Driving the start of a legend, and the last of a breed on a road trip to Los Angeles
Welcome to the beginning of a thousand-mile father and son road trip. But this isn’t just any road trip – this is an epic to a very special car. Not too long ago, we purchased a completely original, 1985 Mazda RX-7 GS from an owner in Grand Junction, Colorado. The entire TFL crew instantly came to appreciate the car for just how clean and original it was, with just over 50,000 original miles in 32 years.
Now, though, it’s time to send the RX-7 on to a new home. Given the car’s special nature, however, we wanted to give the RX-7 a proper send off. That’s why Tommy and Roman are taking it 1,000 miles to Los Angeles – home of Mazda’s North American headquarters. Along the way, its 1.2-liter, 100 horsepower 12A rotary engine would be put to the test. The car faces the challenging uphill stretches of the Rocky Mountains, long highway spans, and the streets of LA. Not to mention an extraterrestrial encounter. This is the engine that kicked off the legendary RX-7 line, and a love affair for rotary engines among car enthusiasts that still endures today. What’s particularly special about this RX-7 is that it is one of the last 1,000 examples of the first generation Mazda produced.
How does the FB RX-7 fare on its cross-country road trip? You’ll have to watch the video above to find out! It may not be the fastest-generation RX-7 around. It may not have the wild popularity of the later, turbocharged FD RX-7, but its still charming as they come. Does anyone else miss pop-up headlights?
Check back to TFLcar.com for more in our RX-7 “Rotary Road Trip” series! Subscribe to The Fast Lane Car and TFLnow on YouTube for more news, views, and real-world (sadly, no rotary engine) reviews. Click here to watch Part II now!
