Believe it or not, Mazda made its first proper car in 1960. It is called the R360 and it’s the precursor of the modern kei car. But the first rotary engine-powered Mazda came in 1967 with the Cosmo Sport, paving the way for the 787B Le Mans racer and the RX series of Wankel-licious sports cars. If you want a piece of genesis, this Cosmo can be yours for $170k.
Between 1967 and 1972, three prototypes and 1,519 street-legal units were produced. The Mazda Cosmo Sport at hand is a Series II model, internally referred to as a Cosmo L10B. The main difference over the original comes in the form of a 982 cc two-rotor Wankel engine with 130 horsepower, 20 more than the Mazda Cosmo Sport Series I L10A’s 982 cc engine.
Fed by a Hitachi 4-barrel carb and animated by two spark plugs per cylinder with dual distributors, this engine design was strange even by '60s standards. Mated to a four-speed manual transmission, the 940-kg (2,072 lbs) miniature GT boasts with a 193 km/h (120 mph) top end and a 1/4-mile run of 15.8 seconds.
It’s widely believed that six units of the Series II L10B were imported into the US, with pricing starting at $4,390 at 1967 exchange rates. In 2015, the Bonhams auction house sold a beautifully restored 1970 Mazda Cosmo Sport Series II L10B for $110,000. So why is this eBay find almost $60,000 more?
According to the owner, chassis #777 has never been taken apart for a nut-and-bolt restoration yet it’s all original and in the best condition imaginable for a Mazda Cosmo Sport. He adds that “it will drive better and will remain more solid than a car that’s been taken apart and put back together.” We can’t argue with that.
The current bid is $50,100 but don’t expect this piece of Japanese sports car history to be sold for less than the buy it now price. We’ll let Jay Leno tell you about the perks of owning a Cosmo in the adjacent video.
Fed by a Hitachi 4-barrel carb and animated by two spark plugs per cylinder with dual distributors, this engine design was strange even by '60s standards. Mated to a four-speed manual transmission, the 940-kg (2,072 lbs) miniature GT boasts with a 193 km/h (120 mph) top end and a 1/4-mile run of 15.8 seconds.
It’s widely believed that six units of the Series II L10B were imported into the US, with pricing starting at $4,390 at 1967 exchange rates. In 2015, the Bonhams auction house sold a beautifully restored 1970 Mazda Cosmo Sport Series II L10B for $110,000. So why is this eBay find almost $60,000 more?
According to the owner, chassis #777 has never been taken apart for a nut-and-bolt restoration yet it’s all original and in the best condition imaginable for a Mazda Cosmo Sport. He adds that “it will drive better and will remain more solid than a car that’s been taken apart and put back together.” We can’t argue with that.
The current bid is $50,100 but don’t expect this piece of Japanese sports car history to be sold for less than the buy it now price. We’ll let Jay Leno tell you about the perks of owning a Cosmo in the adjacent video.