About this car.............

Car would have been worth more with the orig tires, yea ok replace the tires and rims with another set but keep the originals it would be worth more to me to have the orig rubber even if used.

One big positive in this cars favor, does anyone remember that "low mileage" 79 limited that was on ebay it's wheel centers looked like crap but it supposed had like 7k miles or something crazy... look at the centers on these wheels doesn't look like they were touched up.

 

I love this car !!!!
Unfortunately over here almost every example would have given up to the dreaded rust by now
Such a shame as these are truely beautiful

 

Does it matter that the A/C is missing? I rather have that, than the original tires.

I would guess the price stalls soon but I hope not. I just bought an 84 GSL-SE(45Kmiles) and paid 6K for it. It is mint in alot of ways but is not perfect. Looks about like the 79 here.
I could be what trochoid said. a sucka. lol But I love the car and will drive it for a long time.

 

a/c parts are easy to find though

 

6K for an 84SE is more than what its "market" worth is as of today. But who knows what the future will bring. As soon as we (as a country) have some disposable income again and the mind set to spend it on such things as collecter cars, you will see the values and prices rise.

Untill such time everyone is just speculating in the market. It could be 2yrs, or 10. But someday they will all be worth more. I believe the low mile, stock condition cars will be worth the most in the future. Just like almost every other make of car out there. This early SA is only worth what some one is willing to pay. How far in the future would you like to bid?

That being said, I don't like to speculate when I buy. I buy cause I want it. If I can afford it, and it's not totally insane-price wise, I tend to just get it and enjoy it and take care of it like family. After all, we are just temporary care takers of these things. If you can buy for the enjoyment of owning instead of making a buck (or not losing your ***) you will never lose.
Sounds to me like the 6K RED95FD spent on the 84SE was money well spent.

 

I have been watching the prices of RX7s sold in the last 5 years and the prices have not changed very much even with a bad economy. There may not be as many buyers but the prices are holding up. I am surprised but I see it.

A guy just sold an 85 silver/red Gsl-SE in Sarasota Florida for 10K. It had 20K miles on the clock. He should have held out for more but he was not an RX7 fan and he got the car for free.

I just saw a black SE with 14K miles on Ebay and I think it sold for 15K.

So the phrase"They are only worth what someone will pay" is a fact for sure.

I have a buddy with an GSL-SE with 20K miles. He polishes the exhaust shields. The car is perfect. He will never sell it. At least not for 15 or 20 years. I would give him 15K for it. But I'm a sucka, for sure.

The big question today is, What will this mint 79 go for? It's at 5K now with 3 days to go. I say it goes higher. There are some good bidders on the list. My guess is $6,800. I hope it's more.

 

A/C is not "missing" the car is an "S" model, and a/c would have been optional.

the pics aren't complete to look for a/c, but it doesn't have the a/c button on the dash, which means it probably never had a/c.

 

I'm no expert on 79 RX7s but I don't believe there's a button for the ac. They are slide controls from the a/c to the defrost. Then another slide control for temp. Then a **** on the right for fan levels. There is a picture.

Also there's an empty pully in the engine bay pic which I bet was for the a/c.

Now maybe there was no a/c and it was set up and ready for a/c. I don't know but I've never seen that before.

 

S model cars had 4 speeds, a two spoke steering wheel and normally steel wheels. This is a GS. The actual A/C control is a push button in the center of the fan speed ****. The slide controlls are for air temp and flow path. I've been told several times that A/C was a option installed after reaching the US. Either by the dealer or at the port of entry. The picture isn't that good, but I think I can see the button. It probably just did not get the A/C option install.

 

Earliest SAs came with a different fan switch - ie NO AC button. This car is so equipped. (I have a clearer view of it, Banzai). The AC (dealer installed) was basically ON all the time when temp slider set to cold side (!) with this set-up. This did not amuse new owners. Later SA's, all FBs had the "AC-Button" imbedded switch from the factory, whether there was AC or not. AFAIK all SA's came with the dual pulley to facilitate the AC belt - as well as the 2 studs on the side of the front iron for the AC pump.

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

Thanks Stu. Once again, you can take it too the next level!

 

Just another add on to this the empty pulley is also not that rare as when the engines were installed from the factory they came with all the pulleys already on the engine for A/C as no one was sure which cars would get it and which wouldn't. The sure fire way to tell would be look at the groove on the pulley to see if a belt wore through the coating on the pulley. There were actually several different OEM A/C setups for these SAs differences can be seen as noted by STU in the Switches, they are also noted in the hoses, their routing, the A/C relay and its wiring, the compressor type, and the actual engine mount. The A/C mount used on the earliest of the Rx7s looks very crappy with and more appears to be pieces of steel welded together with crappy welded bead lines, this mount is specific to factory installed A/C. You will not find this information in any of the books it is only through discussion with multiple Mazda employees from back in the day and observation of the multitude of SAs I have dealt with.

 

So -
car pulled from auction a day+ early! Last of 11 bids was $5000, with the reserve _Met_ - so I am puzzled how/why the sellers (Ferrari dealer) pulled it!? Assuming local sale. Woulda been interesting to know what the car went for...
;P
Happy New Year rotorheads!
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

I emailed them and they said that the car sold. I would assume they got 7K. I did ask them what it went for but I may not get a reply.

 

It would be nice to know, but even 5K is a strong price and encouraging. Keep in mind the kind of local traffic a Ferrari / Maserati dealer gets. This could be like model cars prices to their usual customers.

 

Pass their email to me I might be able to get the info out of them if I approach it in a different manner. After all I have a couple that are in similar shape and condition and "I am documenting SALE prices for my insurance coverage" I could also get my buddies at the Mazda dealer that owns the nice early one to do the same for the same reasdn and we might get an answer. My thought though would be that they did not want to pay the ebay fees if they put a reserve on it and want it to go for a little more.

 

'Dude - here's the ebay auction-
has contact info on it - 'luck and let us know!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mazda...t_25894wt_1167

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

Look what jumped on to my trailer up in Boston! I was kind enough to give it a ride back to PA.
I am new to the forum and I was doing a little research when I came across this thread. I just thought you guys might want to know where it ended up. Since I know everyone will be asking, I paid 6,500.

 

excellent shot

you sure bought a nice car

 

6,500! sounds like a great price to me. we were asking 6k for our running 82 with 7k original miles.

 

Congrautlations and Welcome to the group! You got a very nice car there, reguardless of price. When you get a chance, I'm sure some additional pictures and detail shots would be a big hit here. Also, register you car and VIN in the 1st Gen owners registry.

From some of the misc. parts, it looks like it you have an early build 79 model (built in 78 sometime). Build date is on the drivers door jam. I'm very happy that it went to someone who cares enough to find and hang out around here

 

Thanks for the warm welcome. I am new to the forum but not to first gen RX-7's as I still have the 1979 that has been in our family since new. I was about to begin a complete restoration of the car when I came across the red car on ebay. The more I look over the new car the happier I get. It starts and drives perfect. Everything works 100%. The paint almost looks too good. At first thought it had to be a re-paint, but after closer inspection, I can find no evidence of it. The underside does have some light surface rust on the suspension and exhaust. The only things I see that are not original are the tires, fuel pump, and maybe the alternator. Here are two more pictures but they were taken with my phone. When I get some better pictures I will post them.

 

This is a little off the topic but here are a few pictures of another RX-7 project I am working on. I am installing a Allison C-18 Turbine engine out of a Bell Jetranger helicopter. The engine will drive a T-5 manual trans. The engine weighs about 130lbs and produced more than 320 shaft HP. Hope to have it finished with in the next year.

 

i bought an original paint SA a few years ago. its really neat stuff, a little wax and that red really pops.

mine had a lot of orange peel, and there was even a run in the paint at the rear side of the roof

congrats, its a really nice car

 

Again, Welcome! Love the pics! Incredibly clean. Pls post up some additional detailed pics when you get a chance!!