Mazda, it should come as no surprise, doesn't make
the RX-7 anymore. It may again soon, if our prayers are answered, but until
then, the chances of getting a factory-fresh rotary sports car are practically
nil. That would be enough to make the proposition presented here very tempting,
but that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
This is no ordinary RX-7. This is a
rally machine, based on the second FD-generation model, built to compete under
the FIA's celebrated Group B regulations. It was one of 20 that Mazda
originally set out to make, but after Group B was shut down in 1987, only seven
had been made.
To make it even more tempting, it's never even been
driven – at least not competitively, at any rate. After the program was
shuttered, this vehicle sat in Mazda's European racing facility in Belgium
until the company's Swiss importer bought it along with a number of RX-7
chassis and parts in the early 1990s. It then disappeared into the obscurity of
a private collection, but now it's heading to the auction block.
RM Sotheby's isn't saying how much it expects
the RX-7 Evo – likely the last in existence – to sell for at its London auction
next month. But whatever the unpublished estimate, we could easily see a bidding
war unfold between Wankel and Group B fanatics to set some kind of new record.
