boostin13b

I do not think the OP knew what the Efini history was and was thinking it was something special and sought after, possibly a higher end RX7. That is my assumption of him asking if it was "the real deal" as far as the Efini goes since he was asking if they were real badges.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

+1 to that! i have learned recently that the build date in the parts catalog is the date the car was scheduled to be built.
usually Mazda runs on time, so scheduled date and actual date agree.

we learned this during the pandemic, the schedule kind of went out the window...

pzr2

iTrader: (3)

I had no idea Mazda kept detailed enough records of build dates down to the day.... So if I was a complete ******** and wanted to track down a car that had the exact same build date as my birthday, it would theoretically be possible?

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

yep, shoot me a pm. depending on what model year YOU are it might be easy or hard. 1985 they made 300+ Rx7's a day, 1995 its like 3

pzr2

iTrader: (3)

LOL, I can already tell this is going to be comedically bad. You'll see why soon

Neo

iTrader: (4)

You sir have a PM..

KYPREO

Well I just learned something new, but I suspected this was the case. The chassis number and build dates are not aligned. For example, the last 10 RX-7s made go like this:FD3S-607304 26/08/2002

FD3S-607305 24/08/2002

FD3S-607306 26/08/2002

FD3S-607307 24/08/2002

FD3S-607308 26/08/2002

FD3S-607309 24/08/2002

FD3S-607310 24/08/2002

FD3S-607311 26/08/2002

FD3S-607312 24/08/2002

FD3S-607313 26/08/2002
So which is the actual order, the chassis number or the build date?

Each Spirit R has an individually numbered build plate, but they are not in any way sequential. Mine is the 66th last by chassis number but numbered 1414 out of 1500. The Spirit R with VIN 8 cars lower than mine and same build date is number 1453 out of 1500.

JiteshTII

iTrader: (6)

Im guessing the ones built on one day are all the same models (so 607312 looks to be a Type R Bathurst) in blue so they built them all on the same day (type R bathurst). And the ones on the 26/8 are all Spirit R? That would make sense that they were designated their VINs first but similar models built on the same day. If that makes sense.

Maybe the number designation on the Spirit R is to do with the colour as well as the Type? Ie the numbers were pre determined by their colour and type and then it wasn’t too relevant when it rolled off the production line?

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

they don't seem to come out of the factory in strict number order, you can check any run you like and its not 100% in order, although they are usually close.
the 1995 US cars do that too, the last one 400530 was built December 22 1995, but the last one out the door was 400526, which was built 12/25/1995

not sure why, i kind of wonder if they maybe batch the paint (you also need to keep in mind that the FD would have shared the production line with up to 6 other cars)
so between the FD's there would have been a mess of other 323/626/929's

KYPREO

Scheduling production based colour and spec level absolutely seems to be the case. The RX-7s produced on the last day were all Type As in Titanium Grey Metallic. Cars with different colour and spec levels were produced the day before. I have found similar trends.

The Spirit R numbering has no trends I could observe. It looks completely random. But then again, I have only verified around 450 out of 1500 Spirit R numbers against the corresponding VIN (still a pretty good effort since I've needed to do this by collecting japanese auction and other online sales data over a period of 10 years).

I think what occurred is that Mazda had a pile of spirit R plates, then selected from the pile and riveted them to the firewall at some point post-production. This was not a daily basis either, because the numbering is not sequential even for the same day of production. There could have been 30 or so Spirit Rs made in a day but cars from the following day's production got a lower number than the lowest of the previous's day for example.

When the Spirit R was first announced, they had planned to do equal numbers of Type A, Type B and Type C. I have a copy of an early promo print with this information. They were going to do 1,000 of each, then it ended up 500 of each. This is not what ended up happening which was kind of predictable since demand for autos would have been very low.

Numbers ended up Type A: 1044 / Type B: 420 / Type C: 40. I did an analysis once of the production numbers over time and they started out making 50% Type A and 50% Type B/C (45% / 5% ). By the third month of production, 75% were Type A. They also increased the number of Titanium ones being made - by the last month 53% were in Titanium. It was clear therefore that production was being altered to match sales demand and orders from the dealerships.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

the neat part is that Mazda hasn't changed the process at all since at least the 80's. and they recently did the 30th anniversary miata, which was 3000/3001 cars (one fell off the truck, and they made another, and then fixed it and sold it)
the cool part is that it has its own vin series (at least in the US), so we have the vin series, and some of the badge numbers, and as you've discovered they are not related. they ascend in number with the cars generally, car 400025 is 066/3000, and 400736 is 2754/3000 but that is about all you can say. i picture a guy sitting on a folding chair at the factory door, and he's got the badges, but in like boxes of 20 or something.

this is interesting to me, they clearly plan ahead. for example they know they want to make ~11,000 Mx5's for North America in 2024, and they seem to want them to start getting here in the spring, but did they plan the whole model run with all of the options? or is it like 11,000 Mx5's and then options are kind of picked later.

the fun Rx7 example is the Rx7, they planned to make something like 3000 a month for the US and 5000 a month for Japan, but it was such a surprise hit in the US, they end up with ~6000 cars a month here, and Japan gets much fewer
so if we had records that far back, it would be a chaos

billyboy

So, back to subject, did the OP buy it, ha? https://www.lloydsonline.com.au/LotD...97&lid=4703496 Unlike some other auctions, price achieved isn't shown.

KYPREO

lol. Sorry wasn't following this one and didn't see the final price. Would be interesting. The last few Lloyds ones I watched didn't get nearly as much traction as other platforms.

Neo

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for posting the link.
After looking at some of the pics, it looks like that’s a real r-spec front and rear bumper. I’m not sure why they opted out of the side skirts since thatlll allow all the lines to flow uniformly. This being said, I was never keen on that rear bumper. If you’re going to go with that rear though, you might as well get the side skirts.
Otherwise, it’s got a few things that are over kill. Especially since it’s still very much a stock engine FD. I was expecting at least a single turbo with all the gauges they have in the vehicle.

Hopefully it found a decent home.

billyboy

Not that it would be likely to ended up there, a couple of days to go it was 18k, plus buyers rip and gst.

Used to be, you could only bring in a single if a personal import (lived in country >12 months), otherwise all stock on emissions, etc. Not sure that's still the case, before you couldn't bring in accident damaged cars for compliance either.....and they seem to be not uncommon now.

Dooleys24!

We did end up buying it. Gone to a good home with my BIL

Appreciate all the replies and information, great to learn new things esp from people with a similar passion.