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Words by Tim Wong

The flagship car from Mazda during the 90s has been one of the most coveted cars over the years. It has been of the few timeless cars during the time with a design that transcends time. Even though the controversial engine choice of a rotary power plant at its heart, there is a cult following with events like Sevenstock that celebrate rotary engineering. Rotary or not, no one can deny the beauty of the FD and some have even gone as far as ditching the rotary for an American V8.

Gene Abutin is one the these people who have fell for the beautiful body lines of the RX-7 FD. He purchased this car from the original owner in 1999 after thoroughly researching the car and its rotary engine. He has stayed true with the pure JDM essence as he built his 1994 RX-7 over the years.

He wanted to follow after the styling of the 1999-2002 models from the Japanese market so he switched over to some JDM parts. From the side, the exterior can be seen fitted with JDM sideskirts.

From the rear, he added a Shineauto RE Amemiya carbon fiber rear diffuser and 99-02 JDM rear wing.

Back when I first saw Gene’s car back in early 2011 at the Remix show in San Diego, he was rocking my favorite wheels, Work Meisters. Considering those wheels look on pretty much any car, Gene has since switched to Volk Racing 18×9.5+22 and 18×10+20 TE37SL Black Editions wrapped in Pirelli Pzero rubber 235/3518 and 265/3518. I think they look even better because of the red accent on the wheels compliment the red on the car. The Volks give the car a more sporty aggressiveness than the Works.

The RE Amemiya vented hood was a nice addition to the car as it accentuated the lines of the car while adding an aggressive look but yet still functional.

The rear tail lights have been change to custom Sakebomb Garage’s LED tail lights.

The headlights were also fitted with Sakebomb Garage HID projector retrofits.

The front has a 99-02 JDM front bumper and Mazdaspeed carbon fiber front lip.

The inside was not left untouched either and fitted with a JDM 02 gauge cluster, Defi D oil temperature, oil pressure, EGT temperature and boost gauges, Recaro RZ carbon kevlar seats, JDM Spirit R shift knob, and ebrake boot with red stitching JDM Nardi torino steering wheel.

The car sits on Stance coilovers and corner balanced by Westend Alignment.

Under the hood, there’s a street ported 13B-REW, Apexi Power FC standalone ECU, Rotary Extreme V-mount intercooler, and GReddy pulleys. In addition, there are BNR stage 3 non-sequential turbos. The exhaust has a 3″ downpipe, 3″ midpipe, and 3″ JIC Titanium catback exhaust system. The car was tuned by Illicit Performance and making 356 rwhp at 13 psi of boost while weighting 2700 lbs.

Watching someone stick with their car over the years and continuing to changing it is something I enjoy seeing in the car scene as many choose to move on to other cars eventually. I can only hope to see what Gene has in store for his RX7 next.