I've noticed from the two FCs that I've owned ('88 SE and '86 GXL parts car) that some had emblems on the back, and some just had decals, while other pictures I see online suggest some had one of each. Is there any reason for this? I'm sending my car in for paintwork and I'm contemplating having the badge holes filled, and replacing them with decals - specifically a "SAVANNA RX-7" decal on the left. I'm just curious if there's any rhyme or reason for some cars having badges and some not.

 

for some obscure reason the badging varies by region and year.

in the US we had:

1986, both are stickers.
1987, the MAZDA becomes a badge, and the Rx7 stays a sticker.
1988+ they are both badges.

in Japan, they had stickers the whole time, the car was sold as a savanna though, so it says savanna Rx7 instead of Mazda Rx7.

 

That's pretty interesting, thank you! I always wondered about that. I think I'm going to have the holes filled when I have the spoiler fitted & the tail panel modified for S5 taillights, and go for the Savanna decal.

 

its cleaner, the Badges are HUGE

 

Agreed, it also says "Mazda" TWICE on the tail panel on US-spec cars.

 

Huh? MY vert is an S5 and it has the badges. It only says "Mazda RX7".

 

Left badge says "Mazda RX-7," right badge is the MAZDA logo.

 

There's a small "Mazda" script on the left side RX-7 badge. So there is a redundancy in repeating Mazda twice. That said, I've owned the car 17 years and I'd never noticed or cared until now - and I prefer the raised relief of the badges (and the Mazda molded into the urethane on the nose of the car). Unlike the badges, getting new stickers should be possible, however.

 

Great looking car, Greg! Thanks for sharing. Are you running BBS RZ vert wheels?

 

Thanks. I do have the BBS vert wheels, although I'm not currently using them, as I've moved to STS class for autocross, and the options for competitive tires in a 15" size are severely limited. The BBS rims are narrower than ideal (I'm allowed up to a 225 width tire, on a rim width up to 7.5"), but they are so light that the car feels both more agile and more powerful, thanks to the lower unsprung weight and lower rotational inertia - the 16" Enkei's I am currently running weigh about 6lb more per corner, which is quite noticeable.

 

My car originally had stickers. Found a set of plastic badges at the wrecking yard. Ground off the pins, and adhered them with CAREFULLY trimmed 3M double sided foam tape. So much better. Also reversed them, so instead of saying "RX-7" "Mazda" they say "Mazda" "RX-7".

 

in Japan it says Savanna Rx7 and Mazda, so as usual something got lost in transration. sort of like the ill fated USDM GT model

 

My 86 has an RX-7 sticker and a Mazda emblem.

 

I wouldnt go out of my way to put savanna onthe back of the car. 99.9% of the time people wont know what it means .... Unless you have a geniune RHD import its silly.

Just my opinion but do what makes you happy

 

True, but then again, isn't insider cred the whole point?

 

the lady at the DMV went out to look at the car and fill out a form, and didn't know what kind of car it was, even though it says MAZDA in giant letters all over it.

so 99.9% of the time nobody will know what a Savanna is, but there is also some percentage who don't know what a Mazda is.

 

Agreed.

 

considering a grown man at a gas station asked me if it was a Corvette I would say so lol

I used to bust the G8 guys up a bit when they would put the holden emblems on their pontiacs- no one here knows what it is and you just look like you have a stupid looking lion on your car lol

 

I've been asked if my FC was a Ferrari.
Worse, I'm sure I read something just in the last few days where someone was asked if their FD was a Mustang.