1995 Mazda RX-7 Version SP

Rx-7 Wins! John Bowe and Dick Johnson take the checkered flag at Eastern Creek. 
The1992-94 Bathurst 12 Hour races were dominated by the FD3s Rx7 and the legend continued with the SP version. 

So proud were Mazda Japan that they began to market the Type RB Bathurst heavily and it appeared with a little sticker of the track on the side. The track is awesome and the SP is equally good.
Mazda Australia developed the SPecial with most areas improved to compat rule changes in the production car championship and to combat the new breed of specials from other manufacturers. As this 12 hr was a production class event, the rules dictated that at least 25 specials must be in production. 

The RX-7 SP conceived by Allan Horsley, built 35 cars in two batches. 25 then 10 more to meet demand after the Eastern Creek race win. Both of equal specs. 28 extra kilowatts came from a beautiful carbon intake housing and piping, a free flowing exhaust and a 3 times larger intercooler, that also boosted toque to 357nm. 

The race spec versions ran at 240kw while road versions stayed at 204kw.
Air-conditioning was optional and it was 92kg lighter at 1218kg. The non fade brakes were huge 294mm discs with special calipers with ABS while the tyres were odd-sized 235/45 and 255/40 17 inch BBS items. A front bumper with splitter, large high rear wing, aluminium vented bonnet and some special stickers completed the package. 

But there is one item that will hurt your wallet at every fill up. A 110Litre Carbon Fuel tank! But you get pretty good range. All this stuff was aimed at reducing the number of pit stops required in the 12 hour event. But alas in more recent days, the banning of the rotary in competition continues. 
Seats from the Japanese Rz were used at 2.5Kg each they weighed nothing and made driving easier. Drivers stated the car as being easy to drive with the rear carbon wing raising cornering speeds by 5km/h.

Priced at a $100,000 on the road, this was by far the most expensive Mazda ever sold in Australia. Saw one for 50K recently and it looked original but very tired. Still worth considering as a true collectible.