Well, here’s a car most of us have probably never seen in person – a Mazda Cosmo, also known as the RX-5 and powered by the 12A rotary engine. The oddball factor of a Yankee-style Japanese coupe with a rotary engine is enough to make it worth featuring here, in spite of its smog-check-eligible build date. These cars were apparently built on the platform of the RX-4, so combined with that and the plethora of RX-7s and other rotary models sold here over the years, you should be able to easily find mechanical bits. Cosmos in lesser condition than this one also pop up in the classifieds every so often, but this has been the first one in driver condition with a few interesting extras.
To move along to the car at hand, check it out here on craigslist, owned by a Mazda enthusiast who is also selling his (very rare, and much more pricey) first-generation Cosmo. The first impression is good – shiny paint in a 70s-tastic purple color, really cool alloys that look an awful lot like the wheels on 1/24-scale Burago models from the 80s, and a tidy interior. It’s only $2250 and it’s on Whidbey Island, WA.
