PaulFitzwarryne

Kenn- thanks for the info, do you know if the ' Limited Version' is the same as the 'SE Limited'? The LV only came out in silver but I have seen a photograph of a so called SE-L which looked more like blue metalic.

When I was in Japan it seemed like there were two seperate 12A T worlds, the racer who modified everything and those who just stored their's and drove it occasionally as a status symbol. It may end up like the market fot US thirties cars, where people spend a fortune on stock cars or buy a hotrod modded in the sixties when they were cheap and try to convert it back to stock.

As I said in an early post, in my opinion the 85 LV was the best stock gen 1 produced. You are really lucky to own one.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

IMHO, the 84, 85 GSLs are they way to go. I just got one off ebay a couple weeks ago, 1,600 with 85,00 miles. What a sweety she is, white with the maroon interior, unmolested. I'm doing the requiste maintenance, some brakes and such, but this is going to be a 21 year old mint 7 in a few weeks. Why bother with SE's?

Ray

PaulFitzwarryne

I fully agree, why bother unless you are interested in performance and better handling.

However, congratulations on your purchase it seems a good buy as mint ones are getting rarer. Please do not molest.

Bolox

the holygrail for the FD's...
what about the pearly white one?

jhammons01

I'm sorry, why do you keep going on with the FD stuff??? you are in 1st Generation specific (1979-1985) and the thread is ".........holy grail of 1st Gens??"

ANYWAY....................... All good info. I have really learned alot about 1st Gens in this one thread. Thank you all (anymore is greatly appreciated as well).

Funny I am more interested in picking up a 1st Gen than a 3rd Gen. I would think that it would be the other way around.

The Pro7 is what got me started looking at 7s in the first place. The dealership that had my '89 was giving it away (practically) and I couldn't pass it up so I wound up with a 2nd gen (but no complaints, it's a great car!) BUT I still want to race that pro7 calss one day and I gotta have a 1st Gen.

IanS

iTrader: (4)

I would get the GSL. I like the 12A in its simplicity and its the "underdog". Although, I think getting my car for free and buying 2 parts cars for 300 each worked out pretty good. I have a ton of extra parts so I could get rid of the crappy mouse infested red and put in gray/black. Its nice also having extra body parts so I can easily replace the "bad" fenders with "good" ones. The less bondo I HAVE to put in a car the better. I just add bondo to the areas I want to get rid of such as extra lights and keyholes that dont work.

83rx-7

I personally like the 1983 Limited Edition, 14" wheels, of course am bias since I own one.

Rogue_Wulff

Not to mention that there was only 5,000 built. (according to rotorhead.ca)
Many of those have either been scraped, wrecked, or otherwise not in running condition. I have a freind that worked at a salvage, and an 83 LE was hauled in, just cause the fuel pump was bad. He replaced it, and took it home with him. Recently it was sold to another person, but I have been watching it...........

13B4port

wrong, wrong, wrong and, wrong.

not to sound like an *** or anything but the trani has different gearing. the cluthes are different. have different part number, i bleive the difference is in the preasure platte bt i'm not sure. the springs on a se are a stiffer rating and the shocks are different esspecially on the rear ends. however, can you put se parts on a non se just fine? yup. my B&G Springs are the sme rate, size for either a SE like mine or any other 81-85 first gen. same with my tokio blues.

jhammons01

Guys,

Sorry to bring this one back but, Due to the fact that I can't seem to post any new threads. (proxy error)

The guy that has this car wants $700 for it 130k miles needs a little body and fresh paint and a door panel. Motor needs TLC (vacuum leaks) other than that it is a strong car. The car is in SoCal.......make offers!!!

EMAIL me at johnh@teamavtec.com

foxman

peejay

GSL-SE's have full luxo everything, a luxury-car engine, and the only reason they have steeper gears and bigger brakes is to make up for the taller tires on the too-big wheels and the additional pork.

The Holy Grail of 1st-gens are Series 1's. No luxo BS turning a sporty car into a boulevard cruiser.

tjgosurf

1983 GSL, it still had a cool interior unlike the 84-85, all the right gauges, and its almost a classic.

Drifting rex

iTrader: (17)

Don't mean to jack the thread or anything, but I saw a First gen in a movie with Arnold Schwachnegger and a Black Lady. I can't think of what the name of the movie was called, but it was parked in a parking garage right before a big chase scene. To bad the rx-7 wasn't in the chase though.

tjgosurf

peejay

Thick poofy cloth instead of vinyl

The wrong color, though. And you can't beat the tach/voltmeter for panache.

And you also have all of the inferiorities introduced by Mazda for the '83 model year. (non-rebuildable driveshaft, weak-*** transmissions, beehive oil heater) as well as the general inferiorities introduced in '81 (crappy steering boxes, servo-type rear brakes, defective rear suspension geometry due to reduced ride height, awful shifter placement, compact spare tire, the list goes on and on)



I still say: '79-80, preferably S model. Most S-models were uprated to 4-spoke steering wheels and alloy wheels at the dealerships before sale, anyway.

tjgosurf

With 9k posts I hope this is sarcasm.

I just miss my LE ok? And the tach/voltage meter was gay, get over it. It made sigfried and roy look like playboy model humping maniacs.

Drifting rex

iTrader: (17)

peejay

Given that the oil temps should be *cooler* than the coolant temps, it was asinine to try to use the coolant to cool the oil. The main reason they did it that way, besides cost, was to get the oil up to temp faster. A faster warmup makes for reduced emissions. That whole engine-longevity thing didn't matter in the face of federal emissions standards. (And cost of manufacture!)

"Oil heater" is tongue in cheek, but as someone I was once close to often said, there are oft hidden truths in things said in jest!

- Pete (I am now in posession of a '79 dashboard. It is going into the '85.)

bERNIECMYK

yeah an 85 se is most likely the HOLY GRAIL of 7's , but i would love to have a 10 anni. turbo in mint condition.

And not for nothing, my 20 yr old SE runs better, rides better and handles better then my sisters BRAND new 04 FORD Mustang.

What crap US car makers are producing today!!

Just my opinion.

mgallus

Never liked the 13B motors in the SE, I had two and they were both
dogs believe it or not.
The 84 or 85 GSL with the 12A is my choice.

PaulFitzwarryne

The concept of a HOLY GRAIL was a 11th century fictional invention.

Is the concept of an IDEAL GEN1 a 21st century fictional invention? If you do believe in the concept, during your pursuit will you also swear to give up women and drink?

peejay

Like the crusaders of a millennia ago, the pursuit tends to encompass all of your spare time and money, thus precluding things like women and drink.

edit: two N's are a thousand years, one N is a Mazda. (Think about it and you'll see the typo I had to fix)