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What car do you lust over? 787B 4 Rotor 71% Le Mans 1984 Lola Champs 4% 1st gen Daytona 10% Car and Driver RX-2 14% Total votes: 297 |
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| Photo of the Moment |
SevenStock 4
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SevenStock 4 @ Mazda R&D
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"We are so happy that the rotary spirit, enthusiasm, lives on today" -- 'Koby' Kobayakawa
"We brought enough food to feed 1500 people... we had to run out and get 500 more servings, and still ran out!" -- the food vendor
Sevenstock 4 will go down in the record books as the largest gatherings of rotary power in history! It was the largest gathering of R100s, Rotary race cars, RX-2, RX-3, RX-4s, RX-5s, RX-7s and the first time the true 787B 4-Rotor 1991 Le Mans Champion car was brought over to the US. It was also the first time Mazda executive management witnessed true rotary enthusiasm.
The event planning grew from some emails, and a meeting in a mall parking lot last winter, to the full support of Mazda North America, Mazda Japan, the Southern California RX-7 Club, Rotarynews.com Racingbeat, Toyo Tires, numerous vendors, and many more enthusiasts.
This event was billed as the one "do-not-miss event", and it delivered. The approximate count of Rotary Powered Cars in attendance is well over 300, and as mentioned above, the people count was around 2000.
The event officially kicked off at 10 am, but the parking lot in front of Mazda R&D studios began to fill up well before then. At 11:30 am, the president of Mazda, Mr. Charlie Hughes, was introduced, and affirmed Mazda's commitment to devotees, and to the future of the rotary engine. He then introduced the 700 horsepower, 4-rotor, Le Mans winning 787B. Behind the closed roll up doors of the court yard, a thunderous ignition of the race car sent chills down the backs of all within earshot. The car idled and revved, teasing the crowd for a few moments, the garage door opened, and the radiant orange and green racecar pulled onto the red carpet, piloted by the retired program manager, Koby Kobayakawa. Koby-san emerged from the cockpit, raising his hands to the cheering mass. Ears still ringing from the awesome sound of the 4 rotor, the audience listened attentively to every word of Koby-san's speech. He described the 'never give-up spirit' that Mazda had with the rotary engine. The spirit that carried them from disaster in 1990 Le Mans, to triumph in 1991. Koby-san thanked the crowd for showing such great passion toward the rotary engine, and for keeping the 'never give-up spirit' alive.
After the microphone was handed back over to Charlie Hughes, and the speeches were coming to a close, there was a surprise for Mazda: the delivery of the Save The Seven Campaign Letters. The 2500 letters were collected over the last few years, written by enthusiasts who wish to buy a new RX-7 in the United States. The letters were stored in a database, exported, and burned onto CD. They were hand delivered by Dan Mazzella (rotarynews.com) to Charlie Hughes. The combination of event turnout, and enthusiasm from the Save the Seven Campaign left their marks on the Management of Mazda.
The schedule of events continued with a display or raw rotary power in the Mazda R&D courtyard. First, Racingbeat demonstrated their Bonneville world speed record holder. The crowd was in awe of the sound generated by the engine. The echo reverberated around the courtyard, and flowed out to the neighboring community.
Later, the 787B was fired up again, and the crowd got another taste of 4 rotor power. The videos of this car running do not convey the full experience of being close to the monster when running. It is an experience no words or videos can describe. Then Flaco Racing's R100 was started up, and their 3rd gen RX-7 Drag Race Cars. The Bonneville was fired for a second time, then the two 3-rotor Sand Rails were ignited. Finally the 'la Polacia' Drag Car gave a demonstration of power. When all was done, 21 rotors of power were fired up in the R&D courtyard. It was simply amazing.
Before the raffle, people had a chance to walk clear around the Mazda facility and look at the 300+ rotary cars and vendor displays. Every car there was a winner, it was too much to take in. Many people filled up their digital cameras, ran out of film, or video tape. Mazda had an 'official' film crew that ran from one end of the event to the other, and still couldn't take it all in.
The raffle went off without a hitch, and the Southern California RX-7 Club was happy at the financial result. Many people were happy with their prizes too... prizes that ranged from rotary key chains to racing radiators and carbon fiber air boxes to full access passes at the Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca.
After the raffle, awards were given out for 5 categories pre-RX-7, 1st gen, 2nd gen, 3rd gen, and Professional Show Cars. Every Rotary powered car there was in excellent shape, so it was very hard for the voters to decide on the best. In some cases, the winner in a category was determined by just that little bit more polish on the hood, or the extra clean tires and wheels. In any case, the winners and runners up can take pride that they were the 'best' at the largest rotary event ever.
As the event wrapped up, there was a feeling of sadness in the air. Many wanted the event to go on and on... simply because there was so much to see! A myriad people who had only corresponded on the internet met for the first time at the event, and many others missed each other completely. The crowd was ominous, but there was never a feeling of chaos. The event staff of the SoCal7's and Mazda employees did a wonderful (beyond words) job of doing the logistics of the event.
The day wasn't quite over, however. A banquet was in store that night at a local hotel. Many of the rotary vendors, the Japanese Guests from Mazda, those who traveled from out-of-town, and many of the SoCal7 members attended the dinner. The food at the hotel was superb, and afterwards, a plaque was given to Mazda's Kelvin Hirashi, thanking Mazda for all their hard work in hosting the event. Other people were also thanked for making Sevenstock 4 such a spectacular success. Berny Herrera, the executive board member of the Southern California RX-7 Club, Kelvin Hirashi and Tod Kaneko from Mazda R&D, Koby-san, Namura-San and Kijima-san from Mazda Japan, Racingbeat, MazdaTrix, PFS Supercars, Pettit Racing, RX-7.com, M2 Performance, Tri-Point, Mariah Motorsports, Rotary Reliability and Racing, SR Motorsports, Atkins Rotary, Powerhouse Engineering, Flaco Racing, Pineapple Racing, Mazdacomp, Redline, Toyo Tires, and fc3s.org, the longest traveled Glen Butcher from London, the Southern California RX-7 Club, and all the enthusiasts deserve huge thanks for making this event turn out so perfect. The enthusiasts showed Mazda how much the cars mean to them, and Mazda showed the enthusiasts that they are still interested in building and supporting sports and rotary cars. It will be very hard to top this event, but with the rebirth of the Rotary all but here now, new blood will be injected, making passion for rotary powered cars multiply! |
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Submitted by SuperUser on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - 21:41 |
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