SevenStock X
Irvine, California
September 22, 2007 - Words by Ben Hsu, Photos by Dan Hsu

azda is good to its fans. This year's SevenStock X marks a decade of yearly pilgrimages to of the company's US headquarters. Given the fact that 2007 also happens to be the fortieth birthday of the Mazda rotary engine, there were enough worshippers praising Mazda to rival a convention of Zoroastrians.

Maybe Zoroaster was upset by the competition, because we witnessed a phenomenon as rare as a short wheelbase Cosmo 110 Sport - rain in So-Cal, drenching the campus and all the Mazdas parked on it without mercy, whether past or future, rotary or reciprocating, pickup or prototype, and RX-es 2 through 8. Even pistonless powerplants that weren't Mazdas per se braved the downpour, like rotary-powered Datsuns, a pink '32 Ford Vicky hot rod, and a Suzuki RE-5 motorcycle.

On May 30, 1967, the first Mazda Cosmo 110 Sport, powered by Mazda's first production rotary engine, was built. Four decades spent mass producing an engine that had the Germans, British, French and Americans at NSU, Rolls Royce, Citroen and General Motors stumped is already a pretty spectacular feat by any account, but using it to power your most powerful sports cars and luxury sedans is downright nuttery.

Thanks to this unique little motor, however, Mazda has always enjoyed a special connection to its devoted enthusiasts. In fact, when one of the rare Cosmo 110 Sports from their own collection was damaged in Mexico, the Cosmo Sport Owner's Club of Japan rallied together and donated the parts necessary to restore the car to its full glory. About a dozen of these generous gentlemen came from Japan to attend SevenStock as a thanks from Mazda, who also honored them with a banquet and an award ceremony. They even brought along a 20cc miniature rotary engine for use in R/C vehicles.

By the afternoon, normalcy returned to California. The sun dried up any remnants of the earlier showers and the appreciation of both cars and car enthusiasts continued.