. Time Attack cars were on display too, as were purpose-built drift cars. A highlight of the show was also the appearance of a Mazda 787B Le Mans racecar, although the video fails to capture it running.
The show even played host to a Citroen GS Birotor, a quirky and relatively unknown French car that came with a transversely-mounted rotary engine. However, it was something of an error on the part of Citroen and only 847 units were sold. Due to numerous factors, sales of this car never really took off and Citroen even tried to buy them all back so that it wouldn't have to worry about providing spares. This isn't the only unlikely rotary-powered machine there either, with an NB Mazda MX-5 also appearing packing a 13B motor. Everywhere you look, the whole show is a feast for the eyes for any rotary lover and has just been added to our bucket list.
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