check this one out

 

i think its the wheels that make em look good huh

 

Good lookin cars.

 

I was gonna say "That first one looks good, but it looks like it's from the seventies"... then I realized.. it is!

Jon

 

they are "butt" ugly can't stand the rear tailight design on the SA's just looks out of place. IMO

other than that i like em

 

Those are both very good looking rides and I really like the first one, particularly the tangerine color!
The "seventies" to many of you is, like, totally prehistoric. But it seems like yesterday to me!
Yabut u shoulda seen them when they first hit the road in '79 - they were suh-weet! Compared to anything else on the road at the time - they were awesome.

 

Nobody ever said SA's are crap. They just don't look quite as good as the FB IMO. I've talked to people that say they like the look of the SA better than the FB.

 

^^Not me i like the FB better....the SA's are ok but the tail lights are kinda out of place as this was mentioned earlier.

 

personally, i hate the FB tails, i think they're modern looking and ugly, i also hate the FB bumper skins w/ a passion.

the SA tails give a unique look, and an older look to the car, which it is. It has an old school look to it with those tails, that the FB tails just dont have, they're way too complex looking for a car with as simple and elegant lines as the SA/FB.

IMO, the SA > FB in all respects EXCEPT for the brake thread pitch difference (dont even get me started on that crap)

SA's also got the better looking dash (well, all 79-83 got them) instead of the *** ugly 80's style 84-85 dash :vomit:

edit:



its just so.... elegant and old school (it looks a lot better with a plate in there though) I'd never trade a SA for an FB... i might use an FB as a winter beater though, as they're so much more plentiful.

 

Ever wonder what was the basis that was used for the SA designed back end?

 

I like the way the lower part of the front fenders ahead of the wheels looks on the SA compared to the extra curved part on the FB. Know what I'm talking about? The SA just has that little chin spoiler instead of spoiling that line.

 

I like the SA's. I also like the RX3, REPU and older Toyota's from the 70's. I would buy a decent looking SA in a heartbeat.

 

i like the fb tails better. but the S3 instrument panel is lacking the tach-in-center action that i thought added a bit of character.

 

Ahhh. Its like "Austin Healy 100 vs. AH 3000" or "240z vs 260/280z" all over again! IMHO it seems that the original designs seem to be the "purest" expression of what the designers wanted (once they got it past the pencil-pushers and the marketting guys . The SAs are clean and simple, dare I say like the first versions of the above Healey and 240. Some would say they all go downhill from there, the 280z being perhaps the best (worst?) example of how far The Chosen can fall... The SA isn't perfect: combo volt meter/tach is just dumb; door mirrors (on the US cars) looked weak; and, yes, had mazda continued with its theme of round tail lights in its rotary engined models (as proposed in prototypes, a la R100/RX2/RX3 and then later FCs) it would have made the rear end absolutely perfect (again IMHO). But for most of us SA-folk the slim, understated body mouldings; the then-fashionable (and now nicely retro) "euro-look" alloy wheels; the sweet tapered body lines unfettered by the bulky bumper-skins of later cars... its the stuff that makes pulling up a chair at the driveway and _staring_ at the car a great experience...
Ahh, the poetry of it all...
The Good News is the 81+ style gives those folks something to love, and makes the limited number (if you can say that about some 100,000 produced) of SAs something to treasure for the RX-purists like myself. Vive la difference!
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

Biig wheels on Series 1 =

- Pete (Series 1 Purist)

 

man the 84-85 dash rules. Show some love

 

I'm a MUCH bigger fan of the later fbs... I love the modern dash, etc.

 

With the wide european license plates the SA back end doesn't look bad at all. It just didn't translate to the little american plates very well.

The later dashes represent all that was wrong with the 80s: overstyled, cheap, and ugly.

 

I agree the plastic bumpers are cheesy, and the FA bumpers are not much better, the tail lights don't excite me. So I stole some RX-2 parts and used them when i built this:

 

It's amazing how different the SA/FB look, especially since they share 98% of the same sheet metal. The FB can look very modern in darker colors and some plus sized wheels, but the SA will always have a look and a feel that dates it to the late seventies. It all depends what you're looking for.

That being said, Wankelguy's right about the front fenders. The little chin spoiler looks infinately better than the FB style fenders.

 

What chin spoiler are you guys talking about? Pics please?

I like the fb dash and tailights better myself.

 

i'm w/ you man.

 

here's a fully built SA that i drove to 7stock since dave was on crutches. it's wackyracer's bro-in-law's btw





the biggest streetport on 51 IDA, direct fire, RB lightened flywheel, and other goodies. and the weds rims of course

simple, clean, and definitely fast!

a true sleeper also since it's stock body.. but the sound that the car produces isn't.. lol

 

^^^wow that car is beautiful!

 

I'm really thinking about painting my car white now