On a flight to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif., youโll unwittingly fly right over a storied collection of racecars. About 20 seconds before touch down, the flight path crosses right over Mazda NA R&D, which for almost 25 years has been the home of the Mazda Motorsports Heritage Collection. Until recently, that flyby a few hundred feet above was as close as most fans ever got.
Over the last decade or so, Mazda has pulled the covers off a pair of special cars for some one-off track appearances. The 767B GTP prototype from 1989 (above) in the iconic orange and green โChargeโ livery and the IMSA GTO RX-7 from 1991 in corporate white and blue (below) have delighted fans, only for the cars to return to the R&D basement away from public sight.
Mazda RX-7 GTO. Image by Harston Pitman
That all changed when Mazda Motorsports revealed that those two cars and others would undergo a front to back restoration with the intent of being put through their paces at historic race meets throughout the year. Their โcoming out partyโ was the HSR Classic Daytona in November of 2023, along with HSRโs Sebring Classic 12 Hour and the Mitty this year.
โItโs important we celebrate our heritage and bring these great cars to our race fans, enthusiasts and ownersโ group,โ said Mazda Motorsports senior manager Jonathan Applegate.
Next stop is a return to the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, Aug. 14-17. This time the pair will be joined for the first time by a fully-refreshed RX-792P dating back to the 1992 IMSA Camel GT Series.
The restoration work has been entrusted to Flis Performance, the same group that builds every Mazda MX-5 Cup racecar.
Flis Performance stayed true to the 1992 mechanics of the freshly-restored RX-792P.
โWeโre trying to keep these cars as close as possible to the way they raced,โ says Troy Flis. โMost of the parts on the car are still original, but the main goal is to safely keep the cars out on track. Weโve updated the electronics, fuel cells, brakes and those kinds of things to keep them running because fans want to see and hear them in action.โ
According to Flis, each restoration has been unique and required different things. In some cases that meant remanufacturing a part from scratch by copying the original, as there isnโt exactly a store of parts for any of these cars. In the case of the RX-792P, thatโs included items as diverse as flywheels to headlight covers.
When the cars returned to their natural habitat of the race track, Mazda turned to some familiar faces to put them through their paces. Longtime Mazda factory drivers Jonathan Bomarito and Tom Long will be joined by current MX-5 Cup Champion Jared Thomas at the Rolex Reunion.
โGetting an opportunity to drive a piece of history in the RX-7 GTO is a lot of fun.The nostalgia is great,โ says Long. โI have an appreciation for how fast those cars were and how raw they were with the grip and the power and the sound. Itโs great to experience that with all the fanfare and excitement that these racecars bring.โ
The Mazda 767B GTP prototype (above) and IMSA GTO-spec RX-7 and have been a huge hit with fans. Image by Harston Pitman
The excitement was evident in ways both expected and unexpected. Flis recalls some fans standing for hours waiting for the cars to fire up. It got to the point that the crew would start the cars on occasion just to satisfy the crowd waiting to hear them running.
โWe caused quite a commotion every time we revved the engines,โ echoes Applegate. โI heard from fans about where they were when they saw these cars race originally, and how the 767 or RX-7 is their favorite racecar. Many of them brought their kids and you could see their eyes light up when they saw our cars. Itโs a great feeling knowing youโre not just indulging nostalgia, but also inspiring a new generation.”
