There are several unique things about this issue’s feature car. First, it’s a 37-year-old Mazda RX7 with the famous Wankel Rotary engine teamed with a five-speed manual transmission. Second, it’s been owned by its original owner since it was new. Third, the owner is a 95-year-old woman who drives it daily.
Mazda started as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co. in 1920. It was saved from bankruptcy in the late 1920s by the Hiroshima Saving Bank and a group of local business leaders. In 1931, the company built its first motor vehicle, a three-wheeled truck, and called it the Mazda-Go auto rickshaw. Unlike many auto brands named for their founders, there was no Mr. Mazda. According to official company documents, “the name was associated with Ahura Mazda (God of Light), with the hope that it would brighten the image of these company vehicles.”
During World War II, the company manufactured weapons for the Japanese military including various types of rifles. Even though every vehicle made by the company was branded Mazda, they didn’t formally change their name to Mazda until 1984. As of 2017, Mazda was ranked as the world’s 17th largest automaker.
The most unusual thing about this 1985 Mazda RX7 is the engine. The rotary engine was designed by the German engineer Felix Wankel, who received his first patent in 1929. He didn’t complete an acceptable working model of the engine until 1957. Wankel worked with the German manufacturer NSU, a maker of cars and motorcycles that was founded in 1873 and acquired by Volkswagen in 1969. Later, VW merged NSU with another of their acquisitions, Auto Union, to create Audi.
In 1964, the very first Wankel engine-powered car was introduced by NSU called the Wankel Spider. There was interest in this very different internal combustion engine from various automakers around the world, including Ford, GM, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce, Toyota and Mazda. Principle advantages of the engine included lower weight and good power compared to conventional piston engines.
Like most automotive manufacturers, Mazda wanted to prove itself a top competitor. They entered the RX7 in 1979’s 24-hour endurance race in Daytona, with the car finishing first and second in its class. In 1982, the Mazda RX7 finished 1-2-3-4-5-6 in Daytona and Road & Track Magazine unanimously voted the RX7 the “Best Car for the Eighties” in its class. More than 800,000 Mazda RX7 models were sold from 1978 through 2002.
The proud owner of this edition’s 1985 Mazda RX7 is Walnut Creek resident Connie Marks, and it is her only car. She likes everything about the car: the engine, the manual transmission, the style and the color.
“I’m at an age where there won’t be another one,” she said.
Marks isn’t exactly the type of customer automakers are fond of, as this is only the third car she has ever owned. The owner has driven this car 91,000 miles in her 37 years of ownership. The car is a midengine two-seater, with the engine installed behind the front axle, giving the car greater balance and a low center of gravity. It also does well on fuel economy, rated at 29 mpg on the highway and 19 in the city.
Speaking of her early ownership she said, “I used to take a lot of trips down to LA. I’d wake up in the morning and say, ‘Oh, maybe a trip to L.A. would be fun.’ I liked all the back roads.”
Now her travels are local — to Lafayette, downtown Walnut Creek and, of course, around Walnut Creek’s Rossmoor residential area, where she plays bocce and golf twice a week. Considering her age and the car’s, though, she doesn’t think long trips register well on the good-idea meter.
When she first saw an RX7 in a parking lot, she told herself “this is what I want” and negotiated with two dealers before buying this one. She paid $11,000 for the car when it was new or about $30,440 in 2022 dollars. She traded in the second car she ever owned, a VW Bug, to get the RX7. Other than routine maintenance and having the car repainted, there have been no major expenses.
“I love the look of the car,” she said. “I’m so proud to come to it and know it’s mine. Every now and then somebody gives me the thumbs-up sign or comes over and ask if I want to sell my car. I have nine people who want to buy it. So I have all their names if I ever quit driving.”
And if she does sell it, there’s a good chance she’ll get back her $11,000 and then some. Marks offered me a ride, which I eagerly accepted. We had a short ride through Rossmoor, and she shifted through the five-speed transmission like an experienced NASCAR driver. It was a treat.
Have an interesting vehicle? Contact David Krumboltz at MOBopoly@yahoo.com. To view more photos of this and other issues’ vehicles or to read more of Dave’s columns, visit mercurynews.com/author/david-krumboltz.
