Rare 1972 Mazda Cosmo 110S (L10B) Rotary Sports Car (w/ startup)

A rare white 1972 Mazda Cosmo (L10B) arriving at and leaving Legacy Cars & Coffee at Flight at Tustin Legacy. Introduced in prototype form at the 1964 Tokyo Motor Show, the Cosmo (also called 110S) was one of the first production cars powered by a two-rotor Wankel engine. It was also Mazda’s first rotary-powered production car, paving the way for a later rotary models including the RX-7 and RX-8. The Series II (L10B) Cosmo, introduced in July 1968, featured revised styling, a 128-hp 0813 engine, and a 5-speed manual transmission. This imported example is one of 1,176 first-generation (L10A and L10B) Cosmos built, 833 of which were Series II cars.

Those who regularly attend morning classic car meets in Orange County are familiar with seeing American classics and muscle cars, a gazillion Porsches, and even old Ferraris and sometimes some pre-war greats. But there isn't much exposure to imported JDM classics besides an occasional Skyline GT-R. So when this Cosmo showed up, pretty much everyone stopped and paid attention. It was a car that, even after years of kicking tires, they knew very little about and had never seen before. Some compared it to the Toyota 2000GT (which was better known only because of Sean Connery). Others questioned the owner about the challenges of finding parts and servicing. This is certainly a special car - a rare import with a beautiful design and a fascinating engine that paved the way for Mazda's other rotary models including the mighty RX7.

Would you add this rare Mazda Cosmo to your garage? Leave a comment on YouTube and let me know!