Someone donated one of the rarest Mazda RX-7s to the Toyota Automobile Museum

As visitors to the Toyota Automobile Museum in Japan know, it’s not just a hall of Toyotas. The TAM is a museum that celebrates the history of all cars, and just happens to be founded and funded by Toyota. Cars from all different manufacturers call it home, even ones from rival companies. As one of the best car museums in Japan, if not the world, it receives a lot of donations from owners or their families when they are ready to relinquish their cars. That’s how the Toyota Automobile museum ended up with one of the rarest Mazda RX-7s ever made.

What you’re looking at here is first-gen Mazda RX-7, but not just any one. It’s a limited edition called the Summer Shot ’79, and it came out (as you might have guessed based on the name) in 1979. However, what made the RX-7 Summer Shot ’79 unique is that it was only ever sold for two days, July 7-8, 1979.

There is very little information on the Summer Shot ’79, but from what we can gather it was based on the RX-7 GT trim level, but had the interior of the SE Limited. It came with an LSD, lower profile tires, and alloy wheels. The SE Limited normally came with a sunroof, but the Summer Shot ’79 was a slicktop. Finished in Cyclone Red with pinstripes, it was likely introduced as a special edition to move units just before the first facelift debuted. It was a good way to get a performance oriented setup with a premium interior that didn’t require a weight-adding sunroof.

It’s not the only time Mazda used the “Season + Shot + Year” moniker. Another RX-7 Summer Shot was released in 1981, this time finished in two-tone Tender Blue and Canal Blue. According to a book translation posted to the RX-7 Club forum, it was limited to 100 units and came with black moquette seats and headlight washers. Interestingly, a few months prior Mazda released a Spring Shot ’81 that was limited to 200 units. It came with an LSD, fog lights, four-spoke alloys, and was painted in Sparkling Black with a red coachline.

We also have brochure confirmation of a Spring Shot ’83, which came with an LSD, Bridgestone 14-inch alloys, Claxon horns, and Bridgestone Potenza RE86 tires in 195/60 R14. The compound was exclusive to the RX-7 and it was quite a low profile at the time; similar-era Porsches came equipped with 65 and 70-series tires. The Spring Shot ’83 came in Toronado Silver Metallic.

We don’t know if there was a corresponding Spring Shot for 1979, or a Summer Shot for 1983. A Google search for either turns up nothing. We also don’t know how many Summer Shot ’79 RX-7s were sold, but it’s almost certainly rarer than sought-after models like the FD Spirit R (1,500 made). In any case, we’re pretty sure Mazda doesn’t own any of these. But at least there’s one that will be preserved, by Toyota.

Images courtesy of Toyota Automobile Museum.