When is an FB worth $6k?
84 SE, new paint job, new rad, new clutch, new clutch master & slave, car is stock except for radio/cd player (has original head unit) and has both glass & metal sun roof. Mileage=138k.

What's your opinion, we'd like to know!

 

I would pay up to $3K for a pristine low mileage SE, be hard to convince me a 138K car is worth $6K IMHO

 

^^^ you said it aussiesmg.............it would have to have a TII swap in it to be worth 6k with the other things you listed

 

Agreed. If it were low mileage, and had ORIGINAL paint that looks new, we'd be talking.

Assuming the engine is in PERFECT running condition and has good compression, I'd value the car closer to $4k (that's with a premium price for being an SE.)

 

When is a FB woth 6k?

When the owner does not want to sell it, that's the simple answer.

 

Here is one on ebay that is bid up to $4,000 with a buy it now for $7,500.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWA%3AIT

I paid almost 6k for mine but it had 58,000. Near perfect original paint. It was always garaged and way clean inside. The seller cared for the car so well he did things like replacing the oil cooler 3 times just in case. He was the second owner and was the 1st owners detailer.

Here is a pic of the car before I bought it.

 

Perhaps you would pay 6k with perfect paint, interior and a 13B bridgy under 5k old. pristine mechanical condition.

 

when is a car worth $6K...when it is my car

here is my cost breakdown as of yesterday:
1983 MAZDA RX7: $700
STREETPORTED REBUILT 12A: $700
RACINGBEAT STREETPORT EXHAUST: $900
ROTARYSHACK OER SIDEDRAFT CARBURETOR: $900
FRONT MOUNT OIL COOLER WITH BRAIDED S.S. LINES: $140
BODY SEALS: $130
COMPETITION YELLOW MICA PAINT: $735
BODY SMOOTH & REMOVE ALL DENTS: $200
NEW TRANSMISSION: $20
NEW CLUTCH CENTERFORCE II: $350
NEW STEERING LINKAGE: $125
NEW TIRES: $400
NEW INTERIOR PIECES: $100
CUSTOM WOOD CUPHOLDER: $60
CUSTOM OIL FILTER RELOCATION: $120
PARTS TOTAL $5,580.00

And for those of you curious of paying someone to do all this, here is a low estimate.
100 HOURS OF LABOR @ $30.00/HR

LABOR TOTAL $3000.00

TOTAL COST TO BUILD $8,580

 

wow labour is cheap there. $60/hr usd here!

as you say that is your car, everything new - so you would only want to pay that much for something which had all the essentials very much near new!

 

precisely. BTW my car will be informally for sale once it is finished for $6800.00
I say informally because there is no way i will sell this car for much less than that since i will have way too much fun driving it!

 

i just can't see spending that much $$$ on a 22yo stocker with periodic maintainence and a new coat of paint. I bought my 85 back in 92 for $3k, and that was just the coupe!

 

This is an interesting thread when comparing to another thread discussing the merits/likelihood of FB's becoming more valuable as the last of the 1st gen's approach 25 years old. I find it interesting that there aren't more 7 owners (and 1st gen's specifically) who even though they may not want (or likely could) pay top dollar for an original, low mileage SE, acknowledge the uniqueness of 1st gen's and that they warrant their increasing values.

I mean, we're talking about a unique production sports car made in fairly low numbers (I'm referring to 84-85 SE's in this case, though I would think there are a good number of 1st gens leaving the road permanently all the time) that has an intriguing blend of engineering (rotary), styling, performance and comfort. I believe low mileage examples of SE's (or any other FB for that matter) that are original and well cared for are for the most part under valued. For instance, I'm aware of a beautiful 35,000 one owner SE in grey/red leather that sold for $8600. It was absolutely gorgeous and in my opinion well bought. You'd have to spend more than that in NOS parts (if they could be found) to try and recreate it.

In my case, I purchased a 49K two owner SE (blue/grey fabric) in excellent shape. The only thing wrong is a little pitting on the nose from 22 years of driving, other than that it's perfect in and out. I paid a little over $7K and again I think it was well bought. Is everyone looking for a concours example of an FB....no, but there is a market out there and those like myself who are willing to pay fair market value for dwindling supplies of examples of these cars will help bring up the values of FB's in various conditions.

In my opinion, the days of 3K pristine low mileage FB's are a thing of the past. If you're already driving an FB than you should be happy. If you've always wanted one than I say there is no time like the present. Go buy the dream low mileage FB or get a great deal on something less than pristine and build how you want to. There's room for everyone to have fun!

Cheers! Kevin

 

I agree, I paid decent money fom my SE (in the 4k range) a couple years back and had to have it shipped. Not many around up here in the Boston area. This one was well cared for.

In any case, I just sank 3K into the suspension, new bushings, control arms, all th erear linkage, tie rods and such, plus RB springs, sways, strut brace, shocks, oh and new rims and tires, make that 4K. The RB exhaust system was'nt cheap either. The paint job is going to cost another $3500 or so, and likely the interior restoration will run 1500-2K anyway. Then in a couple years a performance engine rebuild (it has about 100K on it now). A pristine FB with 50K or so miles at 8-9K is an easy way to save time and money. I am not sure why everyone still seems to think these cars should be giveaways unless they are true "project" cars.

I think a good metric to look at is just general availability thru major web sources. When I was searching for my FB 2 years ago, I used Ebay and autotrader.com. Ebay routinely returned 2-3 pages of FBs for sale and autotrader 4-5 pages of cars. Both sources typically return less than one page now and thats been pretty consistent for the last 6 months or so.

Only a rare few will be collectors items, but I agree with the other poster who said that as the folks who were in their 20's in the 80's get older, you'll see these get snapped up by people willing and able to pay good money for a memory.

Everytime I write a check for something for my car I wonder if I should and everytime I get in it and drive I know it was the right thing to do :-). But if I had the opportunity to do it over again and pay 8-9K for a pristine 50K mile or so SE, I would and I would maintain it stock.

 

i can see if you are doing a gold lev restoration on the car but to spend close to $10k in paint, normal-wear parts replacement with 138k on the frame just doesn't make a lot of sense.

i can see paying top dollar for the car if you replace it with original-date manufactured parts. but installing aftermarket/OEM parts using it as a daily driver and asking $6k is a bit excessive.

let's go one step further...after dropping $6k now you want to mod the car - suspension, exhaust, intake, etc. For the money spent, you should be able to get an FC or maybe an FD (that needs some work).

 

i paid 5k for my FD... go figure...

 

They are a minor classic sportscar. Not enough people spend money on them - I guess because the majority of owners are in it for the great value sportscar they are.

I have spent about $16000 USD all up with initial purchase + work on mine and don't regret a second of it. (more expensive over here in Aus) but its nice actually having a real rewarding unique car that both looks and drives fantastic! - not just a civic with a $500 front bumper and blue led's.

I found this really nice job of a complete build from the ground up of a first gen yesterday.
http://www.selectmaz.com.au/Waynes_car.htm
In the 3 photos at the end of the engine bay- it looks like it's totally brand new! And it is It's great to see people doing this. Plenty of life left in these cars