Mazda RX-7

10 LEFT ON UK ROADS

Mazda’s first RX-7 (FB) was a wonderful break from the sporting norm. As pioneers of rotarypowered machines, the Hiroshima firm gave its new coupé a piston-less edge over its competition in the Seventies. But customers in the Eighties expected more of, well, everything.

Power, comfort, handling and cool-factor needed upping, and it was down to the secondgeneration FC to deliver the goods, which it most certainly did.

The big-dog secondgen RX-7 was powered by a 182bhp, twin-rotor, turbocharged 13B engine. Combined with brand new independent rear suspension – incorporating passive rear-steer – this RX-7 was designed to go Porsche hunting.

It even bore more than a passing resemblance to a contemporary 944. Yet despite Mazda making nearly 300,000 FCS from ’85 to ’92, today they ’re extraordinarily rare. If you find one, snap it up!