The first best thing about living in a cultural melting pot like Los Angeles is the food. I can walk two blocks from my house and eat authentic Mexican food that doesn't have the words "supreme" or "MexiMelt" on the menu; drive 20 miles south and eat the best Indian food this side of, well, India; and drive 10 miles east and grub on the tastiest Filipino food that would give Manny Pacquiao a glorious Halo-Halo mustache. The second best thing would have to be the diverse collection of firme hinas, bebots and dime breezies that stroll around throughout every neighborhood in L.A. Let's just say that if you have problems finding a woman in Los Angeles, you gots major problems, son. The last best thing about living in a cultural mash-up like L.A. is that you also become culturally mashed up yourself, which means you know not to rest your chopsticks by sticking them inside your bowl of rice (bad luck), that you pour sake for your friends first before pouring one for your own (good etiquette), and most importantly, you know the proper ways to say other people's names - that means it's "Roh-EL" not "Rah-UL," "Wong" not "Wang" (Whatever. - JW), and when pronouncing "Nguyen," it's pronounced "win" and not "nah-goo-yen." All of which leads me to this rather awkward segue to Tony Nguyen and his '93 Mazda RX-7.
Ever since I've been writing for this magazine, the holy grail of article titles is as follows: 1. "Race to Nguyen," 2. "Nguyen-Nguyen Situation", or 3. "FTN: For The Nguyen." The only problem with actually using any of those titles is the fact that I would need to write about an Nguyen. And it's finally here, after all the heartaches and pains, the many nights of writer's block and the never-ending search for a Nguyen who owned a car worthy of a Super Street feature. It's finally here! Little did I know that it would be so hard to pick which title I'd go with, so I decided to use all of them (see title and subtitle of this article).
At any rate, the most best-ultimate thing about really living in L.A. is, of course, the cars. Tony Nguyen is an L.A. resident and his FD3S was actually hailed as one of the 20 Hottest Cars in L.A. by our sister publication Import Tuner. It's really not that hard to imagine why either. First off, the RX-7 is a thoroughbred that has been making enthusiasts out of men since the `80s. The RX-7, when it came out of the production line in 1979 was an instant hit with its sleek styling, front-mid engine format, lightweight chassis, and the twin-rotor Wankel rotary engine, a machine unknown to the automotive community at the time. The car became so popular, Mazda made generation after generation, landing on the FD version, where its worth took off into super car territory. It garnered double takes on roads, accepted roles on many films, and took its call as Mazda's most legendary ride.
The FD RX-7 was an engineering marvel, too, revered for its forefront design, pure sports car feel, and its technologically complex 1.3-liter twin-turbocharged rotary engine that helped push the FD 255 horsepower out of the box and into many garages across the globe. It featured a 0 to 60 sprint within the 5-second range, a limited-slip differential, anti-lock brakes on all four corners and extra tight suspension. If the Supra was too much money and the NSX was too futuristic, the RX-7 was the car to go with in the `90s.