After holding on to what was essentially a fairly dated platform for over a decade Mazda went all out with the 3rd generation RX-7, an all-new unibody, an all-new look, and the most sophisticated sequential turbocharged rotary engine ever to see the light of day.

Back in the early 90s, it was a marvel, way ahead of its time. 30 years later the design has dated far less than any of its contemporaries, but all this didn’t make it an automatic sales success. On the domestic front, it was subject to higher sales tax thanks to the extra width, abroad, most people simply couldn’t stomach the huge hike in the base price over the previous generation cars. After selling over 60,000 of these sports cars over the course of a decade, we would be remiss to say it was a flop, but judging by just how much Mazda invested in this car we suspect it didn’t meet its initial target.

As a result, these old sports cars, especially in original condition, are steadily rising in value. Although they have not risen to the ridiculous heights of some other JDM supercar slayers, they are a whole lot more expensive than they used to be just a few short years ago.

Incredible Engineering Of The RX-7

Mazda rotary engine
Mazda

Strong sales of their second-generation cars clearly motivated them to keep pushing boundaries and it was clear that they had bet big on their new RX-7.

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With their 4-rotor Le Mans car winning and subsequently getting banned by a rule change specifically targeting rotary-engined cars, Mazda wanted to make the most of their investment by putting as much of that tech in a road car. Marketing wise, the timing was almost perfect, they rolled out what was for the time an exceptional engine. The twin-rotor 1.3 liter was exactly half the displacement of the racing car and incorporated sequential turbocharging for the first time in a mass-produced car (the first car ever was the Porsche 959). They also used a backbone connecting the drivetrain to the limited-slip diff, this pretty much nullified all vibration from what is already a pretty smooth powertrain.

The Mass Appeal Of The RX-7

Mazda RX-7 FD - Rear Quarter

Most sports cars will express a certain design theme and will usually divide opinion, Mazda clearly went the other way, with soft, neutral lines the car was understated and as a result, appealed to a wide audience.

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Although it looked like many 90s cars, it still stood out enough to be a high-performance car. This was underlined by the high revving rotary that could make as much as 280 horsepower stock, a few inexpensive modifications saw that figure climb almost exponentially but there were a couple of very good reasons for Mazda sticking to the 280 mark. It was firstly because of the gentlemen's agreement in place between all Japanese manufacturers back then, capping horsepower at that figure, but more importantly, any more power made a mess of the apex seals in short order. Sales were hampered by the resulting bad press, with the reliability of the venerable Wankel coming sharply into focus.

These Models Are Getting Expensive

Mazda RX-7
Via-HotCars

If not for the turbo Wankel, these cars would have faded into myth by now. But no matter how unreliable, these cars showed everyone what a rotary powered car could really do.

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Those relatively weak sales and the alarming failure rate of these cars have contributed to their scarcity and value today, but that is only part of the story. People never took Japanese cars that seriously back in the 90s, if they did, far more of these exceptional cars would have sold to a global audience. Local sales were curtailed by huge competition and a higher price tag, now, you will have to shell out more than $30,000 for one in good condition. Likely a bit less for one needing work or in RHD through an importer, but even those JDM cars are appreciating fast.

In our humble opinion, these cars are well worth it. Paying more for something that has been well maintained is always going to be the best option but there are still a few project cars out there. They used to be incredible performance cars at a bargain price not long ago, but in many ways that was because nobody really appreciated them for what they were. The RX-8 tried and failed to follow in its footsteps but just ended up living in the 7’s shadow throughout its production life, this was, and likely will be the best ever rotary powered car ever made and is worth every penny.