Gooding & Company is parading a trio of unique racing-oriented machines across the block at this year?s Amelia Island auction on March 10, including a pair of rare Porsche 911s and a Mazda with Le Mans history. And no, before you potentially soil yourself, we must inform you that it?s not that Mazda, but it is probably about as close as a wealthy mortal is likely to get to owning the vaunted 787B.
1989 Mazda 767B
In 1970, a Mazda-powered Chevron B16 became the first rotary-engined car to contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans, although it was entirely overshadowed by the Porsche/Ferrari war that saw Louise Piëch?s Porsche Salzburg team win the storied endurance race and hand Zuffenhausen its first overall victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe. The unsuccessful Chevron/Mazda was nevertheless the first step in a sometimes sporadic 21-year campaign that would culminate in the first?and, to date, only?overall victory by a Japanese company in the race. And if the 787B that won Le Mans in 1991 is the rotary prototype that even casual racing fans remember, the 1989 767B is certainly notable as its forefather.
This particular car was the third example built, and it was first raced at Le Mans by Yojiro Terada, Marc Duez, and Volker Weidler. It finished third in the three-car, all-Mazda GTP class and 12th overall that year. In 1990, the car won the GTP class, piloted this time by an all-Japanese team consisting of Terada, Takashi Yorino, and Yoshimi Katayama, although its overall p...