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.
Mike Hoffman on February 06, 2010 at 04:09 PM
I saw the 792 race as a kid at Road America in 1992. Beautiful car and track. The cars were faster at the end of the season with the twin wing tail but still 1-3 seconds off the pace.
However my ears are still ringing 18 years later.
Good times.
dhume on August 05, 2010 at 05:11 PM
I saw this car raced at Phoenix and Del Mar in 1992. In fairness, the car was in development. No 1st year entry into IMSA is going to be competitive out of the box. I am not sure how you can say the car was not fast as it qualified 2nd in one race that year and qualified 4th in the Del Mar race. The car had teething issues for sure and I think with another year of development it would have been very competitive. The engine was a virtual tansplant out of the 787B as LeMann changed the engine rules that basically ended Mazda's rotary pursuits in the 24 Hours. So Mazda brought the car over to the IMSA series. Thus for an engine designed for the long track to come to the smaller IMSA tracks was going to require some adjusting. I am not aware of the engine out-right "blowing up". I believe the engine was reliable enough but other issues kept affecting the results such as the body work catching fire on two occassions from the proximity to the exhaust. There were also brake issues. All in all, the car just needed more development. The competition, of course, was fairly steep, i.e., Dan Guerney's Eagles. Guerney purportedly had a $20 million budget with Toyota and Mazda had a $5 million budget for the 792P. These numbers ultimately killed the IMSA series.