1989 Mazda RX7 Series V Convertible

Description

If the first-generation RX-7 had been the first viable Japanese alternative to a Porsche, then its P747 successor was even more obviously inspired by the products of Zuffenhausen. It is fair to call the second-gen Mazda sports car Japan’s answer to the Porsche 944, the chief machine against which it was benchmarked (and in the early 1980s no-one in the world could have known that front-engined Porsche sports cars would soon be a thing of the past!) Nowadays virtually every new European and Japanese performance car is tested at the old Nürburgring, the most formidable circuit in the world – an immense 21 kilometres long. Toyo Kogyo (as Mazda used to be known) took a P747 prototype there and invited 1960 Le Mans winner, Paul Frère, to test it. The great driver and motoring journalist observed that for him the circuit provided ‘a wonderful basis of comparison, since I have driven there for more than 30 years, completing nearly 2000 laps racing and testing cars ranging from Formula 1 to family models.’ Frère rated the handling and other dynamic aspects of the new model highly. (He was less impressed by the performance of the naturally aspirated version ‘Naturally,’ said Frère, ‘my preference goes to the turbocharged version, which has enough power to do justice to the wonderful chassis – especially as the turbo is effective at quite low engine speeds and its response is not far short of immediate.’) The Turbo arrived in late 1986 and it could cut a standing quarter-mile in just 15.4 seconds, very quick for the day. For many RX-7 enthusiasts, the Series IV Turbo convertible is the most desirable Mazda of the 1980s.