The Mazda 787B '91 is a race car produced by Mazda. It first appeared in Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec and has been featured in all subsequent mainline games. Although not initially available in Gran Turismo Sport, it was later introduced as part of Update 1.23, released on July 30, 2018.
Produced in 1991 as a variant of the original 787, the 787B is powered by a 4-rotor Wankel rotary engine, producing 690 BHP. It weighs 1,830 lbs., and was specifically made for the Le Mans 24 Hour Endurance race. After its victory in 1991, the 787B was retired after FIA phased out C2 regulations the car used, while its other 2 derivatives continued to be used for racing purposes.
The car appears to be the #55, driven by German Volker Weidler, Englishman Johnny Herbert, and Belgian Bertrand Gachot, who has finished the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1st place overall.
In-game description[]
"The legendary machine that brought Mazda the first victory ever in the Le Mans for a Japanese manufacturer."
Mazda was a familiar name at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 1974, where the company experienced moderate success with its rotary-engine race cars. But the regulations were being changed to disallow rotary-engine race cars from participating the historic endurance race, and Mazda, sensing that it was running out of time, developed the 787 for a last-ditch effort.
The 787 was powered by the R26B, a new 4-rotor Wankel that boasted a maximum output of 690 HP. In order to handle this power, the car's frame was changed from a conventional aluminum honeycomb composite to a carbon composite, lowering the vehicle's overall weight and increasing structural rigidity. The car sported a large radiator in the nose and didn't sit as wide as the previous Mazda race cars, which resulted in lower air resistance. The car made its debut in the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans, where mechanical troubles led to an early exit from the race. The following year, Mazda entered the 787B, a new updated version of the 787.
The 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans fielded one of the most competitive grids in the history of an event with an all-out effort by Peugeot, not to mention strong entries from Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Porsche. Two Mazda 787Bs were entered with the No. 55 car, driven by Bertrand Gachot, Johnny Herbert and Volker Weidler, starting the race in 19th position. As the hours passed, the No. 55 car gradually worked its way up the leader board, taking the overall lead just three hours before the end of the race.
The 787B raced to the checker without incident, completing 362 laps, beating the previous year's record. The win marked the first and still the only Le Mans championship for a Japanese manufacturer,[1] which ultimately came in Mazda's 18th year of participating in the 24-hour contest.
GT7 Dealership[]
Do you know about the 1991 Le Mans 24 Hours? In the final year that rotary engines were allowed to compete, Mazda defied the odds and won in miraculous fashion. The winning race car was the 787B, powered by the 4-rotor engine, which outlasted powerhouse rivals like the Jaguar and Porsche. The victory was made even sweeter by the fact that Mazda became the only Japanese company to win the historic race.[1] After a bad showing the previous year, no one expected the 787B to do well in 1991, qualifying in the 19th position. However, the Mazda team was undettered and ran a strategic and consistent race, taking the checkered flag. The drivers who accomplished the impossible were Volker Weidler, Johnny Herbert, and Bertrand Gachot. After the race, the now-historic No. 55 car was safely stowed away to be preserved forever. Then, in 2011, the car was restored and returned to Le Mans for a demo run celebrating the 20th anniversary of its victory.
Café (GT7)[]
Jeremy[]
'Rotary engines are notorious for their poor fuel economy, making them ill-suited for endurance races.' At least, this is what people in the racing world once believed. But the engineers at Mazda took a different view! And the fruit of their labour was the R26B engine, which emphasised horsepower over torque. This wise decision effectively made it a durable and fuel-efficient engine. The legendary machine it brought to power is this 787B. It was the first Japanese car to claim the Le Mans title in 1991. Unfortunately, Johnny[2] Herbert, the driver who drove the final three stints... Was so dehydrated after the race that he was unable to make it to the podium. As for the engine, when Mazda's engineers took it apart, they apparently saw that it could go another 500 km!
Kunihisa Ito[]
The number of cars participating in the 1991 Le Mans race was only 38, but among those was the new Peugeot 905. There were also perennial powerhouses like Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Porsche sharing that starting grid. To take them all on, Mazda entered two 787B race cars. Of those two, the No. 55 car, which started the race in 19th position, gradually worked its way up the running order... Until it found its way to the front and finished on top! A dramatic first victory for Japanese manufacturers. To this day, I haven't forgotten the famous green and red livery of that race machine.
Acquisition[]
| Game | Purchase location | Credits | Other methods |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec | --- | --- | Win the Like the Wind event. Achieve 75% completion. |
| Gran Turismo 4 | Mazda Legendary Showroom[3] Early '90s Showroom[4] |
3,500,000 1,224,999 |
--- |
| Gran Turismo PSP | Mazda Dealership | 3,000,000 | --- |
| Gran Turismo 5 | Mazda Dealership (Lv. 23+) | 5,260,000 | --- |
| Gran Turismo 6 | Mazda Dealership | 2,100,000 | --- |
| Gran Turismo Sport | Mazda Brand Central | 1,000,000 | --- |
| Gran Turismo 7 | Legend Cars | 3,300,000[5] | --- |
Trivia[]
- This car was the first Group C car to appear in the series.
- In GT3, the 787B has identical front and rear wheels, while in GT4 and later games, the car was given the "turbofan" shaped front wheel covers sometimes featured on the car in real life.
- This car was incorrectly marked as a turbocharged car in GT3. This was fixed in GT4 onwards where this car is marked correctly as naturally aspirated.
- In GT5 and GT6, the Premium version of this car has fictional driver names on the engine cover, featuring "P.Behrens", "R.Rogers" and "J.Nouvel" instead of "V.Weidler", "J.Herbert" and "B.Gachot". This may be due to name and likeness licensing issues. These names were corrected in GT Sport.
- The car installed on the sculpture at the Goodwood Hillclimb in GT6 has the correct names, alongside the ACO class decal, which was absent until GT Sport.
- In GT Sport, a photo of this car can be seen in Mazda's Museum in Brand Central, referencing its 1991 Le Mans victory.
- The description of the car in GT Sport and GT7 is outdated due being copied directly from GT6. It mistakenly claims that the 787B is still the only Japanese car to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is no longer true as of the 2018 race, where Toyota triumphed with the TS050 Hybrid. In fact, Toyota won Le Mans five years in a row from 2018 to 2022 with the TS050 Hybrid, and later the GR010 Hybrid.
- The Legend Car Dealership text also contains outdated information.
- The Gran Turismo Icons video uploaded by the Gran Turismo TV YouTube channel in April 2021 includes footage of the car with a custom #202 livery, used in JSPC (All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship) races.
Pictures[]
.jpg "Mazda 787B Race Car '91 (GT3).jpg (118 KB)")
.jpg "Mazda 787B Race Car '91 (Standard vs Premium).jpg (551 KB)")
_-_Rear.jpg "Mazda 787B Race Car '91 (GT Sport) - Rear.jpg (1.08 MB)")
