Category: History

Want to find out about Mazda or CorkSport’s past, then you are in the correct category. We talk about older designs, Mazda models, and ideas which have gone by with time.

Posted on

787B Race Car Coming Out Of Retirement

In celebration of becoming the first and only Japanese car manufacturer to win the world’s most demanding endurance race, the 24-Hours of Le Mans, Mazda will be demonstrating the winning Mazda 787B, on the Circuit de la Sarthe in La Mans, France on June 11, before the start of the race.

Le Mans Winning 787B

The Mazda 787B was jointly developed by Mazda and MazdaSpeed in 1990 to 1991. The 787 has a chassis designed to meet Group C racing car technical regulations and is powered by a R26B four-rotor naturally aspirated engine that produces 700 horsepower. 1991 was the last year that a rotary-engine car could participate in the 24 Hour of Le Mans.

R26B That Powers the 787B

At the 59th 24 Hours of Le Mans, Mazda was not the favorite to win, but the three 3.5 liter cars that Mazda submitted for the races were given first grid positions despite being the 12th, 17th and 24th fastest qualifiers. On the day before the race, the team manager instructed the drivers to drive as if it were a short sprint race rather than an endurance event, a decision he made based on the reliability the cars demonstrated and the car’s exceptional fuel economy.

At the 22nd hour of the race, #55, an outrageously painted bright orange and green Mazda 787B, took the lead and was the first to cross the finish line, completing 362 laps and covering just over 3,064 miles.

Since 1991, the winning Mazda 787B has primarily been displayed at the Mazda Museum in Hiroshima, Japan. Mazda carefully restored the winning 787B racecar back to driving condition and has tested it using one of Mazda’s in-house top gun drivers.

Drivers and Mechanics for the 787B

Mazda’s attendance at the 79th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans also coincides with the 50th anniversary of its development of the rotary engine.

– Gwynne

Posted on

Mazda Makes (Helps) the World Go Round

With Mazda getting ready to end production of the RX-8, it seemed fitting to take a look back in history to see just how the rotary powered Mazda faired in the US nearly 30 years ago. The newspaper article on the right is from the Thursday, March 1st, 1973 edition of the Toledo, Ohio paper; The Blade.

With the introduction of the 1975 EPA air-pollution standards, came required catalytic converters and unleaded gasoline. While some US car manufacturers struggled to meet the strict (for the time) standards, Mazda was decades ahead. Maybe so far as to say that the US auto makers were trying to insinuate that the Japanese based Mazda was somehow cheating the system.

In continuing with the rotary history lesson, the article below is from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (June 29th, 1973). While some auto makers were having trouble with detonation due to the newly introduced unleaded gasoline, the rotary powered Mazda showed no signs of weakness in part to the limited number of moving parts and overall simplicity of the rotary engine design.

After having such a long history with rotary engines, will Mazda finally say goodbye to the rotary engine? Will we see an RX-7 inspired vehicle from Mazda in the near future?

In more recent rotary inspired news, last weekend, three race teams (SpeedSource, Dempsey Racing, and Team Sahlen) raced with special logos on the sides of their vehicles promoting donations to the American Red Cross to help fund the Japan Earthquake Tsunami Relief Fund. The Mazda Foundation also made a #150,000 donation.

If you would like to donate $10 to the Red Cross Japan relief efforts, simply text REDCROSS to 90999.

– Jake

Posted on

I’m a Mazda Girl

To all the Mazda’s I’ve loved:

It started with a toss-up between an MX-3 and a Millennia. The MX-3 was amazing and built with all the fast and furious stuff a girl could even need. The MX-3 was a beautiful car, and it has the magazine article to prove it. However, I have a lead foot and the driving record to prove it, so I opted for the float-a-cality of the Millenia. Good thing too, not to long after I purchased it my commute got very long and full of traffic hell.

The Millenia began to have issues, so off it went to the shop and I spent the summer in my 1st gen RX7, a super rare convertible no less. I love convertibles! The sun, the wind, it was the best! But like any older car with rotors and a history of drama, I knew it would be a short-lived love affair. Plus, convertibles in the Northwest during the rainy season are zero fun; cold and leaky.

Next up was a MX-5 Miata ‘M’ edition. I loved the car. It was fun to drive, took corners like a dream and was super sporty, really the perfect fit for me. But like all good things, it too came to an end.

Then came the CX7, wow, I could haul my skis up a mountain AND it had a turbocharger! What more could I want? Better long-term leasing options, could have solved that problem. Good by CX7 I’ll miss you…

Next up was the Tribute – purely functional, good for camping and that’s about it. No love lost when this one went to a new owner. It drove like an old, slow, tired, beast, but it got me to my next Mazda.

Wee, this is a great car, sporty, fun and I can get my kayak partially in the wagon (though with most of its 13ft hang out the back-end). I refuse to put a rack on the roof, in my opinion it would wreck the look of the car. It has been the only car that I have actually installed parts on. Even without a turbocharger it has proven to be a fun car to drive with great handling and plenty of gitty-up on the freeway.

I have two other affairs, a second gen RX-7 convertible and an RX-8. Both out of this world and not even remotely daily drivers. Their beauty and engine tenacity make my day when I have the opportunity to drive or ride in either. My grumpier half won’t give up the keys to the RX-7 since it’s big engine swap. Apparently it has so much power that my husband fears I will either kill myself while I whip the crap out of some poor Honda dork or there will be a high-speed police chase. My vote it would be some combination of the above, while on the way to Mexico.

I’m a Mazda girl now.

– Kelly

Posted on

CARB CERTIFIED. YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT. I SAID IT.

I have been one of the Product Development Engineers here at CorkSport for roughly nine months. During that time, I have helped complete projects that were already in the works before I was here, completed projects on my own, and have started projects that are still in the development process. One project that I have been working on (other than physical part development) since I started here has been getting some of our parts California Air Resource Board (CARB) approved. After nine long months, I can now check that off my to-do list (at least for a few of our parts).

Our 2010-up Mazdaspeed 3 Short Ram Intake (SRI), 2007-2009 Mazdaspeed 3 SRI, 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed 6 SRI, and our 2007-up CX-7 SRI will now be CARB certified. This is the full intake kit that consists of the filter, MAF housing, silicone couplers, and turbo inlet pipe (TIP) as shown in the picture below. In the next few weeks we will be receiving a legal Executive Order (EO) number assigned to these intake packages. That EO number will be affixed to the intake system which will designate it as CARB approved (50-state legal).

If you already have our intake system for one of these vehicles, DO NOT WORRY! No, we can’t legally send you a sticker to put on your intake, but when you go in to the smog check station, they will look up our intake and verify that you have the same intake system on your vehicle.

The process of getting a performance part CARB certified is lengthy and time consuming, but we feel that making parts that are legal in all 50 states is very important.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

– Jake

Posted on

Remember When…

I have had quite a few “I remember you” moments this year. What I have noticed is that customers from back in the MX-3 heydays have been calling up and picking up parts for their newer Mazdas. Most of the cars have been Mazdaspeed 3s or Mazdaspeed 6s but there have been some RX-8 owners in there too. When I say back in the MX-3 heydays I mean 1998-2001, the early years of CorkSport. This was when the import market really was taking off. Back when drag racing imports seemed to be the trendy thing to do with your car.

It is fun to spend some time chatting about old events like the MxWest meets in B.C. or meeting up with customers at the import drag races in Oregon and California when people call or email.

It really makes my day to see a note on an order saying “long time customer” in the order referral field or getting a phone call from someone I haven’t spoken to for over 6 years who has questions about some of our new parts. I have a pretty good memory so if has been a while since you have called or ordered feel free to mention it. There is a good chance I will remember you.

– Derrick