TLVN Mazda 787B

The Mazda 787B has gone down in racing history as a legend. It is the only Japanese car that has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And it is the only Rotary-powered car to do so at that. And all that is still true as of current writing.

The model that I have with me is the Le Mans-winning number 55 car. This is a Tomica Limited Vintage Neo model, and that means you can expect nothing less than the very best of what Tomica/Tomytec has to offer. And indeed, it does not disappoint.

It comes in a bigger box than your normal TLVNs and the top flap is adorned by hand-drawn art of the car. It appears to be on Mazda’s Laguna Seca raceway, but I can’t be 100 percent sure so don’t quote me on that. Kudos to Nakajima-san whose signature appears together with the art. Unfortunately, I can’t read Japanese text so I can only assume that the cover introduces the car as the Mazda 787B 1991 winner of the 24 Hour of Le Mans.

Open the flap and a display window only teases with the three parts that the model comes in. The main body and chassis come with the engine, suspension, cooling system, and enormous wing. Beside it are two race car panels to cover the front and back of the half-naked race car. And since this is number 55, you can already see the orange and green RENOWN livery screaming at you even at this bullish 1:64 scale.

Taking it out of the box gives you a substantial feeling die-cast model. The metal on this thing feels very much premium. The level of detail on the plastic mould is what you would expect of a TLVN model. There are supposed to be 2 aerials that need to be attached to complete the car, but I didn’t put those in for fear of eventually losing them. The two panels attach perfectly on the car and you are rewarded with a fully built race car. The wheels are also what you would expect from a TLVN model, which are a pretty darn accurate representation of the wheels on the actual car. Again, the level of detail on this small scale is amazing. The livery, sponsor decals, internal parts, even the headlights all come at you with great presence.

Then again, you do pay a premium for this car. But as a collector and a Mazda nut, it has been worth every penny.

Imports

A long time ago, the “import” scene exploded in America. “Import” referred to any car that was not made in the good old US of A. It was later associated with modified cars of the same nature (i.e. non-American). And all of that peaked as Hollywood embraced the car culture with The Fast and The Furious. Granted, proper gearheads didn’t really think that the Furious franchise would bear up to 8 films when it came out in 2001. But for the non-gearheads, it became the dictionary for cars like the Toyota Supra, Nissan Skyline, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Mazda RX-7 and then some.

Mazdas by Jada

It turns out that around that time, there was also an American die-cast collectible manufacturer that started a shop in 1999. This manufacturer called themselves Jada Toys. It was a long time ago, relative to the time I am writing this, so the actual dates are a bit blurred. But it was their Import Tuner and Option D lines that mounted up on the hype of the import car scene.

As Jada rolls out their “new” JDM Tuners line, I look back at my small garage and think to myself, man, are these things now vintage? (and why the heck did I sell off most of them before!)

More than a decade after I bought them, what do I think of them now?

Mazda RX-7 FC3S

Green and Yellow FCs

The Option D line differentiated itself from the Import Tuner line in some way. And that is a good thing. As the Import Tuners were more similar to their DUB cousins which looked more show than go. The Option D line kept the enormous upsized wheels and tires but removed the speakers and amplifiers. They also kept the paint jobs and the sponsor decals as well as the body kits and of course the giant wings. They looked the part of a drift-show car but they weren’t play-friendly in the way Hot Wheels cars were. The rubber wheels don’t really do “play” very well especially if you try to drift. At least they roll forwards and backward.

It’s no secret that Mazdas are my primary collection. The RX-7 FC3S, in particular, has always been my favorite despite the newer FD3S and MX-5s. In this scale, the Jadas is a clear winner. Hopefully, we get other die-cast manufacturers to churn out the FC as well.

Mazda RX-7 FD3S

The successor to the FC. More powerful, better balanced, and overall better looking than the FC, the FD once held the distinction of Japan’s best handling sports car. Even today, the FDs status is legendary. Once again, Jada put their magic into their version of the FD3S. Based on the cars that I have, it appears to have several variations. And not just with the paint and the rims. There are distinct body kits and difference in wings. Which is very cool indeed.

Jada works its magic on the interior bits of their cars, even on this small scale. You will see several combinations of speakers, subwoofers, amplifiers and nitrous bottles in different configurations on these cars. There are even some with stereos sporting pop-up screens on the dash. You will not see this amount of detailing on a Hot Wheels car.

Mazda RX-8

The younger RX-8s

The last of the Rotary Powered Mazdas in the last generation. They were unique in the sense that they still employed the use of the Wankel Rotary engine. However, the RX-8 did not turn out to be the “soul” successor to the Mazda rotary monsters. I guess you could say that ended with the FD3S. It’s not that the RX-8 was a bad car. It just wasn’t good enough to live up to the reputation that the RX-7s have established. It just didn’t have the same wow factor as the RX-7. It didn’t handle as well as the RX-7 and it didn’t perform as well as the RX-7 on the track. But it was still beautiful. And Jada did Mazda proud.

The RX-8 casting by Jada was everything you would have expected Jada to have done at the time. Body kit, check. Big-ass rims and tires, check. Import racer paint and tampos, check. Enormous GT wing, check. NOS and stereo systems, check. In terms of beauty, this is a beast. It didn’t have the same lines as the FD3S and the muscular stance of the FC3S. The RX-8 was beautiful in its own right. Once you stop comparing it to it’s older brothers.

I have had a good opportunity to have a good number of Jada Mazdas. I could have had more if I was smart enough in my purchases during those days, but I am pretty happy with what I have. It is enough to put a smile on my face every time I see them.

What the heck is a Mazda REPU?

What the heck is a Mazda REPU?

We all know how Mazda unconventionally chose to develop the rotary engine and use it successfully to win the 24-hour Le Mans with the 787B. This gave Mazda the distinction of being the first, and so far, only Japanese manufacturer to have won the grueling race (with a rotary engine at that).

Unconventionally, Mazda also decided on using the Wankel Rotary engine and shove it into road-going production cars. We have had the pleasure of seeing (and hearing) these in action in the form of the Mazda Cosmo Sport and for the younger folks, it was engraved into their ears as the heart of the rotary series of cars such as the RX-3, RX-7, and RX-8. Staying true to their unconventional ways, Mazda also decided to shoehorn the 13B into a pick-up truck.

Thus, the REPU was born. The Rotary-Engine Pickup, yes it is far from being creative but the nickname has pretty much stood the test of time. It was a limited run in actual production, but then there was a crazy man named Mike, Mad Mike, who went on to restore, build and drive one on a regular basis. Yes, Mad Mike loves his Mazdas and we have him to thank because Hot Wheels decided on using his truck as the base for the first release of the Mazda REPU in 1:64. Staying true to the original, the paint scheme on this truck is just awesome. The wheels do the truck justice in its small 1:64-ish way, but it’s really the two differently painted doors that blew me away. This casting is going to be one for the books. And together with the recently released RX7 (FD3S), 2017 is a hoot.

I may not have done proper justice to the REPU in the accompanying photos, but believe me when I say that this is one casting that you have got to get.

Mazda RX-7 SA22

Hot Wheels gave us it’s first proper casting of the RX-7 in its older guise. The first generation SA22. But it is not just the base SA22, it is a race version seemingly based on IMSA RX-7 race cars. It has the body kit complete with the wing and fender flares and chin spoiler. Thank you, Jun Imai, for this wonderful casting. I wasn’t necessarily thrilled about this casting as I should have to be honest. Probably because I was expecting the younger FD3S or even the venerable FC3S instead. But when it did come, I didn’t think twice and got a hold of them as much as I could. Mazda fan, period.

Mazda RX-7 SA22

This particular SA22 is a custom work that I bought together with a non-custom of the exact same model. It comes in a Mazda livery that is reminiscent of the days that it was actively running on the IMSA GT Championships. The base car was not modified at all by the customizer, this is just a simple wheel swap, but the wheels are gorgeous. They fit the car well and makes it stand out from its normal brethren with the blacked out MC5 wheels. This custom SA22 is one of my inspirations to do mods, as even just a simple wheel swap was able to elevate the car two notches higher. As I mentioned, this car is sporting a nice nostalgic Mazda livery in light blue over a pristine white paint job. The blue windows were a nice touch and the white interior was also a good choice for this car. Kudos once again to Jun Imai for the great casting and to the customizer for the excellent choice of aftermarket wheels.