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I picked up an early 1979 parts car just over a year ago; it’s white, has the hood prop on the right side of the engine bay, a two spoke steering wheel, brown-orange interior, and is an S model with no sunroof. It also had a strange and peculiar looking shift ****, pictured below.
The other day I was looking at reference pictures of ‘79s on BaT, and found this listing:
While drooling over its pristine condition for about 10 minutes, I noticed it looked pretty familiar… in fact, aside from having AC, a black interior, the hood prop being on the left side of the engine bay, and it being literally 68 times more expensive (I did the math lol), it’s entirely identical to my parts car… so then I took a look at the shift ****.
I have spent a decent amount of time looking through listings and images online, as well as looking through forums, and heck I even asked Mr. Atkins about it a few months back, and I couldn’t find anything out about it until this listing.
Here’s my shift **** (sadly it’s missing the top):
This is the **** from the listing:
As I’m fairly new to Rx7s, I don’t know every in and out of their history, so I would love for you guys to pour out anything and everything you know about this!! All I can conclude from this is that, due to the fact that both cars are nearly identical and are from around the same time of manufacturing (I can’t remember which month in ‘78 that my parts car was made, but the BaT Rx7 is from 12/78), I’m wondering if all early examples of the 79 SA came with these shift *****? Again, I’d love to hear your thoughts, as well as any historical facts you guys have to share.
Cheers,
Pascal
Last edited by OilyRotor16; Jan 8, 2025 at 12:34 AM.
Its the shift **** from a leather sport model but based on your seats and the trim around your shifter and you saying it has a 2 spoke wheel, these are in conflict. A real LS model would have a 4 spoke wheel and leather seats.
Its the shift **** from a leather sport model but based on your seats and the trim around your shifter and you saying it has a 2 spoke wheel, these are in conflict. A real LS model would have a 4 spoke wheel and leather seats.
Ah okay, interesting… My parts car is definitely not an LS as it doesn’t have (nor does it show any signs of ever having) the LS badge. The Rx7 in the BaT listing also has the two spoke steering wheel and doesn’t have the LS badge, so maybe that shift **** was used both for the LS as well as certain early 79s?
Pascal, The rounder, pear shaped shift ***** were actually used on earlier model cars like the Rx-3's and others. I believe Mazda did rob those parts bins and some were used on Rx-7's, early on in production. I remember seeing them in S models along with longer shift levers like the longer one below. I used to associate the long lever with the pear shaped **** as just being what the 4 speed trannies came with. At some point however, I think the 4 speeds were also equipped with the shorter lever and longer ****, just like the 5 speeds, only with a 4 speed emblem.
Later on, I also noticed that some of the JDM cars, across different models in the initial year also sported the round *****. So yes, they also appeared on some 5 speed cars too.
Here in the US, the 5 speed (GS cars) always came with the short, bent lever and the longer, slightly tapered ***** that are normally associated with SA Rx-7's. But there were different versions of even these.
Some ***** had a jewell crystal lens while the more common ones came with a printed, metal emblem that was glued on top. Plus, there was the actual leather covered ***** that only came in the Limited and special model SA cars, along with actual leather wrapped / stitched steering wheels.
Below: L to R, actual Leather **** w/ crystal emblem, Rubber **** w/ printed emblem, Rubber w/ printed 4 speed (S model) and Pear shaped **** w/ printed 5 speed emblem from a JDM car.
I don't think there is a definitive answer to your question. The shorter, more rounded ***** were actually from earlier models, but were sprinkled on some cars early on. The taller ***** are the ones that are considered the standard version used for the first few years of the Rx-7.
The car from BaT is an S model, not an LS or anything special. It has a 2 spoke wheel along with a 4 speed and other S model features which it should. This aligns with what I said about seeing the round ***** in S models here in the US.
Pascal, The rounder, pear shaped shift ***** were actually used on earlier model cars like the Rx-3's and others. I believe Mazda did rob those parts bins and some were used on Rx-7's, early on in production. I remember seeing them in S models along with longer shift levers like the longer one below. I used to associate the long lever with the pear shaped **** as just being what the 4 speed trannies came with. At some point however, I think the 4 speeds were also equipped with the shorter lever and longer ****, just like the 5 speeds, only with a 4 speed emblem.
Later on, I also noticed that some of the JDM cars, across different models in the initial year also sported the round *****. So yes, they also appeared on some 5 speed cars too.
Here in the US, the 5 speed (GS cars) always came with the short, bent lever and the longer, slightly tapered ***** that are normally associated with SA Rx-7's. But there were different versions of even these.
Some ***** had a jewell crystal lens while the more common ones came with a printed, metal emblem that was glued on top. Plus, there was the actual leather covered ***** that only came in the Limited and special model SA cars, along with actual leather wrapped / stitched steering wheels.
Below: L to R, actual Leather **** w/ crystal emblem, Rubber **** w/ printed emblem, Rubber w/ printed 4 speed (S model) and Pear shaped **** w/ printed 5 speed emblem from a JDM car.
I don't think there is a definitive answer to your question. The shorter, more rounded ***** were actually from earlier models, but were sprinkled on some cars early on. The taller ***** are the ones that are considered the standard version used for the first few years of the Rx-7.
The car from BaT is an S model, not an LS or anything special. It has a 2 spoke wheel along with a 4 speed and other S model features which it should. This aligns with what I said about seeing the round ***** in S models here in the US.
Ah okay, very fascinating! In some ways I really like how what shift **** you end up with almost depends on which car you come across from those early months of production. Thank you so much for your reply and for your time, I love getting to know more about these cars.
