The Mazda RX-7 FD is widely regarded as one of Japan’s most iconic rotary-powered sports cars. With its lightweight two-door body, sharp handling, and twin-turbocharged rotary engine, the RX-7 was designed with one purpose in mind: to go fast and carve through corners.
Then someone decided it needed more room.
The result was one of the strangest and most fascinating RX-7 projects ever built: a stretch limousine based on the FD-generation Mazda RX-7.
Known among RX-7 enthusiasts as the Pettit FD RX-7 Limo, the bizarre creation has circulated among the rotary community for years. An RX7Club forum thread dating back to 2007 even refers to it as the “Official Pettit FD RX-7 Limo.”
FROM TWO-SEAT SPORTS CAR TO STRETCH LIMO
The third-generation RX-7, known internally as the FD, arrived for the 1993 model year in the United States. It retained the classic two-seat sports car formula and was powered by Mazda’s 1.3-liter 13B-REW twin-rotor rotary engine with sequential twin turbochargers.
In U.S.-specification form, the engine produced around 255 horsepower and was available with a five-speed manual transmission.
But the limo project completely changed the RX-7’s proportions.
The center section of the car was extended to create additional cabin space, transforming the compact sports coupe into a much longer limousine. Some enthusiast sources have even claimed that the project involved combining sections from two damaged RX-7s, although detailed documentation of the construction is limited.
What makes the car even more bizarre is that the basic identity of the FD remains immediately recognizable.
The long hood, pop-up-style front-end design, rear glass and unmistakable FD silhouette are still there—only now the entire car appears to have been stretched through the middle.
STILL A ROTARY?
This is where the project becomes particularly interesting for rotary fans.
The standard FD RX-7 was powered by Mazda’s legendary 13B-REW 1.3-liter twin-rotor sequential twin-turbo engine, one of the defining features of the car.
Mazda designed the RX-7 around low weight and excellent balance, using the compact rotary engine to help achieve an ideal front-midship layout and sharp handling characteristics.
The limousine project, however, took that philosophy in a completely different direction.
The car has been associated with Pettit Racing, a company with a long history of working with Mazda rotary engines and RX-7 performance builds. Pettit Racing has become well known among rotary enthusiasts for developing and modifying Mazda’s legendary Wankel-powered cars.
However, publicly available documentation does not provide enough information to independently confirm every mechanical specification of the limousine. Details regarding its exact engine configuration, transmission, driveshaft, suspension and chassis modifications should therefore be treated as enthusiast-reported information rather than official Mazda specifications.
THE ODD BALL THAT ACTUALLY SOLD
Despite looking like something that should exist only in an internet forum or a wild tuning magazine, the RX-7 limousine eventually made its way into the collector-car market.
In 2016, the unusual RX-7 stretch limousine was reportedly offered at Barrett-Jackson, where it sold for approximately US$21,500.
That alone demonstrates just how much curiosity this strange machine generated.
And honestly, it is difficult to find another car that can make people ask two questions at exactly the same time:
“Is that an RX-7?”
And:
“Is that a limousine?”
THE ULTIMATE ANTI-LIMOUSINE
Most limousines are built from large luxury sedans, SUVs or other vehicles designed around passenger comfort and interior space.
The RX-7 started life as the complete opposite.
It was a compact, lightweight two-seat sports car engineered around performance, balance and driving enjoyment.
Turning one into a limousine meant abandoning almost everything that made the FD special in the first place.
But that is also exactly what makes the project so fascinating.
This was not a project designed simply to make an RX-7 faster, lighter or more technically perfect. Instead, it represents what happens when the aftermarket ignores conventional thinking and asks a much more interesting question:
How far can we take this?
The RX-7 stretch limousine is an incredible combination of madness and creativity.
From a collector’s perspective, seeing an FD cut apart and extended may feel almost sacrilegious. But from the perspective of the tuning world, projects like this are exactly what make automotive history so entertaining.
Imagine arriving at a party in a conventional limousine. Nobody would think too much about it.
Now imagine the door opens and out steps someone from a stretched Mazda RX-7 powered by a rotary engine.
Now that is a story.
What do you think ? was the RX-7 stretch limousine an ingenious piece of tuning history, or was this one FD that should never have been cut in half?
Adhe is part of the 88 Eight Box Editorial Team, covering JDM culture, motorsport, automotive technology, and industry news. The team focuses on delivering original automotive stories, reviews, and insights for enthusiasts worldwide.
