For 1978, Mazda entered the sports car market with the new RX7, a lightweight, two-seater car powered by a rotary engine. The compact engine was lightweight and positioned behind the front axle, driving the rear wheels and creating a kind of midengine layout that provided an exceptionally balanced driving experience. The basic configuration spanned through three generations and ceased production in 2002, with major styling revisions taking place for 1985 and 1992. For the 1988 model year, sensing a lack of a traditional, sporting, affordable roadster in the market, Mazda introduced a convertible featuring a unique fully retractable top, a useful trunk and a slight space behind the seats. It was more than just a top removal exercise, and in fact, Mazda spent a great deal of time reinventing the convertible top. First, passengers could remove a hard, center section for a kind of Targa driving experience, or, they could lower the rear section, complete with a glass window, for a fully exposed driving experience. Wind could be kept at a minimum, thanks to the first integrated wind blocker, and a leather boot cover could be snapped over the retracted top to smooth over the exterior look. Interestingly, Mazda manufactured the convertible top assembly and installed it as a unit into the body, which was another first in convertible production. By the time production ended in 1991, roughly 22,000 convertibles had been sold, with around 5,000 being sold in the first year. This 1988 RX7 convertible has been kept by two owners and is finished in red with a power-operated black convertible top. Rolling on the unique, mesh-styled Mazda-BBS aluminum wheels with low-profile blackwall tires, the car is powered by a 1.3L/146 HP 13B Wankel Rotary engine and a 5-speed manual transmission. The interior is upholstered in two-tone, gray-and-black cloth and vinyl and is equipped with air conditioning, power windows, power locks, power twin sideview mirrors and a Pioneer AM/FM/CD stereo system.
