There’s a certain level of exclusivity that comes with importing a car from Japan, but what if that car was built by one of the most decorated and recognized tuning shops that Japan has to offer?
A whole new level of exclusivity is reached when this happens, and Lucas has discovered exactly what it feels like to own one of the most rare and desirable FD3S RX7 street cars in the world.
Built by none other than Fujita engineering, a passion-based fever dream of a tuning company that was established in 1982 in the Osaka prefecture of Japan and is globally recognized as a comprehensive expert of all rotary engine vehicles, Lucas’ RX7 carries decades of heritage, passion and knowledge.
Just admiring the exterior of the sleek FD3S you see that Fujita Engineering’s corporate philosophy of “creating distinctive tuning cars” bleeds through every angle of each panel on the car.
Lucas’ RX7 features parts from all three subsects of the Fujita company tree; FEED ( Fujita Engineering Evolutional Development) which covers the overall tuning parts, AFFLUX which represents the aero parts (primarily the V5 GT race car-inspired bodykit), and SONIC, which is the in house exhaust system brand.
Out of the wide variety of aero kits and body conversions available for the FD RX7, Fujita Engineering’s Ferrari/TVR-inspired V5 AFFLUX kit is one of the most impressive. There’s no hiding the fact that the FD is one of the most natural track cars to ever come out of Japan, and the abundance of Fujita goodies on Lucas’ car only further enhance the effect of the light and rev-happy FD. Perhaps Fujita is on to something in search of building the perfect rear-wheel-drive platform.
With a whole suite of performance goodies finding their home underneath the vented hood, the RX7 is no slouch. Currently, Lucas is making 425hp at the rear wheels on a very modest reliability tune with aspirations of increasing that number methodically as time goes on. With a number of the modifications being done to increase reliability and enhance quality of life, Lucas’ RX7 manages to strike the balance between all-out performance and uncompromised streetability. Every inch of the car has been gone over to enhance performance, increase driveability and push the envelope of being the best RX7 it can be.
I guess I have become somewhat used to seeing high power rotary cars over my years as an enthusiast, and one theme I’ve noticed is that owners will often strive for huge horsepower numbers right out of the gate, then get stuck playing a never-ending game of catch-up as less capable parts fail, degrade or simply cannot keep up to the task. It is refreshing to see a car that has been built by such a masterful shop and it is evident that the performance war between Fujita Engineering and RE Amemiya was not in vain, it clearly encouraged both organizations to constantly do better than the other.
From a style standpoint, the FD3S doesn’t fail to impress, from the carbon GT wing that adorns the trunk lid and completes the aggressive look of the AFFLUX kit to the Ferrari-inspired 20×11 and 20×12 Advan GT wheels. Admittedly, the wheels are a lot larger than what we normally are into here at Checkpoint, but Fujita Engineering’s logic behind them is sound as the wheels in addition to their kit certainly position this Mazda to look a lot more like a rare exotic than a Japanese sports car.
It’s awesome to see the passion for these cars that were built by specialty tuning shops is still very much alive. People like Lucas are responsible in a big way for protecting, celebrating, and cherishing a culture that we are beginning to see fade. So if you think of yourself as a car enthusiast now would be as good a time as any to sit back, fire up your computer and go on a Wikipedia binge with the intent of consuming as much information as you can about the humbly rooted specialty tuning shops that specialized in the cars of your interest.
Japan is an absolute gold mine of stories, style and historical relevance. As an automotive enthusiast there is always something to enjoy. There is not much that gets me more excited than the idea of something so niche and unique from Japan now living on local soil, and I guess in a way that’s what we try to do with the goods that we import, in the same manner as the cars we admire.
See our remaining inventory of Japanese good goods and Checkpoint gear by following the link below:
https://checkpointjapan.bigcartel.com/products
See you soon.
Checkpoint Japan 