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FD Mazda RX-7 Crashes Into House in New Zealand

Between 1978 and 2002, the Mazda Hiroshima Assembly plant manufactured 811,634 units of the RX7. Heralded by enthusiasts for its front-midship twin-rotor Wankel rotary mill, the Mazda RX-7 can be classified as a modern classic. Too bad boy racers make a habit of destroying these things by tuning them to ricer levels and crashing them senselessly.
FD Mazda RX-7 crashes into house in New Zealand 14 photos
Photo: NZ Herald
FD Mazda RX-7 crashes into house in New ZealandFD Mazda RX-7 crashes into house in New ZealandFD Mazda RX-7 crashes into house in New ZealandFD Mazda RX-7 crashes into house in New ZealandFD Mazda RX-7 crashes into house in New ZealandFD Mazda RX-7 crashes into house in New ZealandFD Mazda RX-7 crashes into house in New ZealandFD Mazda RX-7 crashes into house in New ZealandFD Mazda RX-7 crashes into house in New ZealandFD Mazda RX-7 crashes into house in New ZealandFD Mazda RX-7 crashes into house in New ZealandFD Mazda RX-7 crashes into house in New ZealandFD Mazda RX-7 crashes into house in New Zealand
On this occasion, an RX-7 was rendered a complete write-off after the driver careened through no less than 3 properties in Glenfield, New Zealand. The New Zealand Herald was at the scene of the crash and reports that male driver and female passenger were able to exit the old-timer unaided. They were taken to North Shore Hospital with moderate injuries. At the time of writing, there is no intel regarding a DUI scenario.

In any case, Police Northern Communications Shift Inspector Kerry Watson declared to the NZ Herald that it’s “too early to say what caused the crash.” As incredible as this may sound, the gray-painted Mazda RX-7 totaled by the NZ couple left the road at such velocity that it become airborne and hit the first-floor deck of a house. A resident declared: "[There was] just a mess everywhere. I saw it [the RX-7] airborne, it had taken out three letterboxes, all the rocks in the garden - a shower of dirt. Lucky there was no kids on the pavement."

It’s hard to comprehend what speed the car was carrying for the 1.3-liter rotary to launch the 1,340 kg (2,954 pounds) of the vehicle that high, but speeding is the main culprit here. A resident described the early stages of the crash: “I heard it coming up the hill, and it was just increasing in speed and noise," he said. "I looked up so I could actually identify the car as it was it went past, and it was going past upside down through the rockery. "Rocks and letterboxes and stuff everywhere and, 'Bang!' Then it stopped." That’s unnerving.

We’re glad every single person got away on their own feet out of this fiasco, but seeing an FD Mazda RX-7 as badly damaged as this one is a painful experience. Despite the surprising affordability and 68,589 units produced from 1991 to 2002, the FD has a timeless shape and the last of the great rotary engines to boast with. The sound of that 1.3-liter 13B-REW Wankel engine with two sequential turbochargers, the near 50:50 weight distribution and 8,000 rpm rev limit are greatly missed by the close-knit RX-7 community.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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