In 1991, Mazda became the first and only Japanese car manufacturer to win the vaunted 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. Mazda 787B cars finished in first, sixth and eighth positions.

The Mazda 787B was not supposed to win the 24 Hours of LeMans in 1991.

To say that the deck was stacked against it would be an understatement. LeMans in 1991 was to be an all-out war between Team Sauber Mercedes and the TWR Silk Cut Jaguars. In fact, no less than future 7-time Formula 1 World Champion, Michael Schumacher, as well as future Formula 1 driver Karl Wendlinger, were at the helm of the fastest Mercedes.

Jaguar pulled no punches either. Davy Jones, Raul Boesel, Bob Wallek, Derek Warwick and Andy Wallace were all tasked with bringing home LeMans glory for the English company – who brought no less than four cars to battle the three Sauber Mercedes.

Additionally, numerous privateer Porsche 962s, Spice-Cosworths, and factory-entered Peugeot 905s with what were essentially detuned Formula 1 V10 engines, meant the Mazda team was on no one's list to be a contender.

The three-pronged Mazda attack was spearheaded by the #55 787B, driven by Volker Weidler, Johnny Herbert, and Bertrand Gachot, and qualified a distant 19th overall. However, what the little 787B lacked in outright pace it made up for in fuel consumption – it didn't need nearly the fuel that the Jaguars and Mercedes required, while being able to stay somewhat on pace with the early leaders. The teams were only allotted a certain amount of fuel during the race, meaning that the blinding pace set by the fastest cars in practice would have to be tempered a bit during the race.

The Peugoets led away from the start at 3pm, but were quickly run down by the Sauber-Mercedes. With the TWR Jaguars either hitting trouble early, or not being able to match the pace of the Sauber-Mercedes, the Weidler/Herbert/Gachot 787B ran around in third, two laps behind – still in contention. It was unnoticed by nearly everybody.

"I kept seeing this bumble bee appear in my rearview mirror," said Davy Jones, one of the TWR Jaguar drivers, of the Mazda. "It appears behind, like a Mercedes…"

The Schumacher-wheeled Sauber-Mercedes went into the pits at 5 a.m. with transmission problems, moving the Mazda to second.

But in the 21st hour, with Jean-Lous Schlesser at the wheel, the leading Sauber-Mercedes was instructed to enter the pits –which it did, in a cloud of steam. A failed water pump belt meant game over for the Mercedes, and the Mazda, which had at this point been running in second, needed only ten minutes to take over the lead with two laps in hand over the Jones/Boesel/Ferte Jaguar.

As the minutes and hours ticked away, the French fans got into the spirit of the 787B becoming the first rotary-engined car to win the 24-hour race at le Circuit de la Sarthe. So distinctive was the sound of the 4-rotor Wankel, that every time the #55 787B came down the front straightaway, the fans would do a "Mazda wave"– keeping up with the car as it headed for LeMans glory.

Johnny Herbert, a future Formula 1 Grand Prix winner, was tasked with driving the final stint, and was so exhausted after crossing the finish line that when he emerged from the winning car, he collapsed on it. While Weidler and Gachot enjoyed the spoils of the podium ceremony, Herbert was receiving treatment at the track's care center!

1991 was the first, last, and only time that a Japanese car has won the 24 Hours of LeMans. The victory sealed the 787B's status as an icon with Mazda fans throughout the world. Mazda returned to LeMans in 1992 with a new car – the MXR-01 – and retained the lineup of Weidler/Herbert/Gachot, but was unable to recapture the magic with the new piston-engined car.

As such, the 1991 LeMans win remains Mazda's greatest accomplishment in motorsports.

I have a newer 996 Porsche 911 and on the freeway from SF to Tahoe, it got an average of 28+ mpg round trip. It's reliable, similar performance #'s, better gas mileage and gets more chicks than a rotary. I won't get into your 350hp rotary as being smog/street legal.

Compare the Rx8 compared to the Vette. Which has more HP/torque? I don't see how you can say the rotary has torque? The vette gets better or same mpg as the Rx8. Look at real world figures and EPA data. Heck take a Honda Odessey minivan. I bet it gets better gas mileage than the RX8 and probably weighs close to 4000lbs with more HP than a RX8. Maybe your rental car had some problems.

I just don't like the piston engine that much.