SP Rides: Going Wild
BY MICHAEL KITCHENS
Year, make, model: 1993 Mazda RX777 Concept
Owner: Adam Taylor
Occupation: Medical staff
Hobbies: Vehicle design and fabrication, boating, weight training
Color: Snakeskin Green
Engine/transmission: LSX 7.7L hand built race engine: 950 horsepower at 8000 rpm, aluminum fuel cell, 4L80E stage 5 full manual race transmission, aluminum 8.8 Cobra rear diff with Detroit Locker and DSS 300M billet axles
Exterior: FDRX7 chassis, full hand-rolled sheetmetal re-body, exotic lighting and carbon diffusers
Interior: All black leather interior with perforated leather seats. Custom heads-up dash display
Suspension: Stance Pro-Comp 3 full road race coilovers with Swift springs, Delrin suspension bushings throughout, Tripoint Engineering billet adjustable sway bar
Wheels/brakes/tires: 19-by-16F-inch and 20-by-20R-inch Makaveli one-off wheels, K-sport 16.5-inch brakes front and rear with three-piece rotors and eight-piston calipers, Toyo R888 345/30/19 front, M/T 485/25/20 rear
Ever since Adam Taylor was young, he’s had a penchant for automotive design. As a kid in the 1990s, vehicles like the Viper concept inspired him to have a passion for creation. By his own hand primarily and not others — it’s never been about buying this and slapping that on. He likes to be unique in all he does.
Over the years, he’s customized quite a few different machines, such as a custom bike, then a modified twin-turbo Pontiac Trans Am, which eventually led into picking up a 1993 Mazda RX7 chassis. Building the previous machines gave him the skills and understanding to finally go full bore with a custom concept and this FD3S wasn’t even meant for driving. It was purchased solely to use as a base.
This ride no longer resembles an RX-7. It’s been so thoroughly modified that it has become a completely unique beast. Beast is an understatement considering the fact that it looks like it came straight out of Taylor’s wild and untamed imagination. The only identifiable bits of the body are the center portion and roofline. The remaining bodywork has been completely reformed into a wide and aggressive stance with sweeping fender lines and a bulbous rear haunch.
The design was never put on CAD or blueprinted. It was a vision in Taylor’s head until it was fashioned through good old body working. This meant he had to be there every step of the way. Working through two different body shops, the result is a full hand-rolled sheet metal re-body of the FD — in a shade of exotic green, no less. It’s very rare that you see this level of custom fabrication.
The beauty is not skin-deep, however. Underneath the re-fashioned sheet metal is the beating heart of an absolute monster. The original rotary engine has been ditched for the outright power and performance of an LSX 7.7L hand-built race engine capable of 950 horsepower at 8,000 rpm. Hearing this thing start up in the middle of the night is enough to soil your shorts. All of this is tamed by a 4L80E Stage 5 full manual race transmission with the power put through an aluminum 8.8 Cobra rear diff with Detroit Locker and DSS 300M billet axles.
Taylor has improved practically every portion of the car. The interior has a full custom-built dash with loads of digital gauges and a custom heads-up display for monitoring. A very sexy Sparco steering wheel sits amid the black leather interior, while a huge fuel cell and pump setup is visible in the rear trunk area. The suspension is track capable and every component has been massaged with additional improvements. And let’s not forget the wheels — which are enormous 19-inch and 20-inch Makaveli one-off creations. We’re talking 16.5 inches of width in the front and 20 in the rear.
This ride has been labeled the RX777 Concept by Taylor. It reminds me of the purest form of a vehicle — that dream-like moment before production when the vehicle designer sets loose his dreams and before it has become watered down for pedestrian production and assembly. This truly is a wild exploration of custom creation.
