One of the favorites of his collection is this ’88 10th Anniversary Edition Turbo II, one of only 1,500 made. The original 13B was removed for a custom-built, three-rotor 20B engine (using parts from a third-gen RX-7) assembled by Pineapple Racing. The housings were given a street port and assembled with cryo-treated rotors that were matched, balanced and tipped with two-piece 3mm Hurley seals. In order to mount the monstrous GT42R turbo, which can easily move 500 hp worth of air, custom manifolds and plumbing had to be fabricated from intake to the exhaust. Much of the remaining ancillary hardware was sourced new from the Japanese Mazda Cosmo (which came with a twin sequential turbo, three-rotor engine) parts bin. Knowing the inherent weaknesses of a fire-breathing rotary engine, Thomas went the extra mile and addressed heat and cooling issues with a NASCAR-type racing radiator, two oil coolers and a ceramic-coated, ever-hot component. Putting out 518 whp, Thomas himself will admit this FC is a laggy beast to drive, but the car has held up on the streets and provided nonstop rotary insanity whenever he’s in the mood.
But no one’s ever happy with just one three-rotor car. And with the looks, finesse and refinements that come with the third-generation FD RX-7, Thomas knew he had to have one to match the FC. To save much of the build headache, his Black Banzai FD was sourced from good friend and renowned three-rotor nut, Cameron Worth, owner of Pettit Racing in West Palm Beach, Florida. Instead of another big single-turbo insanity like the FC, Thomas wanted a three-rotor with response and opted for a 20B powerplant lifted directly from a Cosmo. Even with three rotors, the 20B’s sequential turbo system and complex plumbing is still plagued with issues, so much of the vacuum plumbing, lines, valves and diaphragms were removed and simplified with Pettit Racing’s non-sequential, twin-turbo update. This combined with just a few simple bolt-ons like a GReddy front-mount intercooler, MagnaFlow titanium exhaust and a well-tuned Link ECU and this small-turbo FD puts down 550 whp, 32 more than the white big-turbo beast.
Finishing off this street car are simple but proven parts like TEIN coilovers and Trak antiroll bars. The big problem with this much power in a two-wheel-drive car is getting the power down. To do so, Thomas had the rear fenders modified and stretched in custom metal work using the original sheetmetal. This gave him enough space to finally stuff the 315mm-width Yokohama A048 race tires on the back to get this car to hook up.
Thomas’ yellow FD is the pretty girl of the trio. While mundane under the hood compared to the Black Banzai FD and the White FC, it’s just at its infancy as far as the build is concerned. It still uses the original 13B twin-turbo engine, but already has the cosmetic department sorted with an Erebuni widebody kit and 19-inch Effects wheels. For now, only a GReddy front-mount intercooler kit, RP exhaust, K&N intake and MSD ignition module grace the engine bay. But knowing Thomas, this is just a starting point for bigger turbo(s) or even another rotor.
Thomas won’t say when enough is enough and plans to continue to collect and restore as many of these machines as possible for the foreseeable future, hoping that one day the rotary gods might finally be appeased. We think the gods won’t be appeased until there’s a four-rotor under one of these hoods.
Specifications & Details
’88 Mazda RX-7 Turbo II Anniversary ed.
Engine
2.0-liter, 20B, turbocharged, 3-rotorWankel rotary
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