gear_grinder

iTrader: (4)

LS1s are not smoother and lighter, their iron munger designed basteridized **** boxes made as cheaply as possible.

i've seen my fair share of **** out LS1s, from sleeve shift to dropping valve seats, to things such as lifter bore tollerances so far out you cant get the thing not to sound like a sewing machine when you open the hood.

LS1s do not use less fuel lol

I hope your not buying an rx7 for the ability to meet emissions, and if you have half an idea on how emissions testing works (IE sniffer) you can easily cheat it out to make your car seem like its producing almost no NOx, CO, or HCs

mustangs are not nearly as popular as rx7s nor the FC chassis in japan, so its a global region thing and mx5 is way underpowerd and much less practical then an FC chassis rx7. i have transported full exhaust systems in the back of my FC and bicycles as well with out a problem. most Japanese sports cars of the 80s and 90s were engineered with some practicality because the engineers realized that if someone purchased this car it was going to be their ONLY car. so they needed to added a measure of practicality to make it more appealing to the mass markets.

i negate your statement and find it invalid sir

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

my rotary is lighter than an aluminum block LS engine, gets only maybe 2mpg less, is as reliable if not moreso at about the same hp level(not torque obviously). it passes emissions testing every year just fine and revs happily much higher than a standard LS engine without stressing components shortening engine life dramatically.

for those who are going to argue 8 cylinder swaps, you should learn what the **** you're talking about first. it's not everyone elses fault that you couldn't slap some parts onto a rotary and make it work without blowing up a motor or 2, give up, get your shirt wet with tears and swap to a larger displacement naturally aspirated engine.

god damn, i'm tired of saying that.

rotor_veux

iTrader: (3)

Me soo confused.... It's starts off wondering how someones FC would keep it's value to how it compares to a V8?

Too keep this on track, I believe as long as they can't produce any newer vehicles like they used too, this body shape and sound cannot be re-done.

I think the influence of TV and Anime will help hold it, and for some bring the value up.
Only thing stopping that from happening is the "green" people.

beefhole

iTrader: (29)

oh not again... the **** talkers on both sides of the mighty 13B and the pathetic LS1!

the FC is cheap thrills and nothing more.

MaczPayne

iTrader: (5)

Rotary vs v8 is old old news. An argument about taste will never end.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

it gives me something to get motivated in the mornings, and to smoke out the other shops with fuel and oil smoke.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

i've been playing with these cars since the early 90's and i just don't see the FC prices going up that much. they will go up as supply dwindles, but if you're expecting to retire by selling your FC in a couple of years you might wish to reconsider.

because the FC slots between the SA, which is the coolest car you could buy from 1978 to 2013, when the new Rx comes out, and the FD which is the top of the 90's japanese supercar heap (ha!), there aren't a lot of people looking to collect FC's.

when initial D became popular it did bring in a lot of non FC people, and it did spike the price of S5 t2's to the 10k level, but since then prices have come back down to what they have been since the late 90's.

GregW

I could have bought a 1969 comaro for like $600 when I was in highschool, Also had a shot at a very nice cuda. If I had got both of them and at a minimum put them up on blocks I would have made a killing over time. Those days they were nothing special.

In the late 60's my dad bought a Model A for $50 and a few beers at the bar, that car is now worth 20k. There was a 48 Lincoln he paid $400 for and got 18k for, 58 Edsel my mom took my brothers and sisters to school in that he paid $100 for ended up selling for 15k.

Over lots of time cars will go up in value, even ugly ones. As far as my 7 is concerned I wont be arround to see what it sells for cuz I will be dead. Ive got so much time into it its not worth selling to me.

There was a time I worried about what it was worth, now I just take it to events and give it a good rub down twice a year. Its always gonna be an oddball that will be worth between 5-10k

Its not an investment, its a hobby.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

even old american classics have to be 100% original and fully restored to get any value out of them. i sold my '69 camino with a built 383 stroker about 10 years ago and only managed to get $3000 for it. guess how much the blueprinted engine cost to build? yep, more than i got for the car. in the end i lost about $7k on that investment, but it was a fun torque monster.

was definitely easier to stick some meat under that car though, even the 305's wouldn't grip worth a damn under that 4k lb boat. but i do miss the old ratchet shifter turbo 350 with shift kit getting the locker 12 bolt diff sideways every gear.

JerryLH3

iTrader: (11)

There's going to be a few factors at work in determining FC value five years from now.

First, I see a lot of current FC owners try to do things as cheap as possible. There are some beat to hell RX-7s out there. There really aren't many clean versions of FCs still out there.

Value and collectability are going to go hand in hand. If the car isn't collectible, it's not going to have any value. If the FC was/is going to become collectible, it should be happening right now. Usually, people collect the things they wanted when they were young and couldn't afford them. People who wanted FCs when they were younger should be able to afford them now. Maybe it's just going to take a little longer.

One thing working against FCs, and all RX-7s, is the lack of aftermarket parts made to replicate OEM parts. There's virtually nothing out there. The OEM part supply is already drying up from Mazda and there needs to be pieces to repair all the beat up FCs.

I think ultimate FC value won't be realized for another 10 years or so. Over the next five years, I would say value will go up slightly.

reo

iTrader: (4)

Did not mean to stir up a hornets nest, just was trying to be realistic. As a driving investment- plan on it loosing value over time, but they are quite fun to drive, and well made for the times. I have owned 6 fcs all na as drivers, flipped one and walked away, very well made, would buy another in excellent cond, at the right price to drive, Have a super 7 with a 13b and just picked up a turbo engine for it (have 4 more in the shop) considered a ls swap but the little bit of weight advantage and ability to stay in one gear longer and the compact size made the rotary the best choice. My opinion is that you can own anyone of the series, drive for 10 years, enjoy the driving and likely loose less than any other car that you could risk on the street. It will go cross country in comfort at around 25mpg and gas beats payments every time.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

the SA, GSL-SE, 10th anny and FD are about the only collectible versions made of the 7 due to rarity. they also offered premieres in each market, the SA was the original 7, the GSL-SE had the first fuel injected 13B in a light chassis, the 10th anniversary had many luxuries no other rotary has ever had and the FD has rarity, style and the most factory horsepower of any rotary engine to date.

some might argue that the GTUs models were as well. even though they were low production they only hold collection value to those looking for a stripped down race model non turbo. in all honesty there is no "valuable" naturally aspirated 2nd gen, no one really desires them that badly.

not a word on the $800 vert sitting here with new $2k paint either. don't hold your breath on the value creeping up anytime soon. only the models i listed will creep slightly faster than the others. if all these cars were rare from the get go it would be a different story, but there was HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of these models produced. i have even gotten a few for free.

Rotank

iTrader: (2)

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

i agree. the non-FD people shouldn't be looking at muscle car prices, but maybe MGB prices, Mazda made a LOT of Rx7's. i think the Rx7 was the car that knocked the MGB from 'best selling sports car'.

MGB prices have been going up steadily, but you can still buy a decent car for $5k

the big reason muscle car prices are high right now is because there is a huge supply of cars, and the people who wanted them when they were new have the money to buy them now. once these guys retire/die off prices will drop.

the same thing happened with pre WWII cars, they used to be really expensive, but the people that wanted those cars are dead...

charlos

I don't see the prices going up drastically. Ever.

Although I am fascinated on the people that sell their FC.

When I was shopping for a FC I wanted to spend less than 2grand.
Looking through craigslist irritated me because people would price their shitboxes way out of their value. $3,000obo it has a sick USDM tight tow hook & hid's, 175k on the motor, needs new paint. No lowballers please. Huhr huhr huhr huhr

But it's not as bad as looking for Shit40's. Blown tranny, 200k on motor, 3,000 firm. Jesus, not sure why anyone would pay that much for a Shit40. All their good for is wrapping themselves around trees.

reo

iTrader: (4)

yes and being on the short list for being dead is a little hard to take. Just cannot see the current crop of 18 year old building a tee roadster. Or a 65 Mustang for that matter.

TyCity

iTrader: (1)

the Fd has rarity hahaha! that car had an 11 year run

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

it had a 3 year run in the united states, and you cannot legally import them into the united states complete.

durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

less than 30k total imported, the FC has sold multiples of that in single year figures. i believe last time checked there was less than 5k total FDs registered in the united states TOTAL.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

Mazda sold 13,500 FD's in the US, between 1992-1998* this is about the slowest selling Rx-anything Mazda has ever built. Mazda sold 19,299 Rx7's in 1978...

*FD production started 12/28/1991 and ended 12/95, and there were plenty in dealer stock until 1997-98.

TyCity

iTrader: (1)

.

airman90

iTrader: (2)

I've never had a miata but even a good looking miata is not appealing to my eyes and i wouldn't pay a cent for one.

I was browsing here and on the local craiglist website and the prices for fc's are just CRAZY. shells are being sold for a 1000. are you serious?

wankelgrandfather

iTrader: (2)

It really makes me laugh... In the states you have a lot of these cars, and a big part of the country have no winter, so it is still easy to find a "clean example". I mean a car that is not rusted like hell. Almost all the cars that we have here are rusted out and are pieces of junk. As it is really hard to find a clean example, the prices never went down. A friend of mine bought his 10 years back and sold it thinking that the prices would go down intensely, but a decade after, the guys selling them are asking about the same price, and they are selling them! He bought his back then for 7000,00$...

A clean FC TII, with no rust is still 7000$ over here. And still at that price tag it's not easy to find one with no rust at all.

jerd_hambone

It's all in the supply and demand. FC's here are generally in good supply and small demand. And there are more than a few rough as hell FC's here. Most of them have been ragged out because people don't take care of anything here.

cdumitru

I think those of us that have low mileage cars plan to hang on to them for quite a while. I have an immaculate '87 T2 in black with 24k on the clock, and I hardly drive it. I would be hard pressed to let go of it for some of the low figures that people are mentioning on these forums, so I would rather keep it and look at it in the garage... as far as price in 5 years, you would hope that immaculate clean stock models will keep going up, it seems to be hard to find ANY clean original Japanese car from the 80's.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

somewhat, mythbusters did show that you can polish a turd after all.

most of the cars usually have **** paint and broken trim pieces and primered wheels, all of which is 100% reversible. fixing rust is about the toughest thing you can imagine.