Back in the 80's a number of 1st gen RX7's were customized and turned into convertibles. I have a 1980 that was turned into a convertible and it had been sitting in the garage for 20 years. I am now thinking of selling it. I was wondering if these had any value and if so was wondering what folks had seen them sell for. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks Peter

 

If it is show quality, look at Bring a Trailer. Weird stuff happens there.

 

I think a lot of the values is not only determined by overall condition but by what company did the conversion. A company such as Pacific Avatar was about as good as it could get back then with the RX-7 convertible conversion. Those are worth money. Would you be able to post pictures of the car so that we can help identify it and help you determine a rough value of the car?

 

I agree with Dave above. Pacific Avatar was probably the best known, most respected conversion company. Today, those cars can add confidence and value to a sale. The others are bit like adding an aftermarket sunroof to your car, usually looked at with some questions and skepticism. Once in a great while you'll see an ad for one, but I can't say I've really ever witness one sell or for how much.

Your cars overall condition will most likely be its major factor, determining value. If the conversion was done well and the overall condition is good, you may see a modest increase in value over a standard car of like condition. At the same time, it might be looked at as more questionable or costly to fix, if the overall condition needs more than minor work. Of course, it would probably help if you have any info or documentation on the conversion or company who did it. Yes, please provide some additional info and pictures of the car.

 

One of the design features which made the Pacific Avatar conversions special was the underbody X-bracing which was added across the unibody frame rails to stiffen the bodywork. After removal of the top, or even cutting at the B-pillar for Targa conversion, much of the unibody strength was compromised. A quick look under the car would confirm that someone had thought of this and made appropriate modifications.

A friends Targa top 1st Gen had such bad body flex that when he'd go up a curb, you could see gaps between the front and rear corners of the Targa panel.

 

Just as a guideline for price .. there's a 1982 RX7 convertible listed on AutoTrader.ca (it's not in showroom condition).

$10,000 CAD = $7,800 USA

 

If your car really is a Pacific Avatar, it will not only have the X bracing underneath as mentioned above, but will have steel plating on the rocker panels, bracing behind the seats, and will have a special vin plate in the engine bay with a Pacific Avatar serial number. The Pacific Avatar cars used a trunk lid from a Mazda 626 and this was functional. The cars were also said to have a plastic material that was installed inside of the body panels to aid in sound deadening. The Pacific Avatar cars seem to have been well built and from what I remember, they built 126 of them.