The Mazda 787B '91 is a race car produced by Mazda. It first appeared in Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec and is featured in the subsequent mainline games, including Gran Turismo Sport, where it was included as part of Update 1.23.
Produced in 1991 as a variant of the original 787, it 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 Hours. After its victory in 1991, it was retired after the FIA phased out C2 regulations it used, while its other 2 derivatives continued to be used for racing purposes.
It appears to be the #55, driven by Volker Weidler, Johnny Herbert, and Bertrand Gachot, who won the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In-game description[]
Car Index (GT7)[]
"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.
Legend Cars (GT7)[]
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 undeterred 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 labor was the R26B engine, which emphasized 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 Car Dealership[3] Early 90's Used Car Dealership[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 (  v1.23+) |
Mazda Brand Central | 1,000,000 | --- |
| Gran Turismo 7 | Legend Cars | 3,300,000[6] | Participate in the 2024 GTWS Round 3 Manufacturers Cup Viewer Campaign[5] |
Trivia[]
- It is the first Group C car to appear in the series.
- In GT3, it had identical front and rear wheels, while in GT4 and later games, it was given the "turbofan" shaped front wheel covers sometimes featured in real life.
- It was incorrectly marked as turbocharged in GT3. This was fixed in GT4 onwards where it is marked correctly as naturally aspirated.
- GT4, however, does introduce a new error: the patch near the front windshield is colored green, instead of black. This mistake was not present in the GT3 version, and was corrected in GT5 on both the Standard and Premium counterparts.
- In GT5 and GT6, the Premium version 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 later 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.
- Its description in GT Sport and GT7 is outdated due to being copied directly from GT6. It mistakenly claims that it is still the only Japanese car to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is no longer true as of the 2018-2022 races, where Toyota won with the TS050 Hybrid, and later the GR010 Hybrid.
- The Legend Car Dealership text also contains that 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 the All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship.
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)")
Liveries[]
Videos[]
See also[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Until 2018, when Toyota finally won the race after several years of trying
- ↑ Incorrectly written as "Jonny" in-game.
- ↑ Standard livery
- ↑ Black livery
- ↑ The car from the Viewer Campaign was delivered on September 30, 2024 if the player participated before September 29, or on October 7, 2024, if the player participated between September 30 to October 4. The player had 30 days from the distribution date to claim the car obtained this way.
- ↑ Price as of October 2023.