Sorry bud I cldnt disagree w/ ya anymore than the others have. I dont see one ounce of NSX in the FD at all! And when Mazda said it was shooting for the NSX I think they were speaking of performance.
Anyone looking at the pics above can see that. The NSX uses the angular approach on everythng from the duct opening to the lighting. Even its fenders are squarish. Where as the FD is completely rounded everywhere!

Is it just me or doesnt the FD look like a Miata on STEROIDS??? Its front end does anyway to me. I agree with the others about the C5, from day one even before reading the mags I saw NSX AND FD styling cues. Its front end, rounded door bottoms and rounded fenders are all FD but that side scoop is all NSX even tho its goin the other way .

And thats my side of the story and Im sticking to it!

 

I see NO resemblence between the FD and the NSX.

Oh wait, the mirrors!! The looks similiar!!!

 

also look at it this way. MANY magazines have commented on how the NSX styling looks dated, i have never heard anyone EVER comment on how the FD styling looks dated, why? because even now brand new cars are coming out that follow similar lines as the FD, while the NSX went for more of a boxy ferrari look.

 

I think most magazines don't comment on the FD's design because it isn't sold here, while the NSX's is. Not to say that the FD looks dated.

 

im not just talkin R&T or R&D etc, but the entertaining (while hardly informative or even accurate) SCC type magazines which still do have rx-7's gracing their pages

 

The side markers are the same colour too. Sheese what a rip off! Is the RX7 on top or bottom I can't tell?

 

not to split hairs, but, in '87, the MRA (the model that came out of the Irvine, CA design studio, and would eventually become the FD) looks nothing like the FD - nothing (with the exception of the side windows). by late '88, you could see the FD lines finally coming out, and it didn't take its final form until '89.

Now, who has a history of the NSX or Viper book?

side note: the MC model (the one designed in Japan that eventually got dropped) looks really stinking cool - a lot like '60 Ferrari's. wish I had a scanner.

 

I see alot of cars that stole styling cues from the FD. Look at the rear lights on a newer trans am. The shape of the whole rear light section is reminisant of the FD's.

 

Actually, the car is sold solely in Japan starting in 1999.

 

checking some Viper history - The Viper was first shown on Jan 4, 1989 at the Detroit auto show....

The first "FD" to be driven by anyone outside of Mazda was in March 1989 (it was powered by a lawnmower engine)

...that's just some factual information for you all.

side notes & trivia:
one of the design goals was to combine the FC and FB (or whatever you want to call 1st gens) into the FD.

The design team(s) collected & drove several german and itallian "exotics" for inspiration prior to the design start.

serious consideration was given to making the FD a mid engine.

when working on weight reduction, Mazda brought together two cars to compare weight savings techniques. the two cars were, the FC and... ... (gasp)the Porsche 944 (the car people said the FC was a cheap ripoff of - Mazda must have really looked up to that car)

 

Anyone looking at the pics above can see that. The NSX uses the angular approach on everythng from the duct opening to the lighting. Even its fenders are squarish. Where as the FD is completely rounded everywhere!

I guess it's a case of seeing glass half-full vs. half-empty....sure, the NSX has "angular lines"....big deal....what I'm talking about is the general layout of the front fascia....the gaping "mouth", the parking light reflectors, the side ducts, and the pop-up lights....the way all that stuff is proportioned and laid out is strikingly similar....but whatever, I'm just on drugs

 

the RX-7 and NSX definitely pulled some cues from ferrari and lamborghini....ok, ok....the RX-7 is "rounded"....how cute....are you happy now?

like I said, nothing is ever really "new"...it's all been done before, in whole or in part