Mazda RX-7

Purity of purpose is rare in a modern automobile, which is exactly what made the third-generation 1993 to 1995 Mazda RX-7 such a great sports car. Mazda had followed the successful first-generation RX-7 with a plumper second-generation model that borrowed styling cues from the Porsche 924. That car was a more forgiving handler than the original and, with the addition of a 182-horsepower turbocharged rotary engine and a convertible body, it was faster and flashier. But it lacked the original's singular focus. Sports car or boulevard cruiser? Mazda could not quite decide.

There was nothing ambiguous about the taut little two-seat coupe that replaced it for 1993. Mazda went back to basics with a simpler, lighter, more potent, and more entertaining RX-7. It shared nothing with the 1986 through 1992 series except rear-wheel drive and the 1.3-liter Wankel rotary engine. The Japanese automaker's California design team, led by Tom Matano, fashioned a genuine original: an organic form shrink-wrapped around tires, engine, and cockpit.

Compared with its predecessor, the new RX-7 was 1.4 inches shorter, 1.4 inches lower, and 200 pounds lighter. Weight savings showed up everywhere; even the spark plug wires were cut to the shortest possible length. The suspension was a classic four-wheel double-wishbone setup. Instruments clustered around the tachometer and, in time-honored sports car tradition, were ringed in chrome.

The 13B rotary returned with sequential twin turbochargers: one providing boost at low to medium engine speeds, the other spooling up for high-rpm assaults. The combination of serious power and minimal mass created a car that was genuinely thrilling to drive. Acceleration was swift and the car's responses were scalpel-sharp. The third-generation RX-7 remains one of the finest sports cars Japan has ever produced. Griffin Thermal Products builds exact-fit aluminum radiators for Mazda RX-7s, delivering the cooling performance these rotary-powered sports cars deserve.