Bad Obsession

After getting hooked on mazda’s sexy fd rx-7s in his late teens, tom ruston-shaw has been feeding his unhealthy addiction ever since

- Dan Sherwood

There’s no denying it. There’s just something about RX-7s. Something that makes grown men drool with desire while simultaneously weeping with despair. For those afflicted with the condition, it must be similar to that whole pleasure and pain thing enjoyed by the sadomasochistic lead characters in the Fifty Shades of Grey flicks. Quite simply, anyone that actively pursues ownership of a rotary-engined RX-7 is setting themself up for punishment, particularly in the wallet region. Horrendous fuel bills, oil costs, servicing and the inevitable engine rebuilds mean that, whichever way you cut it, you really have to want an RX-7 to stomach their bank balancecrippling idiosyncrasies. But that’s not to say that all RX-7 fans are off their trollies. Because all you have to do is experience an RX-7 at its best and you too would be hard pressed not to become similarly addicted. I mean…just look at them! It’s over 25 years since that swoopy shape was first launched onto the automotive enthusiasts’ radar, yet it still looks as good and seductive today as it did when it was first penned. Then there’s the engine. Yes, it may be a temperamental money pit, but the sound and power delivery offered by even a moderately tuned 13B is verging on orgasmic.

‘I got my first taste of Mazda’s rotary wonder when I saw an FD drifting at a round of the British Drift Championship about ten years ago,’ recalls the now-dedicated RX-7 fanatic Thomas Ruston-Shaw. ‘I didn’t even know anything about rotary engines, it was purely a visual attraction at first – that timeless, low-slung supercar look really captivated me.’

This case of love at first sight only grew stronger as Tom sought out more Mazda madness to fuel his burgeoning passion for performance rotaries.