I am in the process of restoring my 1980 anniversary edition. So far I have upgraded the suspension and brakes to gal-se spec. I also added Eibach springs. The car is finally at the body shop. I am getting a carbon fiber hood but have been toying with the idea of installing a Mariah Mode 1 kit. I am usually a purist but my car is so modified does it matter? Opinions? Thanks!

 

Welcome.
Nice car(s?). So I guess the 1st Q here for us is: are the pix of 2 separate cars?? Is the top/blue one a "sample" of what you want to do to the 80 Anniv? - which looks to be the bottom photo...
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The car as it sits actually looks pretty UNmoded at the moment. Of course this is YOUR car and your vision. But frankly a stock-looking SA esp a rare Anniversary car would be impressive. Your mods are (currently) hidden and you might consider keeping the car stock-looking. This may not be an issue (doing more mods) for you, value-wise, but generally RX7s are now getting rare enough, esp in stock (or one that can at least be easily reverted TO stock...) form, that you are actually going to decrease the value of the car, even as you start pumping $$ into the mods. So if you will enjoy the results personally ( which is a lot of what owning a sports car is all about!), then go for it. But be aware that you are ultimately taking away from the value of the car, and you will not likely see much return for the mods-investment.

Stu Aull
80GS (yep, some subtle mods...)
AZ

 

Thanks for the response. The blue car is the idea. I have the same thoughts since it is an anniversary edition. If it was a standard model I probably would cut it up. I will probably just add a wing and maybe an air dam in front. The hardest thing is finding parts. I should have been collecting all along. I have owned the car since 1990. Thanks again!

 

The subtle styling of a widebody kit goes in and out of style. What's hot today will look dated tomorrow. If it's what you want, there's no shame in building the car to your taste, but just as long as you plan to keep it and don't expect to get your money back when it comes time to sell it. For me personally, I don't like seeing widebodies unless the vehicle needs the rubber under the tires for its intended purpose. If I was trying to be competitive with time attack or road racing or even autox, I'd consider a widebody kit for sure. If I was just planning to go to cars and coffee, I'd keep it as original looking on the outside as possible. That's just me though. Don't let people on the internet tell you what to do with your car.

 

You might want to check to see if you can even get that Mariah widebody kit. Mariah MotorSports was sold and not producing any new items.

I like widebody cars, especially the Mariah kit. I have one of their front Mode 4 bumpers for a non-widebody still on the shelf.

You can widebody any RX-7. What you can't do is make more 1980 Anniversary Edition RX-7.