Racecar Lust--Mazda RX-792P
Continuing the incredibly obscure IMSA GTP theme ...
Yesterday we reviewed the development of the Nissan GTP-ZX prototype from dud into stud, in which Nissan tweaked its racer into a surprisingly dominant force after several lean seasons. Well, today's story is not quite as inspiring.
Mazda won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991 with its one-off Mazda 787B. After that stunning triumph, the automaker came into IMSA GTP with very high hopes--hopes that were subsequently dashed. The Mazda RX-792P came into IMSA GTP late, it wasn't very quick, it blew up easily, and Mazda pulled the plug after the car's first season. By any standard, the car was a miserable failure.
By any standard but one, that is. To my eyes, the Mazda RX-792P was one of the most beautiful race cars ever conceived. The word that comes to mind is "smooth." The RX-792P eschewed the purposeful and aggressive details of its competition for smooth, sweeping contours and a classic shape. Combine that shape with a subtle silver paint scheme devoid of cluttered sponsor logos, and you're left with a classic.
I was entranced with the RX-792P before it ever turned a wheel, but the spell deepened once I saw it race. Mazda, as it so often is, was alone in bringing to the table a rotary engine--and that rotary sounded glorious, fierce, shrieking and crackling.
Of course, none of this really makes up for the fact that as a race car the RX-792P was a huge, steaming failure. But if races were won on evocative looks, the RX-792P would have been a multiple champion.
The first photo here is of the ultimately unsuccessful RX-792P; the second is of the more conventional (and more successful) Le Mans-winning 787B.
--Chris H.
Mochi Mochi on June 10, 2008 at 10:12 PM
Beautiful beautiful car. Smooth is right. I can only imagine the sound that rotary made. I actually like the idea that this car was a complete hand-grenade. It seems fitting that something so elementally beautiful would be completely unstable and explosive.
I followed racing for many years with a nearly compulsive attention to the sport. Then for various reasons I put it on the shelf for way too many years. These articles are great. I feel like I'm catching up on some important history and discovering gems.
OldCarGuy on June 12, 2008 at 06:52 AM
I was "involved" with an '81 RX-7. I spent many happy hours behind the wheel on curvy, hilly backroads, pushing that car to my own limits. That rotary engine was smooth and very exciting to hear as I wound through the gears. When I see an old RX-7 on the road today, I bet my eyes sparkle.