Just wanted to start a thread to see if anyone has any more info on the actual prototype. I've spent a good amount of time digging and have only come up with a couple pictures. I'm sure there is much much more info and pictures out there but I can't seem to find it. I'm sure some old car and drivers from say 91 or 92 would have some more info as well. I don't know the source of these photos but I almost recall seeing them in a really old car and driver.





A few interesting things I noticed from the grainy photos (you guys may find others):

• The original mazda engineers planned for the FD to have a 10K rpm redline. I'm sure mazda corporate was the first to take an axe to that idea for warranty reasons. There is power up there though, and we see the engineers for the 8 got their way 12 years later
• I'm glad mazda ditched the 80's styled FC-type stalks. No gracias.
• I'm also glad they didn't leave us with a roller style odometer from the miata parts bin
• They replaced the rheostat on the gauge hood with our pop up light switch. I would have to say I would have preferred the rheostat in place of the light-pop switch, cause seriously how often do you pop your headlights up manually?
• The steering wheel with the grips is a little fugly, but it's kinda cool and useful at the same time. Maybe in leather it wouldn't have looked as awkward and they could have kept that feature.
• Positions of oil, temp, and fuel are switched. I kinda like having the temp front and center, but mazda probably didnt want us freaking out about (or knowing that) our cars were overheating... so they moved the temp gauge down and made it really non linear to the point of being a dummy gauge. Thanks mazda corporate.

Anyone got any more info, pics, or notice anything else? I'm really interested in the original design, and design concepts.

-Heath

 

Great Thread.

If I was still at home, I'd dig through my older brothers old Car & Drivers, Road & Tracks and Automobile Mags.

He has complete collections from 86-95 - Im sure something was in there.

 

ive done lots of digging and i finally gave up a while back couldnt find anything. there isnt much coverage pre release from what i know but then again i was in sleeping in a crib when the FD came out lol.

 

Damn, too bad we didnt get those RPM gauges...haha Thanks for posting this

 

Yeah that 10k RPM gauge just looks awesome..

 

I assure you, the gauge isn't the deciding factor in turning 10K in the S6 !

-J

 

well first, if you're looking in the car mags, the first production FD's were built late december of 1991, so you'd need to look earlier than that.

2 i recall there being drawings more than pictures, but the car was eagerly anticipated...

3, yamaguchi book!

 

Is the yamaguchi book FD specific? I haven't seen it before. Any good shots/info inside? I'd consider grabbing it if I knew more about it.... amazon seems to have some cheap ones

 

little bump for more info. please tell me someone knows more than I do ... if not the world is in bad shape

 

Yes, the Yamaguchi book is FD specific.
http://www.amazon.com/RX-7-Mazdas-Le.../dp/4947659017

 

anyone else notice that red a-pillar and spot of red next to the AC console I've always wanted to do that, and its what bothered me about the 93 red interiors (the red stops abruptly after the doors, when the shape is an obvious continuation).

 

there is an FD book and an FC book. they should both be on the required reading list.

 

I kinda wished they would have kept the manual odometer, stupid electric ones ALWAYS go bad. Spent some money getting mine fixed after I couldn't get it to work for more than 2 weeks..

 

^^ the Yamaguchi book has a lot of pictures and info about the prototype RX-7, and pics of the original nice blue paint instead of Montego after production began

 

this ^

I have both the FD and FC books; quite interesting and great references. There's an RX-8 book too; I am not sure if the 8 story starts where the FD book leaves off (not that interested to find out). Definitely a good addition to any FD/FC enthusiasts collection.

I spent an afternoon at my college's library a couple years back and found numberous magazines from 91-95 full of great articles on the RX-7. eBay and amazon had a lot of original mags from the era for sale as well.

Good luck.

 

The RX-8 Yamaguchi book is quite good too.

 

I'll def. be buying the book from amazon... in the mean time anyone have any interesting info or pics they want to share? I hear alot of "read the book" but lets hear what you learned after reading it. book report time

 

School is not in session unfortunately.

 

anyone have any more info, pictures, scans of said books? I'm surprised not more people are interested in this stuff. If we were talking about wings or body kits, or wheels this thread would be blowin up Heaven forbid we actually LEARN something here LOL

 

Heath,

You really need to pick up a copy of this book.

Here is a little preview of the prototype section of the book including the source of where your crude scans came from:











There is also a lot of details including some drawings:

 

**** yes!! Just ordered on Amazon woo woooo

 

Ordered one too.

 

I completely forgot I owned that book. =)

Thanks for the reminder.

 

While I'm waiting for this book to arrive, are there any other good rx7 books out there with information not covered in this book? I noticed a few other books written about the FD on amazon with some history, some buying guides, etc.

 

And it's because of this initial design decision that we have really weird interiors in 93 (red and tan) and what has always bothered me about the "colored" interiors from that first year. Mazda knew they wanted a flowing design throughout the cockpit.... but for whatever reason, someone at mazda said, "you know what, we cant really put a colored dashboard in a production car" I dont know if this was for warranty reasons (fading color over time) or they realized that you would get a lot more reflections off the windshield from the colored dash which could be distracting (safety problem) for drivers. But for whatever reason, someone up top at mazda said, no colored dash. So the quick fix was... "hey we'll just stop the colored part where the door meets the dash."

Unfortunately, that looks really weird because the shape is supposed to flow from the door to the dash. It's always bothered me and I never knew why they did that... till now. They also must have realized that it looks a little fugly cause this was the one and only year that colored interior panels appeared in the car. After 93 all we had was colored seats and carpet.