What is an "Efini" RX-7?

You may have seen the RX7 referred to by the name Efini. In case you don’t know what that word means, I thought I’d do a short explanation.

The answer is, unsurprisingly, simple. Efini was essentially a sub-division of Mazda, which operated between 1991 and 1997. It was brought in as a luxury arm of Mazda, alongside other sub brands called Eunos and Autozam. Eunos was meant to be the care-free, fun to drive brand - typified by the Eunos Roadster, a rebadged MX-5 - while Autozam was the entry level brand - the wicked AZ-1 kei car being a good example of that.

In its role as the luxury brand, it included the RX-7, a rebadged 626 called MS-6, a rebadged Sentia called MS-9, and an MPV. The MS-8, above, was the only car unique to the brand. Interestingly, Efini dealerships also sold Citroens to the Japanese market.

Ultimately the Mazda sub-brands were disbanded in the late 90s, largely due to the downturn in the economy. So there you have it. Efini was simply a marketing test from Mazda that didn’t really go anywhere.