A fire-damaged historic Mazda is coming back within weeks, saved by its wrap
The film people use to stop stone chips just protected a piece of Le Mans history from the flames.
A rare and valuable Mazda 767B came alarmingly close to disaster at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion in August, when a paddock fire broke out around the historic racer at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The happy ending is that the car escaped with only minor damage, and its unlikely saviour was a layer of paint protection film, the same product owners fit to road cars to fend off stone chips. It is now expected back on track within weeks.
The car
This is not just any old Mazda. The 767B, chassis number 003, is a rotary-powered Group C machine from the late 1980s, a class winner at Le Mans and a close relative of the legendary four-rotor 787B that won the 24 Hours outright in 1991. Cars like this, with their screaming rotary engines, are among the most charismatic sportscars ever built, and seeing one used and raced at an event like the Monterey Reunion is exactly what historic motorsport should be about. It also makes the fire a genuinely frightening moment for anyone who loves these machines.
How the wrap saved the day
The fire was traced to a fuel leak in the paddock, and while the flames looked serious, the damage did not match. The car had been wrapped in paint protection film, and that layer took the brunt of the heat, sparing the bodywork and structure underneath. “We did get lucky, because basically the car was wrapped in like a PPF, and so there is really not much damage, which is awesome,” owner Tony McIntosh said. Paint protection film is designed to shrug off gravel and light scratches, not fire, so its accidental heroism here is a lovely surprise.
Back on track in weeks
Because the damage was so limited, the repair is a quick one. McIntosh's team, with restoration and maintenance handled by Mike Seymour and his crew, expects the work to take roughly one to two months, a world away from the nine-month rebuild that originally made the car track-ready. Barring surprises, the 767B should be running again very soon, which is the best possible outcome for a car this special.
AutoNext Take
There is something wonderful about a mundane road-car product saving a piece of racing history. Paint protection film exists to keep the paint on a modern SUV looking tidy, and here it has quietly rescued a rotary Le Mans Mazda from what could have been a devastating fire. Nobody wrapped this car expecting it to double as fire protection, which is exactly why the story raises a smile. It is the sort of accidental save that sits nicely alongside the other gloriously odd corners of Mazda's history.
The bigger point is that these cars are being used at all. It would be easy to lock a machine like the 767B away in a climate-controlled collection, in the way so much racing heritage ends up preserved rather than driven, and instead it is out being driven in anger at Laguna Seca, with all the small risks that involves. That is how it should be. The fire is a reminder that using historic racers is never entirely safe, but a car saved and back on track in weeks is a far better story than one preserved in silence. Long may the rotary keep screaming.
