Changing times: The car pr0n that never was.

Mazda 787B
courtesy of: forocompeticion.com

The year is 1991. Mazda wins the 24 hours of Le Mans and the FIA bans the Wankel rotary engine. This marked the first and only Le Mans 24 victory by a Japanese race car, and the Mazda 787B will never participate in an international race again.

Riding on a high, Mazda believed it was still their time in prototype racing. Conveniently for them, IMSA did not ban rotaries... and the successor to the 787B was created.

Behold, bitches:

Mazda RX-792P
Credit to: TRICPICS

Mazda RX-792P engine bay
Credit to DarkPhoenixMP5 of photobucket.com

courtesy of: grandtouringprototype.com

credit of: southrnfresh.com

Unfortunately, the 4-rotor, 1750 lbs Mazda RX-792P was ultimately a failure. The team acknowledged that the 1992 season was a development year but the car was already a concern for other teams because it attained the highest power-to-weight ratio of all contenders. This was purely a weight advantage, though, as the RX-792P still had the least horsepower of the bunch. And so, the benefits of power-to-weight resulted to nil when the Mazda was unable to deliver the extra horsepower needed to overcome parasitic drag.

The RX-792P never wins a race. Mazda pulls out of racing by 1993.

But it wins in my book. That shape is damn sexy. And she's a screamer too.