2ndGen.rocket

Hey, I was just wondering what kind of stories were out there about how you guys acquired your cars. Mine is kind of queer, but I'll tell it anyways. These were my favorite cars ever since I was like 12, and I got a job when I was like 13 so I could save up and buy one. When I turned 16 and got my liscense, I couldn't find one anywhere, nothing that was in good shape at least. So one night my dad comes home from work driving what is now my car. I was like holy ****, where did you find that? So my dad tells me that it is a tester car that his company used to test a new drivetrain (he works for Borg-Warner). So I asked if they would let me buy it, and he said no because it was a J-Spec and it wasn't street legal here. He said it had to be sent back to Japan tomorrow he just brought it here for me to drive it. I was really pissed because I fell in love with the thing. I was obviously really stupid because I didn't even ask why Borg-Warner would want an 86 J-Spec GXL to test a new tranny on. But anyways, he brings it back, and it turns out it was one of his friends that owned it, and the guy was looking to sell it cause he just had a kid. My dad just wanted to make sure I liked it before hand. So he told me the next day and I went for a ride with him and bought my baby for $4000 cash. Thing only had 60,000 miles on it when I got it, no rust or anything, no winters, kept in a heated garage, so yeah it was a pretty good deal.
So there is my story.

Hey one more thing, have any of you N/A guys out there ever had any major problems with your cars?? I have had mine for 5 years now, and put about 45,000 miles on it, and the only thing I have had to repair was put in a new clutch and driveshaft, and replace a couple calipers. Everything else I have done has been either aftermarket mods, or just regular maintenance. I was just wondering if anyone out there has ever had any major problems, I have just been really impressed with my car so far. The damn thing is 16 years old and nothing has ever gone wrong with it other than just regular ****.

ponykiller

Well, my story is much simpler. My father bought a beautiful brand new '91 convertible RX7 in (guess when!) 1991. It is white with blue interior and is the prettiest car I have seen. When I turned 15 and got my restricted driver's license, it became my car and I have had it ever since (I am now 17). Imagine that, my first car was/is a 91 convertible RX7.

Kris

ponykiller

And like you said about yours - no problems, just maintanance.

2ndGen.rocket

yeah im glad my first car was a 7. At least I know what I am gonna drive for the rest of my life. When I get out of college next year and I get a damn job, my first investment is going to be a nice FD, and Im going to mod the **** out of it. Then I can walk out to my driveway when im 22-23 and actually have to decide which Rx-7 I want to drive today. That's heaven for me

rico05

Well, I drove by a car dealership one Sunday afternoon and a little red car caught the corner of my eye. I hit the brakes, and pulled in. I walked all around the car for about 30 minutes and I swore I would own it. The very next day, a Blaze Red 1991 Coupe w/ 92K miles was mine. The only problems: broken inside door handles and it needed a new clutch. I think $4k was a little steep, but I love that car.

LLADNAR

i bought mine off of ebay(regret it in some ways) i live in KS and it was in AL so i aquired a trailer and a truck and headed off on what was the longest day of my life. we leave town 6:30pm and make it to Birmingham AL by 9:00 the next morning

i see the car and as usual with buying site unseen the owner has,,,lets say imbeleshed(sp) the truth,,the worst side of the car, not featured in photos mangled floor that almost prevents sitting in the car,,not mentioned and when asked about it,,"uh i didn'e even know about that". Next up he is a pisspoor mechanic that doesn't know how to bleed brakes so when we back the car down his 45 degree 100 foot long drive it naturally pics up a little speed,,and oh yeah the park brake doesn't work either. well it makes it to the trailer without injury. we load her and leave. we make it back home by 11:30 pm that same night.

so in summation two lessons are learned,,don't buy a car from Alabama from a redneck on ebay.
and 2 try to avoid spending a strait 30 hours in the cab of an f250 single cab with 3 people stuffed in it.

so was that story interesting enough

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

i saved my t2 from going to the junkyard. the p.o. ran it out of oil on the freeway, and she didnt have the $$ to fix it, she was still making payments on it. $200 later it was mine, and then the hard part started....

mike
20b fc

SLOWT2

i had wanted an 7 for a long time and i had found one in northern maine which is a 4 hour drive from my house. but i was talking with a freind and he told me one was for sale down the road, so after work one day i drove to the impound yard it was at, it was parked behind 5 other cars and the guy said that he would take 750 bucks for it the only things wrong with it was it had a funny idle and the PD need to be replaced. so thats how i came acrosed my 1987 TII coupe with 74,000k for only $750

Rx7Roadster

iTrader: (1)

I fell in love with Rx7s the minute I saw my neighbor's red FD. From that moment on I knew that was the car I wanted. I did lots of research on it and found that a FC was best for my first car. When it came time for me to get a car I scoured the papers and internet classifieds for my car. Since I was little my father always told me he would by my first car if I continued to stay active in school and get good grades. I held up my part of the bargain so he held up his, with one stipulation, no turbo. When it came time to look I found just what I wanted a mint vert. When I bought it there were only 50,000 miles on it. From the very first day we brought it home I have had a smile on my face that hasnt gone away since.

--Mike

2ndGen.rocket

interesting stories, keep em comin!

oh and LLADNAR- sorry to hear about the ebay deal. I know exactly what you are talking about. My dad is in the market for a new truck, a new Toyota Tacoma actually. Well a few weeks ago he found one in Texas, mint condition, 19,000 miles, selling for like $14,000. It had every single option he wanted so he places the winning bid. He sends me down to Texas to drive it back (we live in upstate NY), and when I get there, the thing is a piece of ****. Looks like bullet holes in one side of it. I told the guy he was insane if he thought I was gonna drive this thing back cause i wasnt gonna let my father get screwed. So i just left from there, what a pain in the ***. I wish people would just be honest about stuff like that, what are they thinking having someone come that far to pick something up that they pretty much lied about? I dont know if the guy was expecting me to not notice or be happy, I have no clue. I gave him a piece of my mind though

fc_kid

I was saving up to buy a 240sx this summer.... But my friends were at a Porsche dealer and saw a white 1990 GXL NA, ~100k miles for $1500. They let me know about it and I picked it up the next week. I'm still in shock. My parents and brother own camrys and they were gonna hand his down to me.

SmokingClutch

The boyfriend of a woman who my dad works with (whose two children also went to high school with me) had for as long as I had known him a 1994 R2 and a 1988 GTU. I told him when I first met him (when I was 15 - but I was hooked on RX-7s since I was little) if he ever wanted to sell one of them to let me know.

Well that was six years ago, but a few weeks back my dad tells me that he wants to sell the car and he'll give me right of first refusal.

Four days and $1700 later I have a 1988 GTU with 138,000 miles.

It's got some loose bits, the factory "bodykit" made of black rubber bits is falling off, the factory stereo is in a cardboard box in the back, the warning light panel didn't work, it needs new shifter bushings and the tranny could use a rebuild. Nothing too serious. I fixed the warning lights by resoldering the light cluster and the CPU. The Logicon is next (it works but the lights in it do not).

Turbo Timmy

J-Spec GXL? Sorry, all J-specs were turbo...

UniqueTII

I read about them in SCC's top ten cars under ten grand and decided I wanted one, so I looked at www.autotrader.com and found two, a 91 in VA and my 87 in OH. I decided I wanted the modded color-changing one, which may have been a mistake, since the other one was in better shape, but I still like my car. I talked to the previous owner and sent him $200 to hold onto it for me. I went to test drive it with $4000 and went back a short while later with the rest of the money and took it home...a 5 1/2 hour drive.

jg1bad10th

My first 2nd gen was a very nice red 88 gtu.At the time I wasn't looking to buy a car but me and my girl friend was out on a sunday drive and we passed a small dealership as soon as I seen the car I know I had to have it.that monday I went to the dealership to see what the asking price on the car was and the guy didn't know what he had.It was in great shape with only 61000 miles I got the car for 5200.that was in 91.It was the 3rd rx7 that I had owned at the time. I loved that car, it ran like a bat out of hell ! 3 rx7's later and now I have my dream car which took me a few years to find which is a 10th A.E.

Wankel7

I got my '86 as my first car. Then I found the '91 TII on www.teamfc3s.org

James

j a r o d

iTrader: (2)

Well, as some f you know, I used to be a die-hard Integra fan, no other car was better. Then, while in the car with my brother driving to my grandmas house, he jsut said, "integras suck ya know, they ara rip off" so i said, "well, there is no other car I could get", (i dont like toyotas, and he had a nissan) I didnt want to copy him...lil bros dothat enough..so he said, why dont you get an fc..and i weas like whates that, and he pointed to a silver awsoem looking car across the intersection..i tell ya, thet was the coolest looking, meanest grilled ferrari i had ever seen.anyhow, a little later as we are going down the street this firey blaze thing wizzes past ( i think he wanted to race) and i go, what was ythat, and he goes, an fc..right then, i have always liked them..i dont like the gas mileage thogh, thats about it..oh yeah, and the fact that sometimes the rotary can be unstable, but im gunna give it a go. wish me luck.

(im 15)

biorotary

hmmm...the good old memories...haha
well, i was thumbing through the net looking for an investment of no less than $1000....cause that's all i had left over after getting a 328i for the wife....anyway, i was looking at various 2 seater sports coupe the fiero, corvette, and miata were on my list...but the only one in my price range was an old beat up fiero...and the was no way i was going to pay $1k for a non-running fiero...so i checked out cars.com searching for anything under $1k....and a mazda popped up...didn't know what kind it was until i called the owner at which point he said it was an rx7. the thought of owning one never even crossed my mind until i did some research on it...and found that yep...$600 for a 7 was well worth my investment...a week later (after driving 300+ miles) i finally laid eyes on the silver 7...the p.o. never mentioned it was a turbo...as soon as i heard that all i asked was...will the car make it up to my place and he said yeah...so being a novice and all...i hurried it up and sealed the deal....
so now i have a little silver t2...that's worth the whole $600 investment...

Audiofight

My friend bought a 85 GS and got me hooked on RX-7s. I was raised in the "350 is god" type of household. My dad is a mechanic of 30+ years. He was skeptical about the rotary engine when I told him about it.

Well, I drove by a car dealership one Sunday afternoon and a little red car caught the corner of my eye. I hit the brakes, and pulled in.

I had a very, very similar experience. I saw it on a sunday, test drove it with my friend on Monday and had the bank check in my hand to buy it on Friday and drove it home. Paid $2k for my RED 88 SE, too much now that I know, but I still love it to death. Specially now with new paint, tires, windshield, stereo, and floor mats.

HeavyFoot86

I had been car shopping all winter since I knew I was getting my driver's license in January. I did want a truck...a truck or muscle car, nothing else would do unless it was 350 cubic inches and had 300 ft lbs of torque. I was thinking K5 Blazer or 81 Camaro Z28 (which I would still take, if it were given to me).

Then I stumbled across my 7. actually, my friends stumbled across it, on a sunday afternoon surfing trip (without me). It looked like heck, car was faded gray, drivers side door was new charcoal gray. That immediatly ruled the car out as either of their purchases (they're not car guys and don't reallize things ARE fixable) plus my best friend said it was a 5 speed and is too retarded to learn how to drive one.

They tell me about some old RX-7 they saw at the beach for $800 dollars the next day at school. I was like hmmm...might hafta check it out, 7's are fast little cars. I was still skeptical, cuz its not a camaro. Needless to say the car was mine by Saturday....$800 cash for an 86 RX-7 with 163k miles (a little high,but still runs great) only mechanical problem so far (since January) was the starter, got that rebuilt for $32 bucks...not bad

the door is a different gray (actually the same gray, just 10 years newer) b/c the car was t-boned by a motorcycle doing like 95 mph. so the door got replaced, good as new, no chassis damage, nothin....just my awesome little 2 seater gray rocket (it already had rims that are worth about 300 a piece, I payed 800 bucks for rims, exhaust, CD player, and just happened to get a car (with the 13b rotary engine) thrown in with the deal.

if you know any cheap horsepower gains, or fuel mileage improvements, let me know....its hard to fix up a car on 6 dollars an hour thanks guys
~Chris

HeavyFoot86

and now that my friend (who cant drive a stick) sees how much fun it is driving my rocket on wheels, he's kicking himself for not buying it before I did
... poor guy now he thinks he's going to buy a '93 integra and make it faster than my X
anybody out there ever get outrun by a '93 integra??



.....didnt think so

Liquid Anarchy

iTrader: (2)

Last April I got my 2nd car, a 1989 Ford Bronco II ( I know I know ). A few weeks later, my mothers friends Perky and Bob, bought a "Little Import" to tow behind their winnabego (sp). It had a problem with the ECU, so they brought it to my stepdad, and I finally saw the Black, 89 GTU. Right then, I decided I wanted that car.

Then, last halloween I wrecked my Bronco II, and was in search for a new car, and I had $4400 to spend... well a lot of that got taken, so I had little to work with. Then, my mom tells me that Perky and Bob sold their winnie; so I ask her "What about the RX-7?" and she said it was just sitting ( yes sitting ) in their side yard, and hadn't moved for almost 6 months... they never used it after they drove it to my house.

Less than a week later, it was sitting in my driveway. Then less than a week after that, the effects of sitting for a few months caught up with it... HOWEVER coming soon... Streetported 13B, w/ other goodies

ZenFox

Well, my story is a bit blander, but I'll work on making it as colorful as possible. :)

About... a month ago, I was in the market for a new car. My disgust for the transit systems in my home town, and the inconvience of spending more than 1-2 hours a day on the bus were taking it's toll and I decided to go gets me a car. I had owned a 1991 Mazda Protege before I umm.. 'decommissioned' it, and had great respect for Mazdas as a whole not only as the 'under-dog' of the japanese car market, but also because my protege saved me from a whole lotta pain (when it was 'decommissioned' I walked out with a slight bruise that appeared 2 days later). I still miss her, and hold nothing but respect for the car... but I wanted something with a little more perk, a little more spirit.

To make a long story short on how I decided to investigate the RX-7, I narrowed it down between a RX-7 and a Supra. I dismissed domestics completely, as I did not want a joe six-pack redneckmobile. That was completely repulsive to me, as was the idea of a riced honda. I have had a a decent amount of time behind the wheel of my friends 1989 Supra Turbo, but while I felt it was a great car for him (he's huge), it was too much of a tank for me. Plus the gas pedal feels like there is only on and off, with nothing inbetween and I didn't want to bite on his styles. :) So, I looked into the RX-7. I fell in love with the FDs (who can resist!?), but it took awhile for the FCs to really grow on me. :)

The first one I found was.... not so hot. It had some issues (wildly fluctuating idle, it would nearly DIE if you turned on the A/C and then turned it off, etc). But I was persistent. I looked in the local paper and found one listed for $5k, a little more than what I wanted to spend, but might as well investigate. I called the guy and arranged to meet in the SouthCenter Parking lot to give it a little looksie, since it was inbetween both of our houses.

So there I sat on a fairly cold and grey day in da family boat (1987 Volvo 240GL), listening to the car guys talk about a mystery problem with some guys AWD, and I see it: A dark blue car gracefully cuts down the turns and heads right to me. Blam. There was my next car. I fell in love with it instantly. 1 week later, it's mine purchased from the original owner with 87k miles. (whoo!)

I'm still adjusting to some of the quirks of the car, but everyday that passes is one that I grow fonder of my RX-7. :) Everyday seems to be just one more excuse to go our and drive somewhere. :) That's my story in progress, and I'm sticking to it. :) And now all my friends are jealous of my redline. ^_^ Hehehehehe.

-ZenFox

Boost Lee

iTrader: (3)

Ok, the people I associate myself (friday - sunday evenings) all have some pretty high powered cars. One owns a 300ZXTT another owns an audi S4, another owns a 3000GT VR-4, there is a 300zx N/A, and 300ZX single Turbo, a supercharged mercedes, a supercharged VW jetta, '91 240sx -> silvia conversion, Talon Tsi.... on and on. I at the time owned a 1986 300zx N/A. My friends would have fun with me by establishing a location to hang out for the night and proceed to drive at pretty high speeds to the location. Unfortunately, I could not keep up and typically arrived about 5 minutes later.

Anyhow, one day I was just heading over to talk to my Z mechanic to see what i could do for power in my car. As i drove by his lot i noticed that there was a white turbo FC among two FD's. I sped up and went to talk to him. I found out he just got the car a day before from an auction and immediately offered to buy it from him. He said he wouldn't sell it to me until i found out the typical issues that these cars have and make sure that i was willing to put up with it (he held it until i made my decision). That's when i found this site. I spent 2 weeks reading posts and test driving the car occasionally (driving the car really helped me decide). So i went back and we agreed on $3500. it has 160,000 miles on it and about 45k on a new motor, but he redid the interior and painted the car (at the same price) and also agreed to do the work on one engine swap once i blew the first motor (cool, huh?).

So i've blown a motor (two weeks ago) and i'm trying to find out if i should rebuild one or buy a j-spec from fc3s.org.

KenshinFC

Mine story is pretty simple. When I got my license, my mom gave me her 91 civic hatchback and I drove that car around for a year to get experience driving. After taking that car through the mountains at high speeds.. I need a faster car. A friend of mine showed me Initial D and as soon as I saw the white FC T2, I fell in love. I didn't care if it lost, so I went around on newspapers and the net. I found a blue/blue 87 T2 on yahoo for cheap. One week later, I bought the car for $2250!!! It had a newly rebuilt engine (8K miles), tokico shocks, racing beat springs, new shifter bushings, new batt, larger front and rear sway bars, front strut car, and new suspension bushings. FOR $2250!! What a steal and I was happy. The guy didn't really know too much about rotaries so I got a sweet deal.

- Kevin