Hilarious. I'm doing the opposite going from BB to a color similar to MB. I wish there was a nice, non faded MB around I could compare it to in real life to see the difference. Hard to tell from pictures. Here is what it looks like, Petrolix Blue from Range Rover.

https://m.facebook.com/WildeLandRover/videos/1527998300730735/
Yeah. The days of a nice $6k paint job are long gone...

 

That does look like MB but with less green in the sunlight

 

What about Goodfella's car. See recent post.

 

That's a very clean VR, good to see all these clean VR popping up more now. I used get question if the car is for sale, but that was a few years ago, not so much lately.

 

Watch the less favor color in the past become the most desire down the road lol.

 

Wow that's a bummer! Crazy your car didn't sell and even more of a bs excuse from bat if you asked me. I seriously believe that there's been a true degredation of the car culture who used to fully understand and appreciate what 'JDM' tuner culture actually is. I love Japanese cars because the way the Japanese build and exhibit them. Back when, I literally purchased every single time attack video I could get my hands on at the Mistuwa market video store in San Jose.

I later built a genuine RZ conversion for my '94 CW mid 2000's and I thought it was an 'original' and 'cool' thing to do to a usdm vehicle. Fast forward 10 years and now it is literally the most BASIC thing a FD owner can do nowadays. They're everywhere and it's nothing special imo (I'd personally much rather see the stock bumper still in place of a 93-95 instead) and don't even get me started on the replica parts.

As I've said many times before, your FEED build is easily within the North American top 5 in my book. Hands down. Look at other 'extreme' North American builds and their attention to detail, etc is severely lacking imo. Call it 'taste', call it 'style' or whatever you prefer but there is clearly a big difference in how JDM tuners build their cars vs others. Those are the vehicles which inspired the generations to come. Those are the vehicles which I admire and desire to own.

I'm confident the right buyer will come along. Another member sold his monstrosity of a 4rotor build for some serious coin (no offense, your 3rotor build was spot on imo) and I don't see why this vehicle shouldn't command serious attention in its' own right.

Best of luck! I'm rooting for you

 

Yeah. I really like montego a lot more than I used to. I could never own a VR or CYM though. We'll maybe a CYM, but I wouldn't want to be caught driving it so would just let it sit in the garage and gain more value haha.

 

I was more specific on color 10 years ago when I first shop for an FD, right now I’m pretty much good with any color haha. VR and MB were on my least favor list, until I saw a low mile original paint MB in person, and now owning a low mile original paint VR, I think well care original paint FD in any color is hard to beat.

 

Whats a nice FD worth these days? Should we change the thread title?

 

I'm (still) looking for a stockish VR FD and am expecting to pay around $45k for a nice one... maybe a bit higher than typical market price (at least anywhere other than Bring A Trailer), but that's fine.

 

The thread title should never change imo

 

Agreed.

 

Also agree ,,,unless Fritz wants update with 35K instead of 25K

 

The thread also has a lot of conversations from the time it was made. Maybe someone will want to read it from end to end a decade or two from now.

Today it is quite easy to sell an FD for 25K—that’s for sure! If anything we’d change “difficult” to “easy” haha

 

I'm still trying to figure out the definition of a "nice FD".

 

It's like pornography, hard to define but you know it when you see it

 

Two current (2020) reference points...both turn key cars
1. 94 Touring PEP 5spd one owner, all original TN car....60K miles
Exterior....MB paint near flawless, no dings, no rust with perfect trim
Interior.....Black with tan carpet & seats, all flawless
Engine/drive train...All original, comp Front 99/100/101 , Rear 101/97100 ran perfectly
Offered for $35K sold for a little less

2. 93 R1 one owner FLA car.....126K miles
Exterior...VR quality repaint flawless, no dings, no rust.... very good trim
Interior.....Black near flawless
Engine/drivetrain....Fresh Pettit OTS engine...original died at 125K miles...comp Front 107/109/103 Rear 118/116/112 ran perfectly
Offered for $35K sold for a little less

One owner cars= best way to get'em but hard to find

 

Was the 2nd one stock? If it is I wonder why they just didn't get a crated motor.
Just curious as to how some of the lightly modified ones are doing.... I am kind of curious as to why so many like 100% stock. I get the collectors thing, but how many "collectors " are out there looking for stock FDs?

 

I'd guess both of these would do $8-$10k more this year

 

Nearly all of them.

 

Yes the R1 had a Pettit stock OTS motor. ( OTS=off the shelf )...previous owner had all his work done by Pettit , he lived in the area......I am a fan of the Mazda crate motor for a stock rebuild but not everyone agrees.
Can't speak for others but 100% stock to me usually means no molestation.

 

Depends on how you plan to use the car, but for me it means clean title, no accidents or rust, and stock or light modifications.

 

it needs to be a nice car! its fairly easy with the FD, Mazda built them all the same, even down to which direction the hose clamps face, so if its not right its not right

for the body, ideally it should be original and perfect. i look at the undercoating, it goes all the way around, and the factory line is very crisp. Mazda put stickers over the body alignment holes, and these get painted with the car, so they need to be there, 93-94 are oval, and 95 is square. the rear quarter panel to rocker welds are kind of obvious, and if work has been done it usually covers these up. there was a sticker under the license rear plate, and if that is there that is good. Mazda painted the shell bare, so no overspray.

interior, is the hardest part. a little wear is ok on the stuff you touch, seat, shift ****, etc, but other than that it needs to be clean and everything should be there and not broken.

under the hood is pretty easy, the hose clamps are supposed to go specific directions so they don't hit the hood liner, and if they aren't you're looking fro more sloppy workmanship. if its going to get driven you actually want all of the updated parts, like the metal gaskets and things like that.

 

I had a thought on the current hot pricing in the collector market. People spent the last 16-18 months doing pretty much nothing. For those who did not lose their jobs, many of those may not have spent much over the Pandemic Period. They may have a lot of cash they wouldn't have had if they had been out at restaurants and ball games and vacations and flying and whatever. Now that the country has opened up, maybe some of that saved money is going into buying a fun car for the summer?

 

Yup, average middle class wealth increase 25% over the pandemic period. People spend less because they aren't going out, student aren't repaying their loans, plus all that working from home is saving people a ton of money, like gas/toll/car maintenance/babysitting etc. This is what is driving all the crazy housing and car market, it will also bump the economic a little as people are rushing back to the normal this summer with things opening up, airline booking has be up 2-3x. When these extra saving are spent, unemployment checks run out, no more stimulus and people are going back to work which will increase their regular expenses, the reality will set in and we'll truly know the economic damage of the pandemic.