Where are the market manipulators that are attracted to unregulated markets like flies to roadkill, going to strike next?

When looking to value our own cars, perhaps best to leave the outliers out of the trend lines.

 

Funny to see another silver 94 with the JM1FD3335R030XXXX vin. Wonder how many of those SSM R2s are still around...

It is rather comical to see how quickly we transitioned from "$30k for this one-owner 20k mile example is too much" to "I wouldn't let it go for less than $70k" for one in less good condition all in the span of five years. Perhaps the writing was on the wall the entire time and we just missed it?
In any case, this probably means that these things will be treated with much more care than they would have received in years past which is a good thing, but It also means that the focus is moving further and further away from the "budget performance machine" that it once was, and I think a lot of it is slowly transitioning from "check out all this cool stuff and fun I had with my RX-7" to " I can't enjoy it as much as I once did due to scarcity and value" Which is why my next car probably won't exactly be an FD, but a tube chassis with a third-gen bodyshell bolted to it... Guilt free road race fun.

When I got ahold of my car, I was terrified of putting miles on it and was (and still am) constantly paranoid of some ding dong (we have a lot of those up here) writing the thing off every time I took it out of the garage. (folks here exhibit the worst driving characteristics from PA, NY, and NJ so it is not uncommon to see some absolutely egregious driving behaviors multiple times every day. One guy around here had his R32 GT-R crunched up by someone who didn't know how to make a turn without hitting anything). Traffic is obscene during the weekdays, so I relegated it to weekend duty, as I really wasn't a fan of operating it in those conditions. I later discovered that Pocono International is right up the road, and after experiencing a single conversion on their north course, I understood... It was just a few slow laps, but I had way more fun in those minutes than I had ever had on a public road. Street FDs are wonderful cars, but the race-prepared ones make me weak in the knees. I'm not going to live forever and probably won't be able to get another one like this, so I'm going to have as much fun as I can with it and then give it to some kid that likes RX-7's once they send me to the old folks home...

Last year I took delivery of a bone stock '93 SSM touring that probably had about 45k on the odometer for a friend and had to drive it back to the garage. It was a completely different experience than any of the modified examples I had driven or ridden in. No smelling like a gas station, this thing was so quiet I thought something was wrong with it. It was almost as if it were a normal car . Wasn't better or worse, just different. If you ever get the chance to drive a bone stock one and haven't, I strongly suggest you do.

 

In 2016 the SSM I pictured above was written off for a small engine fire. The "book" used by the insurer (a government semi-monopoly at the time) had the value at C$5000, likely based on the super beat 250,000 km examples still extant at that time. For the same reason I started to self insure by buying in spare parts. I have never stopped. That poor SSM was absolutely mint. Most of its engine bay is now in my car, so the fuel line fire could not have been that bad. I still have most of the outer skin of that SSM in my uhaul. Who knows, on any given day, when I am going to need it.

We now can access third party "stated value" insurance relatively cheaply. But I am still holding onto to my parts catalogue.

Recent experience locally is the body shops are not inclined to go on hunts for all the NLA parts even a minor fender bender may cause need for.

 

Yep, it's kind of crazy how many of these things appeared to have been written off for silly stuff (like someone breaking their $2000 usd "ultra JDM only one in the country" front bumper and it exceeding the entire value of the car) and either got junked or parted out because it made more financial sense to do so at the time. I recall seeing a post in the FB group from about 10 years ago when someone had what looked to be an immaculate SSM touring w/ red interior (sub 25k miles iirc) that had been vandalized with paint remover or brake fluid. Insurance valued it at $3000 usd and it was junked...

Reading through some of the posts here from about the last 15 years regarding the subject suggests that a lot of folks were under the impression that they could continue to get a new one every time they broke theirs. I am a little envious of those that were able to procure several otherwise nice rollers for the price of a ratty operational example today. I could have a shed out in the middle of nowhere full of third gens, none of which are operational .

Perhaps all of the misinformation regarding this platform was both a blessing and a curse... We were able to procure vehicles that had the potential to produce world-class performance at a fraction of the cost of all other comparable alternatives if you were willing to get your hands dirty so to speak. Many of the folks here have achieved feats previously thought to be insurmountable. Look to the folks competing in SCCA solo putting up better times than $250k purpose-built machines, Peter, Brent, Fritz, et al who were able to compete with factory built race vehicles driven by professional drivers with their contraptions. Whilst they are trending higher and higher with respect to monetary value, the dollar-to-performance ratio is still there if you were willing to do the work although less than it once was. Cheaper to maintain than most anything else that can do what it can, but we often fall victim to the automotive equivalent of cocaine that is the RX-7 and go to extremes. I ran the numbers and concluded that messing with these things is still (probably) cheaper than a full-blown drug addiction.

 

Just thinking that the recent $148,000 sale might make the BringATrailer misconception that every rotary engine is on the brink of self-destruction much less of a concern. $5k-$10k for a new engine is only going to represent around 5% of the value of the record-breaker vs. 20% to 40% the value of...well, the original title of this thread!

 

If the car had a blown engine would it have sold for US$138,800?

Or half that?

The value driver here is the cars "prestineness" (a.k.a low mileage), by perhaps a magnitude of 3x.

Therefore the cost of a failed motor is not just its replacement cost, but the bursting of the bubble of originality.

 

when i went to sell my 1990 BMW FC, err 325is, i had an hour long discussion with a guy about how the car might not have the same spirit if the engine was replaced....

 

The engine PN is in a reasobaly obscure place. I have still never seen mine.

I have not seen any attempts at "matching numbers", but I would suspect somewhere Mazda has a record of which engine originally went into which car.

Given the swap-out ability of RE, would a true matching numbers car drive values higher?

Could we achieve the first concours win?

 

Printed in 1993 it seems. Any of these available accessories on your R2 should not likely reduce its value (depending on taste).

Talk about OEM+! Show me a car with all the accessories purchased in period!

Were leather seats an official option on R2?

Could a dealer switch in regardless? That would be nice.

Also I could not find the mention of "Bilsteins" in any of the brochures.

This might have been a "Mazda America" switch in?

Long, and others, mention a change in suspension for the R2. Interesting the comment is that the new suspension was more daily driver friendly but still good on the track.

The "final" USDM parts catalogue is not very revealing. iI reveals that either the springs or dampers were changed, but not both. If Mazda only switched the springs, the damper change may have happened at the dealers.

(Needs more research)

The luxseude seats are nice, no doubt. But as they were very common in the later JDM (configured for RHD) they are available cheaply (say $100 each)

A JDM passenger side luxseude may be a good replacement for an aged LHD drivers side, and you get the tilt forward feature.


Inside the 1994 accessories brochure.

 

I have never seen an R1/R2 model with leather. Not to say they aren't out there, not sure if anybody actually bought the option to add leather to them or if it was even possible to add. Having come from the dealer world, things do happen at the dealers to make a sale. At some point somebody may have said I won't buy the car unless it has leather, then sales would pull the cars around back and swap seats with a leather car. The Suede seats were more desirable because of the way they hug you better than the leather or base seats and the material really isn't bad, they are definitely my favorite. As far as the suspension, the R1 was stiffer than the R2, I can vouch for that, we did a side by side comparison with my R1 and a buddy's R2 and it was pretty noticeable.

 

Mazda does know what engine went in what car. shoot me a PM with at least the last 6 of the US vin and i can tell you.
ive never seen mine either, i know where its supposed to be, its just not important

 

I assume this is how Gordon knew he got the shaft from PFS.

 

no!

yes! 100% this happened.

no US FD's got Bilstein's from the factory. it might be worth a more in depth post but the R1 uses FD03 shocks, and the R2 is FD16. the rear springs were also different in 1994, but for every FD
i'm not sure what FD got Bilsteins, maybe the RZ?

 

Thanks. The first RZ may have come our about the time of the R2. I'd have to look in the brochure, but I think the dampers were red in colour

I think the black Recaros also made their debut at that time.

Could they go into an R2 and be considered "period correct"?

 

Good to see an SSM R2 sitting at the top of highest sold price 2 rotor FDs in the US. As it should be. No ugly yellow FDs at the top.

 

If you see those strange looking leather seats with a different stitch pattern: those are the dealer optional leather seats. For the "leather base" and whoever swapped out cloth/suede seats.

I can never find the pictures when I need it. I'll look later.

Edit: Aha!

 

BAT listing I'd like to see.

Would all those high quality mods create a premium price or a discount?




A good backstory......priceless.

 

I possibly bought a good condition '99 lip a few years ago from that owner...

Maybe it was from that car?

Could be worth big bucks!

 

Same issue. Sport Compact Car, November, 2002.





I managed to re-assembly this kit from various sources. Local kid is using it for his build. On a chassis that had much of the original kit in the first place (and gull-wing doors).

Will it be considered a restoration, a retro-mod or .....?

 

the dealer would have sent the seats out and had then reupholstered
OR they would have swapped seats with another car on the lot, in which case it would be a factory seat.

ive seen both, and actually done an interior swap (it was a Mazdaspeed 6 though)

 

absolutely. maybe even exclamation point correct

OMG! those are from a...

 

Another one on BAT

Looks clean has 90k miles


Steve

 

RHD and LHD going head to head.

60,000 km vs 90,000 Miles.

 

29,000 km vs 90,000 miles........... hmm who will win? Should be close LOL

RHD should smash it if only as a parts car.

 

Fine print is 60,000 km due to switched in Mazdaspeed speedo.

(btw 60,000 km = 37.000 miles)


Don't see many JDM coming in as parts cars.

My understanding is system prefers cars that will drive, including on and off the car carrier (ship).

As soon as a forklift is needed........

.......of course some cars become parts cars kinda quick, like on the way home from the docks.