SEMA 2022 is all about putting the wrong engine in the right car. And when you’re talking about the Mazda RX7, known for its rotary turbo madness, every other engine is wrong. So why not drop a V12 from a Pagani Zonda into a unique RX7 FD3S build featuring a brand-new widebody kit from LTO? That, folks, is what you call an “art car” in the tuning scene.
Starting with the E30 M3 widebody a couple of years back, the body kit brand called LTO really took off. It transitions the work of legendary artist Khyzyl Saleem from the digital world into the real one, and this first RX7 LTO widebody just got done in time for SEMA, along with the E36 kit we presented earlier.
There’s no shortage of famous body kits targeting the RX7. However, most of them have been designed using technology from the early 2000s, way before 3D modeling. This is based on a rendering released by Kyza in 2021, which was put into production, partly because it was popular, but also because the artist owns this model of JDM legend.
The plan was to make up to 25 of these kits for hardcore RX7 fans to buy. They’re a lot of them in Japan. The project is also a collaboration with a company called Kingdom Carbon which, you guessed it, allow LTO to make this out of carbon. If you want exotic materials, the price of this package will go up from $9,850 to $17,500.
In the past, Kyza has stated he was inspired by the old RX7 kits developed in Japan almost two decades ago, namely RE Amemiya and Feed. Massive fender flares bolster the width of this elegant sports car, turning it into something which resembles a supercar. Particularly, the rear flares have blade-like intakes, which would normally be seen on mid-engined cars like a Chiron or Audi R8.
Coincidence or not, the LTO RX7 just happens to have a real supercar engine. Until today, the most exotic thing you could put under the hood was a billet multi-rotor engine, but the space under the hood has been completely filled up by a massive V12.
No, this isn’t some old Toyota unit. Instead, you have the M120 V12 out of a Pagani Zonda. We’re talking about quite a famous motor, usually found in the middle of an exotic. The Zonda was introduced in 1999 and one was even made earlier this year (the Zonda 760 Roadster), so the Mercedes-AMG-borrowed mill has gone through several iterations: 6.0, 7.0 and 7.3-liter.
We’re guessing this is an early 6.0-liter, or rather it was because Gooichi Motors out of Florida completely re-engineered the motor with billet heads, 6-into-1 manifolds, a billet dry sump pan, and more. We’re told that it’s not 100% ready, but you have to give them a participation medal for the first 12-cylinder swap RX7.
