There are very few cars that have the livery and reputation that live up to their iconic nature. From the Castrol Tom’s Supra, to the Martini Racing Delta HF Integrale, to the Marlboro Ferrari, and even the 555 Subaru Impreza, these are all exceptionally designed, iconic liveries. Now, whether it was the performance of these cars or the design itself that was more iconic, that is a whole separate discussion worthy of another article.
What we are here to talk about today is a hero car that I have just had the opportunity to meet—the iconic, the legendary, the orange and green Renown Mazda 787B. I was first exposed to this car way back in Gran Turismo 3. I had won the car as a reward for completing a task, and it just happened to be the first liveried car I had in my garage. My 14-year-old self realized that it was something very special. What I didn’t know at the time was just how special it really was.
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Really, I just liked the pretty colors and the fact that it blew away most of the computer-controlled competition. It didn’t hurt that it had an engine sound that made so many other great-sounding cars in the game sound like vacuum cleaners.
Mazda Philippines recently flew us out to Fuji Speedway for the annual Mazda Fan Festa. This was an event where Japanese fans of the brand can gather to race, share stories, and most importantly, witness history on track. The Le Mans conqueror, the Renown 787B, is brought out of storage once a year to blast down one of the longest straights in motorsports at full tilt.
Does the reality of this peculiar orange car live up to my PlayStation memories? Read on to get to know the 787B.
Powered by a legendary rotary engine
The Mazda 787B is powered by the R26B, a four-rotor, naturally aspirated Wankel rotary engine mounted amidship. Now, rotary engines are familiar to car enthusiasts thanks to their legendary appearances in the RX-7 and the RX-8. But to the layman, it would not seem that special, which means we need to delve into just why this engine sounds like a very, very, angry hive of bees out on a rampage.
A rotary engine has no pistons per se. Instead, all parts of the combustion cycle are handled by what has affectionately been termed a dorito—a triangular hunk of metal that spins at extremely high speeds, with the edges of the triangle moving air and gasoline around the block in the most violent of methods.
This means that the engine can be extremely small and lightweight, but also revs to almost ridiculous levels. The Mazda 787B had a maximum power output of about 900hp and a redline of 10,000rpm, which was limited to ‘just’ 9,000rpm in Le Mans race specification.
Given how iconic the engine is, one must wonder why the RX-8 was the last of its kind. Well, that’s because a rotary engine gulps fuel, has an extremely likely penchant to explode or flood itself, and requires an intimate knowledge of the unique system, as well as a source of parts that were only ever used by one manufacturer. Due to these inherent flaws, it is unlikely that we will see its use as the main method of propulsion of an automobile ever again.
Winning when it mattered
The Mazda 787B won Le Mans in 1991. In fact, it was raced for two whole years, from 1990 to 1991. And while it competed in many categories of racing, including the World Sportscar Championship and the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship, it never won a single race aside from the most grueling 24-hour race in the world.
It won only once, but it was the only one that mattered. What Johnny Herbert, Volker Weidler, and Bertrand Gachot accomplished in 1991 is a feat that manufacturers spend decades and an immeasurable amount of money building up to. Until the year 2018, the 787B was the only Japanese car to ever win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and to this day, it remains the only car to win without the use of a reciprocating engine.
Because of this one (and only) win, it cemented its status as an absolute legend of the motorsports world.
What it’s like at full tilt in 2025
Seeing it in the metal, I was shocked by just how small it was in real life. Like most prototype class cars, it looks huge in photos, videos, and in video games, but see one up close, and you would be shocked at just how low to the ground and how compact it really is. It was barely taller than my thigh, which made shooting the car quite hard on the back with a lot of leaning down and squatting to get the right angle.
When Yojiro Terada, Mazda’s “Mr. Le Mans,” squeezed into the car for the first time, you could really see just how tiny the interior was; its bucket seat and all the rods and connectors were affixed to the manual gear shifter of the Porsche-sourced transmission.
I squatted down in a prime location very near its side-exit exhausts while the 787B was pushed into its starting position. On first click, it coughed, but remained still, like it was gathering its voice. Silence filled the air as a second click started the rotary engine up with a bark and a loud bellow as the engine roared to life. It covered me in soot, but it was well worth the extra wipe down, as nothing quite sounds as good as a large displacement rotary roaring into the cold Fuji air.
When the 787B rounded Fuji’s last corner, we were tingling with anticipation by the end of the main straight, anticipation steadily but surely building up as you could hear the extremely high-pitched scream of the Wankel as the 787B was pushed to its 9,000rpm redline. It was followed by explosions of unburnt fuel, as Terada-san shifted through the gears.
The next sensation is a blur as you see an orange and green car in the distance, closing in at a speed you could only call unnatural, as that gut-wrenching sound flies by with what almost feels like a sonic boom of sound that pierces the very parts of your soul you reserve for something truly amazing.
Before we knew it, it blasted past us, downshifting into the first corner with an exhaust fireball shooting out its sides, and flames licking the side panels of the Mazda as the car is violently downshifted into submission to get it to turn into the corner.
This is not so much an experience as it is an aural and visual assault on your senses.
Does it live up to the legend?
It is, and will always be, the single most important racing car to come out of the Land of the Rising Sun.
The iconic brap brap high-pitched crescendo of the 787B’s engine will echo through the foothills of Mt. Fuji, and likely, only at Fuji, until Mazda decides to finally retire the car. There is nothing else quite like it.
In this world of EVs, hybrids, and turbos, be a screaming rotary prototype, be a Mazda 787B.
More photos of the Mazda 787B at the Fuji Speedway:
