PL wrote:
"Don told me an interesting story. When the RX7 first came out in 1979
he bought one in Costa Mesa with a specially arranged factory rebate for
$5,000. List at the time was around $7,000. Also a 13B engine was
surreptitiously left after hours on a pallet in the back parking lot at
the Irvine headquarters of Mazda USA. Jim Mederer and Don went over and
lifted it by hand into the back of a pickup truck. It was subsequently
installed by Don in this RX7 at Racing Beat thus becoming the first RX7
in the world to be powered by a 13B engine. "

Sheesh. A great story. Makes you wonder how this squares with today's
Mazda Corp that threatens people for using rotaries in aviation. Maybe
these guys all retired or got pushed out of the company. Maybe the Ford
lawyers got the upper hand after this many years. Or maybe the aviation
market is just so dinky it's not worth trifling with, prestige
completely aside. It would probably take some corporate marketer to push
through the idea that the triumph of the rotary engine in heavy aviation
use would be worth whatever legal risk came with it.

Barry Gardner
Wheaton, IL

The family owning Mazda is buying back some stock. Ford is no longer the largest
share holder. There is now a Japanese president again.

Paul Lamar
 
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