I would happily cruise around in that NA goddess. The last thing on my mind would be the price tag.

~ GW

 

Is that human years or car years?


Hmm.. you passed on the clear rear markers. (thanks).

 

REDBULL asked "Is that human years or car years?"
The car only 27 years old and looks new....unlike the owner.

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1993-mazda-rx-7-153/

Another nice 93 VR/tan touring. However tons of rust on that sub frame, diff etc.... and it's been repainted so not for me unless it was a deal and at 36k it's already beyond that.

I suspect this one will sell for 5 to 10k less than the r2 even though it has 20k less miles. I like all the mods but boost could be spiking.

Compression also low.

 

The compression testing was done at 6000 feet above sea level.
The car comes from Michigan, and after a lot of time under the car it show some surface corrosion, but still better than most. "Rust Everywhere" is simply not a fair appraisal.
Ed

 

In the world of FD's that is atypical rust for the mileage.

 

Didn't say rust everywhere

I've owned 100s of FDs, that sub frame and some other things are rusty AF.

Nothing wrong with calling a spade a spade. Again this is a decent car but it's not in great shape. Repaint at 30k miles.......blah blah blah???

 

That's what's nice about an occasional oil pan leak. No rust haha.

 

Possibly previously faded red paint and noteable undercarraige rust. What other signs of long term outside storage might be evident? Before and after paint photos might aleviate concerns.

What is the best way to deal with the undercarraige surface rust?

My car seemed to have some sort of early undercoating, possibly dealer package stuff.

Rust does not seem to be an issue, but I am dailying it this winter............

A number of our local RHD could likely benefit from a paintwork respray.

My concern is that might reduce the resale value as much as improve it, if the car is otherwise largely stock.

 

Ammo NYC has been featuring dry ice blasting on some of their detailing videos. It cleans grease and dirt well, not sure about rust.

 

Treatment or prevention?

Treatment is the same as any other rusted part of the body.

In my view, the best prevention is to keep the thing garaged and out of the elements. If you take it out where there is salt, you need to thoroughly wash the underbody after you drive and before storing out. We don't have the snow issue so much in Australia but most of the population lives close to the water. People right by the sea do experience rust issues. In popular 4WDing areas, they will often have underbody spray things you can drive over and wash away salt water. One trick people have used here for many years is to coat the underbody in fish oil. You can buy it in spray cans. It protects against rust and penetrates rust into seams etc. It needs some time to cure, otherwise stuff just ends up sticking to the underbody, so it's best done during dry summer weather.

 

As usual Fritz is right>
1. Southern FD's do not have rust like this Michigan car....must have been driven at least one Winter.in the elements.
2. Altitude adjusted compression numbers are low...by my "patented" equation this is a 55K mile engine....30K mile original should be 110+

 

Why it is a surprise any more RHD FD are ending up in North America.

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/maz...y=%7EYear&pg=1

 

Pretty close to ultimate FD:

 

This is pretty much where prices are in Japan for very low km Spirit Rs - a blue one with 19,000km just sold for over 15M JPY. The competition is not only within Japan (particularly from used car dealers who snap them up and try to flip them at ridiculous markups) but also cashed up car lovers from Hong Kong, Malaysia etc.

Then to bring one into Australia, apart from transport costs, you need to pay 10% sales tax then another 33% luxury car tax on top of that and then wait however long due to COVID transport delays. That gives some sort of indication of where the pricing is coming from. Whether there is local demand at that price point remains to be seen. A few have sold at around A$130-150K range and another was advertised at $180K then put up for auction where it got a max bid of A$145K but passed in. This particular one at A$188,888 has been up for 3 months or so now. The problem at that price point is how many people who like RX-7s can actually afford it? Meanwhile, those who can afford $188K have a whole host of other cars that represent better value. In Australia, haggling for 2nd hand cars is very normal so something advertised at $188K might very well sell for $150K and you would never know. COVID has increased second hand car prices by 30% across the board in Australia as well due to no new cars being imported. Once we open up and new cars become available that 30% across the board hike might evaporate. I guess we'll see where this goes.

Good luck once the 25 year rule is triggered!

 

"Good luck once the 25 year rule is triggered!"

Please elaborate. The US 25 year rule?

It has passed for the first S7 Cars.

Have we seen S7 to the US , meet or exceed S7 to Australia?

We have a lot of RHD in Vancouver. Interested if they will raise to the differential of a container trip to Sydney.

 

A$130~150,000 is still hefty. Certainly more than the sum of the parts.

 

I was referring to US 25 year rule, but I wasn't so much thinking that North American customers will buy cars from Australia. There's no evidence buyers in Canada, for example, source cars in Australia and I don't think US buyers will. I was more thinking about how buying one from Japan will be affected due to increased competition amongst a greater pool of buyers from outside of Japan.

Also, opening up series 7 is not really comparable to when 1999> opens to US imports. The styling and performance upgrades on the s8 are specifically sought after in the US if all the OEM+ upgrades to LHD models is anything to go, plus you get the juicy special editions. There are Japanese collectors who are specifically hoarding the nice series 8s until the 25 year old rule opens up, but supply of nice examples in Japan will certainly shrink by then. There is a lot crap for sale there right now. If anyone in the US is wanting a Bathurst R, RZ or Spirit R or even a Type RS (which I rate highly and would have gladly bought if I found a nice version 6 example) in 2026 onwards, there will be very limited good examples and increased competition for them, meaning prices will move accordingly. Furthermore, I think the way prices are behaving in the US for the ever dwindling supply of domestic LHD versions are going will have an impact on the market for the first series 8s when they open up in a few years' time, ie American purchasers will already be conditioned to pay more for them.

 

I was thinking more shipping Vancouver S8s to Australia.

But it seems better, perhaps, just to put our S8 into bubblewrap and wait a few more years.

 

Why original paint matters. Most repainted cars are resprays or add about double the thickness to the paint which allows for imperfections, bubbling, more orange peel etc....etc.... They are typically 5k. Quality paint jobs are 10k plus because they completely remove the original paint. IF your car has been repainted that usually means there's much more effort involved in a quality repaint when the time comes.

I would not buy a repainted/resprayed car as a collector unless it was a good deal. That said if it's a high quality paint job then it's likely worth more and those usually cost 15k plus LOL

 

I can confirm this pricing for quality paint jobs. Twice.

 

What do y'all think of this one?

https://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/c...395498868.html

Craigslist ad, only three pictures don't help (I guess because the lister posted this as a "feeler" ad) but from the description of what go-faster parts are on it, I would think that the price of 33k seems relatively fair (at least in this market). Really asking mainly because I think this selection of parts is becoming fairly typical of many single-turbo conversions, including mine.

 

the first FD's started rolling off the production lines 30 years ago this month, October of 1991. the LHD cars start in December

 

I recognize the seller's name. He's on here.

 

Agree with this completely. For all the talk about how bad Mazda's paint quality was back in the day, it is nearly impossible to duplicate a factory paint process (on any car), and even good paint jobs are rarely as durable as the OEM finish where the bare chassis is painted and the car can be dipped, etc.