The good news is the turbos only have 46k miles. Better move buy an nice FD with 46k miles on it for 25 to 35k.

This new owner will have 25k invested just to make this car a good driver. Add another 10k if he wants to fix up the interior and paint it.

 

YEP

NO doubt your best deal will be from an enthusiast who loved their car, modded it, maintained, tracked it etc.... That's typically an FD you can beat on for years with no worries.

 

Well I don't think time of year really matters much lol.........https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1993-mazda-rx-7-56/

The buyer just wanted it. He checked it out etc... so you can't feel sorry for him.

So 18400 or so all in for a 93 VR on tan with 135k miles that needs much TLC including an engine. DAMN this market is crazy!!!

 

There is so much want out there for FDs and other japanese sports cars right now. Have you looked at the classifieds on here in the last couple of days? 6 of 7 ads are WTB-FD, several of them mention a fairly healthy budget too.

 

Yeah, the 90s Japanese sports car market seems to just be getting stronger. Rumor has it that this 94 Supra sold for $173k today:

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/a...o-targa/733359

 

 

What looks to be a red/black 94 touring FD sold at that same auction for $50,400.

 

It all starts with the want. All those buyers WANT cars but none of them want to pay for them because unlike the Supra there are still lots of FDs available for 40k and below that are nice cars.

The Supra has gone next level crazy. I don't know what to make of Supra's selling for over 100k much less 173k. I can't imagine an FD selling for that kind of coin but from my point of view if the Supra can do it then it's certainly possible LOL.

I feel your pain, I once had a signal green 997 RS. Talk about a car I should have kept LOL

Do you know how many miles were on it? That's a respectable price for sure.

 

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/a...da-rx-7/733345

 

Not even a 94. 93 touring for 50k

Very well done.

 

 

Indeed! And it was even missing its battery lid... the horror!!!

 

In my humble opinion.....The FD is a much better looking car than the Supra....the Supra to me always looked frumpy, fat, rounded, too much like a sedan....the FD is beautiful, just look at https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...4#post12334794 the profile shot of the FD....wow, that's a sports car! Find a good one and hang on to it, who cares what the Supra's sell for, I'd rather have an FD!!

 

Totally agree. The FD is a sports car and the Supra is a GT or in other words they are two completely different cars.

The Supra is a good looking car but the FD is PERFECTION which won't go unnoticed at the local car show. The want will increase and the supply will decrease. This is likely the best time ever to get a decent deal on a nice FD.

 

LOL........yep crazy to think an FD sold for 50k without a battery lid

 

The real news from Amelia Island was the 300ZX TT for $54K. Sure, only 2800 miles...

But if you want to speculate... there are still nice, low mile, Z32TTs available for very reasonable prices. We'll see how the one today on BaT does (1990 TT w/ 6K) and maybe that will signal if the RM car was a fluke or an actual emerging market. Z30s are off the charts which, along with the general trend of early 90s supercars, might help boost it.

 

YEP the Zs are also cool. I was into those before I bought the FD. Bought the FD and never looked back

The only cars that have me looking forward are Porsches. The new GT4 should be pretty special.

 

175K for a Supra and 90K for a 928 has got me scratching my head.

Sothebys seems like they are always able to sell cars for marginally more than what you can get them for elsewhere. must be the clientele

 

If you've got a warehouse to store them, cars of this age are a good long term (10-20 years) investment, a perfect place to park some cash and diversify your portfolio. Think of the 928 like the next Ferrari Dino. Right now prices seem high, but they are going to skyrocket as 911 values become unattainable. But as I have said before, people paying this money will only take the cars out for special concours events. The mileage won't change much at all.

 

^While I agree with the gist of this, whether or not it's a good investment depends on what the said investor/collector ends up paying for the required storage space & maintenance upkeep costs for his car collection over the 10~20 year period between sales, relative to the net value of the collection when it is sold off. Storage & upkeep costs, which includes things like rent or mortgage/property taxes & utility costs for these facilities for a car collection over a 10+ year period can be very substantial.

 

Oh yeah, I had brought that up a while back in this thread when we were still talking about FDs. It doesn't make sense to store sub $50k cars in a self storage unit or even your garage expecting a return. I said "warehouse" because you gotta do it on a large scale to keep the costs of a single vehicle low, and you gotta shop wisely for cars guaranteed to go up significantly. The fact is, these Supras we are seeing likely came out of such a warehouse and were bought for what seemed like a lot of money 10-20 years ago. If you didn't know a low mile Supra was going to be this popular back in 2001, you're an idiot. If you knew, dropping $30-40k on one back then is probably the financial equivalent hit on your bank account that paying $175k is today. In other words, they have always been just out of reach.

Really, the question should be, what can I buy now that will do this in 20 years? The answer is probably something you or I can barely afford, and certainly don't have the means to store or the discipline not to drive.

I guess that's why I'm more of a 1st gen Rx7 guy and also have a MK1 Mr2. Affordable classics I don't mind racking up miles on. I'll leave the other cars to the collectors knowing full well I am getting the most driving enjoyment out of my purchases while i'm here on this earth.

 

We've had minor inflation since 2001 so 30k today is about the same as 2001 or basically about 43k. https://www.dollartimes.com/inflatio...0000&year=2001

Buying an FD today for 30 or 40k is close to the equivalent of buying a Supra back in 2001 for 30 or 40k. So everyone who is selling one is an idiot and everyone who's buying one is a genius LOL.

I live in VA and we pay personal property tax on our cars at approx 4 percent. So I buy my low mileage FD at 40k, have it shipped 1500, pay sales tax and register it approx 1700, change the oil and gear oil 100, wash it and fix what needs fixing 100 to 5k or more.... pay personal property tax, store it, insure it and keep it running etc... 2k or more per year. So if the FD is worth 100k I might break even in 10 years but it's more likely it will be worth 50k and I'll lose a lot of time and money.

Bottomline you'll have much better luck with a mutual fund at 5 percent annual return and do zero work and have zero headache.

If you are not wealthy and want to make money in cars you do it like everyone else by putting in the work or buying and selling/flipping them. The longer you keep any car the less potential you have to make money with your money.

 

I wasn't speaking about inflation so much as personal financial situation. At this point in my career I'd be as willing to drop $175k on a Supra as I was willing to drop $40k 15 years ago. I could afford to, but it is just out of reach for being comfortable. In both situations I'd have to take out a loan.

See I disagree. Unlike the Supra, the FD has always been within my reach. It's a second tier that may rise with the rest, but the rotary has always been quirky. It's like the band Rush. Those who love them, really love them. But the gen pop cant get past Geddy's voice, or the rotary engine. Prices will rise no doubt, but not dramatically enough to turn a profit.

Do you have to pay that tax even if you don't register it? If you're collecting as an investment the only driving you'd do would be once a year on a private road just to warm it up.

Absolutely true for cars within reach of the average blue or white collar worker. The money is in the rare collectibles that can easily beat those returns. Drop 500k on a car with serious pedigree (a low mile limited edition super car, a race car with good win history, or perhaps a specialty tuned restoration like a Singer Porsche). and it will be worth millions decades from now....but you can't buy it now, when the market is hot...you gotta have cash flow when the market takes a turn for the worse.

 

Love the analogy and a little rush is OK but overall I was never a big fan but it's more about the music than the voice to me. When it comes to collector cars, like music/bands, it's more about the overall vibe and the FD has a killer vibe or it is a gorgeous timeless car, that's fun to drive, fun to mod/work on, etc...etc... The only reason the cosmo is a collectible at all is the engine, and it's a rotary.

No doubt no matter what you are investing in you should attempt to buy low and sell high. This is extremely hard to do in the stock market much less the car market. Is the Supra at a high and the FD at a low. I'd suspect so but who knows.

Never barrow money to invest. Also never say never or for instance when you can borrow at 3 percent (not to long ago mortgage rates) get all you can LOL.

I believe the rotary will actually help the value of the FD in years to come. Once the majority of cars are non combustion and self driving the type of engine in collector cars may hold a greater significance and the rotary is a unique engine. The flip side to collectible cars similar to VHS or 8 tracks is once everyone is driving non combustion cars will they be scrapped with very few valuable collectors out there if any at all. Hopefully they'll be like vinyl records and some will want that analog feel, sound etc... and there will still be combustion cars, mechanics and gas stations etc....

In 100 years I suspect no one will care about combustion cars at all.

The future is very difficult to predict or investing in anything is a major PIA

Bottomline: Don't invest in cars unless you love them or enjoy being in the game.

 

Fritz....you seem to know a lot about FD's, so I have a question for you. I installed the FC commander in my '93, it got rid of the 3k stumble the '93's are know for, mostly on warm up. Since the install the AC comes on for a few seconds then shuts off. I've cleaned the fan selector switch contacts, done the relay/ground mod at the CPU box....nothing worked. Checked all the AC components, pressures, the AC works fine.....I'm at the point of putting the stock CPU back in....no AC in a Florida summer is OK for me.....but my wife hates it...LOL!