I'll be there this Saturday for the Michigan Rotary Club meet, might cruise tonight as well, depending on how class goes. Depending on how things go tomorrow, I might be able to drive the 86 around as well, can't let you be the only silver FC haha.

 

I brought my 7 out tonight, didnt drive around much and i only ended up seeing one fc all day, a black vert and a couple fds. ill be stopping by the mrc lot on saturday and ill be out all day tmrw, but probably in a 71 judge. its gonna be nice to finally see a group of rx7's in one place besides the internet.

if anyone else is gonna be at the woodward dream cruise this saturday, the Michigan rotary club has a tent up in a parking lot at the very end of woodward in Pontiac.

 

Black Vert could have been me, I went cruising last night, hoping to see more 7s, unfortunately I didn't, I did see thousands of other nice cars though. Awesome, hope to see you out there, and in a judge, very nice. It's weird, it seems August and July are the only months I've been seeing any Rx7s, I swear it was way more commonplace to see one 10 years ago, when I developed this interest. But, it makes sense, I guess.

 

I live in the Nashville area and you rarely see one on the road, if ever. Went to a big car show two months ago and besides mine, there was one other fc there. That being said, every time I stop for gas, someone is bound to ask me what kind of car i'm driving.

 

I'm embarrased to drive mine around, on account of the V8 swap... Goes to the track then home..

 

I hear Landon is gonna collect like a big shitload of cars and create a giant Stonehenge of Rx7s!
The scene may die off but if you stand in the middle of that thing..on a Good day you can hear a"brapp" in the wind..

 

what ever happened with Landon's cars?

 

If I remember correctly, he got in touch with someone who has leverage in the city and they left him alone.

 

The scene isn't dead in my opinion, there's never been more parts available from body panels to complete billet motors. As any car ages you will see their numbers decrease on the roads...you don't see many 80s anything around unless its a beater generally. As for the next generation and cars you can't help what you like...its on us to try and get them interested in what we do. I'm about 30 minutes east of Cleveland and I there's quite a few modified rx7s, a handful of stock FB's that have older guys and gals driving them, probably original owners, and even a few stock and modified rx8's. In the rx7"rotary" group on the hated Facebook there's always people all over the states joining posting pics saying it's their first rotary. I'm actually surprised this was a topic, how the hell can Cleveland be winning the rx7 game lol

 

It makes me sad that I'm the sole survivor of my original group of 20 fc's. there are a dozen in oc, most stockish or full race prep. Some in sd, la, inland empire. But a lot of them ar diehards, noobs, or people exiting the game or driving stock models. SoCal has the largest group outside of NorCal. I've been lucky to witness and collect through the original collapse of the FC market and its rekindling through drifting and the next generation if shops. Lucky to live next to mazdatrix. But it's a cult thing, its dead and dying. When there were many rx7s it was cool, but now that they're rare, the car has become one if the coolest Japanese cars from the era. I actually like it more than the fd in a lot of ways. I feel really bad for letting my black on black 91 go to a kid, as it'll be the last time I drive a street FC. But they're kind if a headache to daily and I was going to butcher it like my race car if I kept it, so it was time to choose to keep the gtus I've been building over my two year fling restore of my 91. Sad but that's life. I could have held onto both, but sometimes when you hold onto too much you lose everything. I've had to give up multiple fd's to keep this car developing, and would prefer to get a turbo or fd down the road for the street.

 

One more shot

 

This whole post is breaking my heart. Here in Japan, it seems like most people only care about their GTR's. There is an RX7 days event in Tokyo but its mainly FD's. I was really hoping that I would come back to the states and have some people to meet up with.

 

I think there is a decent scene in Chicago if your location is correct. I'm outside of St. Louis and I rarely see a rotary powered rx7.
I'm getting closer to having my settlement from an accident two years ago and I've been fighting myself over what car to buy. I really, really want another FC but I know what I'll be getting in to. Unless you spend a lot of money on a well built car; most of them are pieced together and you end up spending a couple thousand just to get them reliable and roadworthy.
Most of the FC's on craigslist around here are being sold with the v8 swap kits included; with the price tagged on so you can't get a shell for less than a grand.

 

Yeah, I'm from Chicago, but I've been in Japan for the last 18 months. I just bought one from the auctions in Tokyo. But I hadn't seen many on the road before that. Maybe the scene is changing a little bit. I've seen quite a few for sale around Chicago, but even if they need some TLC, it would be worth it in the end. I don't get why people buy an FC just to V8 swap. It seems like a waste to me.

 

There were a good amount of FB's and FC's in the area about 5 or so years ago, but they have started to fade out. I blame a few things on the RX7 scene in general, first cost: They're not getting any cheaper to run and this new generation seems to be more and more "instant gratification", so building/getting an RX7 going, doesn't sound as appealing as buying a honda and never having to think about the engine other than oil changes and basic maintenance for the entire time the owner owns the car, RX7, not so much.

FF Tokyo Drift: Many a rear wheel drive sportscar got smashed and crashed the years following that movie. I can honestly say I know of more RX's in the junkyards now, than people who own one, or see one driving down the road.

The generation in general. These cars are getting expensive to find, get running/run, maintain, afford.

But when you do see an RX7 go by, they still turn heads.

 

Well here in Rhode Island, I have seen two white fc's over the last 2 years. So, counting mine and the other 2, that makes... ugh.. 3 total fc's in RI if my math is right. lol

 

this is not a bad sign. Sure, clean ones are disappearing. but much the way of the s13 and younger folks now able to own them at reasonable rates, many are just simple getting trashed. Keeping my unicorn stockish and clean now. I see FD pricing for clean originals and FC future is looking hopeful. I will buy another chassis that is beat to mess with. My present will remain low mile original.

If anyone sees mine on the the road, you can bet its actually being driven.

 

I think I've been slowly reviving my area. We have around 3-4 who daily drive theirs not including me, and another handful who use them for weekends. Maybe I'm numb from the amount i've spent over the years but having rebuilt an engine myself recently with a blown coolant seal...I spent maybe $650 in total with new apex seals and all new gaskets? Thats not a bad price considering it SHOULD go another 100k miles...

Our biggest issue is everyone has different schedules so its hard to get everyone together for a meet. Some are 18/19 year olds and some are in their mid 30s with kids / traveling jobs

They are out there. 5 years ago I thought I was the only FC guy around. Most arent connected. I keep finding more and more locals.

 

there is a rotary meet in cerritos every month host by SCAR.

 

I don't think the "FC scene" specifically is dead or dying, I think as a whole the intimacy of car clubs/events in general is dissapearing.

It's a symptom of a greater issue.. social media has made people less willing to have real face to face interactions, and this trickles down to the car scene as well.

 

This.

I don't use any social media, and for the most part stay away from major news outlets, and everyone I used to hang around with has gone MIA in the last 2 years. I call people more then I text and am 28. People are always asking me why I was not "here or there" and I respond with "nobody called or sent a text" to which 99% of the time is met with "well it was posted on FB" FML.

 

Not just social media but also the idea of what car clubs offer in general. I think cars don't represent what they used to, and as such aren't getting the same kind of attention. It is however, different in different regions. In cities, the car scene is in real trouble since it's no longer a necessary social connection point, however in more suburban or rural areas where people need cars for transportation, the scene is very much alive.

 

This is true, where I live is Honda central. I'm lucky to be part of a racing team that have love for the old school supras and fc's.

I for one am a complete noob to the rotary scene but I have loved the look and sound of the rotary since I was 15. (I'm 22 now) and finally an opportunity arose to pick up one of these iconic cars for myself even though it's seen better days. I plan to rebuild it back to the way it should be.

 

I wouldn't say it's dead, most Friday nights this is the average turn out it seems for my area.
Just depends on your area I guess, this is off Woodward MI though, car capitol it seems.

 

perhaps not dead but in general people have daily drivers now and older cars are turning into weekend warriors instead of dailies. i still sell lots of fc parts even though they are mainly garage kept now.

i just drove 4000 miles all over the country this week and in total i saw very very few cars on the road from the 80's and even the 90's. years back you would see many more older cars, now there is much fewer of any cars on the road and the cars themself are newer and more efficient ones, 7's just get garaged more often than years ago.

i even saw a 88 turd brown SE sitting by the side of the highway just south of iowa on 61 in bowling green(in case anyone near there cares), which had a for sale sign and enough dust on it to tell me it had been there for about 3-5 years. i didn't even stop to look, because even at under $3 a gallon it wasn't worth towing it 1000 miles. i didn't even see an RX8 on the whole trip, the dusty 7 for sale was the only thing rotary powered near the road.

funny i did see a few corvette clubs rolling down the roads though.