Twenty-five years ago, the first Rx-7 arrived stateside. It was the first rotary sports car to be released in the United States. Prior to that, Mazda had supplied us with rotary powered coupes, sedans, and wagons, but no sports cars. In 1978, no one really knew how the US would receive the Rx-7. The public's appetite for rotaries never appeared to recover from the 1973 US oil crises.

A little background -

Four years before the original Rx-7 was introduced, 90% of the vehicles Mazda sold in the US were rotary powered. That was understandable. The rotary powered cars from Mazda performed better than most of what the US manufacturers had to offer. Couple the performance numbers with the fact that Mazdas were inexpensive, and you can see why the public bought hoards of rotaries.

Mazda started selling cars in the United States in 1970. That year Mazda sold about 2300 cars. In 1971, Mazda sold about 19,000 US cars. That number almost tripled to 57,800 units, in the 1972 calendar year. The 1973 model year saw an improvement of over 100% from 1972. Basically, Mazda went from 2300 cars in 1970 to over 119,000 cars in 1973. Mazdas with rotary engines were a powerhouse on the sales floor.

Unfortunately, that was not to last.

1973 brought the first oil crises, and right about the same time, rotary engines started developing a bad reputation for reliability. Those two factors resulted in US sales falling by nearly 50% to a little over 61,000 units. The rotary was always a "thirstier" engine than it's piston counterpart, but was the reliability reputation warranted? It's tough to tell. Mazda sold piston versions of rotary cars, and the cars with piston engines used less gas and lasted a bit longer. The cars I'm referring to are the R100, which was sold at the same time as the 1200 coupe, and the Rx-2, which was sold along side the 616. Although the cars with piston engines lasted longer, in all fairness, the rotaries were probably driven a lot harder. Couple this with the fact that rotaries were just plain underdeveloped in comparison to piston engines, and maybe the public was right. Not that the piston engine cars of that period were all that great either. A lot of Vegas were sold during that same time period. For those too young to remember, the Vega was a car produced by Chevrolet. It had an aluminum block and an iron head. When running, this "import fighter" did 0-60 in 16.5 seconds. At best, a four-year-old Vega drank a quart of oil every 500 miles, and smoked badly. At worst, a four-year old Vega had been overheated once, which resulted in it drinking a quart of oil every 300 miles, consuming a radiator full of coolant every other day, blowing smoke like Trabant, and seizing very shortly thereafter. It just wasn't the best of times for most cars. So, is it fair to compare the reliability of a car with a rotary engine that is raced at every stoplight versus one that is used for a normal commute? Like I said, it's tough to tell, but next to the more economical Vega, the rotary was a prince.

In the next few years, Mazda sales numbers were on a roller coaster. Total Mazda sales rose from 61,000 units in 1974, to 68000 in 1975, only to have them drop to 35,000 in 1976. Sales rose again to 50,000 in 1977. The next year the Rx-7 arrived, and the years of Mazda moving only 35,000 cars were a thing of the past.

In the late spring of 1978, the first Rx-7's arrived. They were a big hit. The cars were so popular in southern California that dealers were running out of stock. Dealers marked the prices up, and they still sold out. I personally went to Pasadena Mazda to check out the new Rx-7. I thought it could use a few minor improvements, but I liked the overall package. I went back again the next week, and Pasadena Mazda was out of cars. Between late spring and the end of the year, Mazda sold over 19,000 Rx-7's. Between the GLC and the Rx-7, total Mazda sales rose to 75,000 in 1978 and jumped again to over 156,000 in 1979. Mazda was back, and the rotary was a big part of the revival. Mazda Rx-7 sales exceeded 50,000 units for calendar year 1979.

When the Rx-7 made it's debut, the major competition came from Datsun (now Nissan) and Porsche. The Rx-7 was a faster car than it's rivals in both the 0-60 and quarter mile times. In a straight line, the cars consistently ranked Rx-7, 280ZX, and 924. The Rx-7 and the 280 ZX were pretty close performance wise, with the 924 lagging behind. Pricing was where the Rx-7 stood out. It was the least expensive by a landslide. In the summer of 1978, the base price for a 1979 Rx-7 was $6,400. There were $6,400 Rx-7 ads everywhere. You couldn't find a car at that price, but the ads were there. Even with the dealer markup, the Rx-7 was priced much lower than either the 280ZX or the 924.

In the 1978, Porsche 924's were known as prestigious vehicles, and who can forget that the Datsun 280ZX was "awesome"? Mazda countered with a low priced, well-built, car that would blow the doors off either one. By the standards of the day, the Rx-7 was exotic. In 1978, those buyers with no rotary experience were greeted by a mistake when they first climbed into the car. Right in the middle of the gauge cluster was an 8000-RPM tachometer, with a 7000-RPM redline. Typically, tachometers with 7000-RPM redlines were found in Ferraris and earlier Porsches. The Fiat X1/9 was the only exception of that era that I can remember. The X1/9 was an affordable sports car that would redline at almost 7000-RPM, but they were somewhat strange. They had the typical Fiat reliability issues, and aside from no one knowing what X1/9 stood for, those "sports cars" ran 20 second quarter miles. The Rx-7's 8000-RPM tachometer was only the first clue that this car may be a little extraordinary.

The Rx-7 was a completely different animal than anything we were used to. One of the Mazda ads had something I had never seen before. They claimed the car had a "front mid-engine layout". I had no idea what they were talking about. In every mid-engine car I had ever seen, the engine was behind the driver. Another trip to the dealer gave me the answer - the engine was behind the front axle centerline. That's how Mazda achieved the 50/50 weight distribution. This resulted in me spending a fair amount of time looking at engine placement with regard to axle centerline after that. Another exotic thing was the Rx-7 produced 100 HP from 1.2 liters. The 280ZX produced 132 HP, but it took 2.8 liters to do so. Muscle cars from the late 60's and early 70's made 1 HP per cubic inch, but the rotary made 1.3 horses per cubic inch. If Chevrolet had been able to pull off that same trick, they would have had 455 HP small blocks. With the type of high horsepower numbers the rotary produced, you would expect a peaky engine with a lumpy idle. Rotaries were just the opposite. They had flat torque curves and a smooth idle. You had to look at the tachometer to determine if the engine was running. This was unheard of for the time. In the years following the oil crises, we had "lean burn" V8's. That was seventies speak for an engine that stuttered, knocked, stalled, and still only got 16 MPG. Smoothness was not common with stock cars. You know those caps the manufacturers put over the fuel injection adjustment screws? They are there because in the 1970's, cars were "adjusted" until they ran right. Rotaries didn't have to be adjusted; they hummed right from the showroom floor.

So, how does a 100 HP rotary, outrun the 132 HP 280-ZX? The answer is simple - weight. Rx-7's weighed less than any other US spec sports car in it's class - with two exceptions being the Fiat X1/9 and the Fiat 124. The Rx-7 weighed less because it was well thought out long before the first models were introduced. Unlike previous rotary powered Mazdas, the Rx-7 was only designed for a rotary engine. Rotary engines weigh less than their piston counterparts, and take up less space. That being the case, if the car is only designed for that engine, then it can take advantage of the available packaging benefits.

With this being an Rx-7 article, written by an Rx-7 owner, some may feel this is all a bit slanted. Some may even go so far as to assume that I am picking and choosing the Rx-7's competition. That may seem so because the 1979 Datsun 280ZX was not available when the 1979 Rx-7 was introduced in mid-1978. The 1978 Datsun 280Z, which was a more powerful car than the 1979 280ZX, was technically the first Datsun to go head-to-head with the Rx-7. The 1978 280Z had 170 HP, versus the 132 HP 1979 280 ZX. Road and Track tested both the Rx-7 and the 280Z in 1978 and here is their quote regarding the two cars -

"Our test model RX-7, the GS version with 5-speed gearbox and most of the luxury options including air conditioning, turned in very impressive results in our acceleration tests: 0-60 in 9.2 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 17.0 seconds at 83.0 MPH. Trying to find a comparably priced sports or GT car with equal performance will be an exercise in frustration - the Datsun 280Z accelerates from rest to 60 MPH in 9.4 seconds and turns the quarter mile in 17.3 seconds at 81 MPH; the Porsche 924 figures are 11.0 seconds to 60 MPH and 18.0 at 77.0 MPH for the quarter-mile test. Other sports car alternatives such as the Triumph TR7, Fiat 124 and X1/9 lag even further behind."

Here are more quotes from the automotive publications of that era -

Road and Track magazine called the 1979 Rx7 "an enthusiasts dream come true." In June of 1978, Road and Track also wrote the Rx-7 was "far and away the best in it's class".

Car and Driver wrote, "the RX-7 is unquestionably this year's sports car coup. It sneaks into the fray with an unsophisticated chassis layout, a tiny beer keg of a motor and blows off well-seasoned leaders - Datsun's 280-Z and Porsche's 924 in particular"

Road Test magazine selected the Rx-7 as "Outstanding Sports Car of 1979"

Sitting here 25 years later, it's easy to forget how fantastic the original Rx-7 was. Back in 1978, the Rx-7 was a real piece of automotive art that the average consumer could afford. Mazda is hoping for history to repeat itself. The Rx-8 will be here shortly. Will Mazda be able to sell close to 20,000 Rx-8's in the US before January of 2004? Will total sales triple in the next couple of years? More importantly, will the next rotary sports car make trying to find a comparably priced sports or GT car with equal performance an exercise in frustration?