I was able to get updated information from an old co worker who has access to a data base that uses registered vehicle information to calculate vehicle populations. The database has the ability to actually go down to a zip code level, but I just asked by model year to keep it simple. If someone is really interested in digging in deeper, the data base is called 'Polk automotive'.

August 2014
4161 - 1993
1664 - 1994
270 - 1995

August 2019
3548 - 1993
1408 - 1994
225 - 1995

Difference
-613 1993
-256 1994
-45 1995

**Total Canadian population (all three years) is around 800 vehicles.

 

These are turning into rare birds

 

So we are down to 5,181 FD's in the country. About 8,000 are "gone" - those could either be wrecked/junked, unregistered race cars, unregistered projects, etc.

To be honest that number is higher than I would have guessed.

The big thing to take away from this is KEEP THE FD's ALIVE. Keep them nice, keep them running, keep them on the road.

Dale

 

Mine is currently unregistered, falling in Dale's unregistered projects category.....and Colorado Springs has ridiculous weather. I'm not testing the hail gods that already totaled my Pilot.

 

Wonder how many cars that have a blown engine or similar, that could easily be brought back, are parted out?

 

I'm sure back in the day a LOT of cars were parted out/junked with blown engines. I know there was even an FD that someone traded in on that Cash for Clunkers government deal a number of years back!

Dale

 

That's actually more than I thought. Of course most of those 5000 are hacked up and/or wrecked.

 

This is very interesting info! Thank you for sharing!

 

I wonder how much of this may be skewed by the JDM cars coming in as well. Mine is a 92 and is registered as a 92 mazda rx7. Of course the 93-95s are available for import now.

 

All things considered I think RHD FD's are VERY much in the minority. I would imagine a few hundred cars at most.

Dale

 

I agree, just thinkin out loud.

 

Half of these are probably LS swapped.

 

Interesting thread.

 

From this old post the annual numbers were as follows:

2005, October: 9796
2007, January: 9340
2011, mid?: 8070
2014, mid: 6095
2015, mid: 5574

Which would indicate very little attrition to the 2019 number of 5182.

We've gone from losing 500-700 per year to losing 400 in four years. Numbers don't feel quite right. (RHD ones in there, or would they be counted as a different chassis?)

 

Maybe I am in the minority saying this, but I live in a military town in the middle of nowhere New Mexico. There's 6 FD's in this town, including mine. I have the ONLY LHD...and its a CYM. From what I've seen, dating back to 2012 when I first returned from Japan, I've seen more RHD FD's than LHD. So even though I highly doubt the number of RHD FD's are anywhere near the number of LHD FD's in the country, I believe the number of RHD FD's is higher than what we believe it to be.

 

I am probably biased because we have a couple of well known importers here in Houston, but of the FD's that I see actually going out to shows or meets, I would say that about a third are RHD.

 

I agree there are a lot of RHD FDs. I have a special place in my heart for non-sunroof FDs - I wonder how many base/R1/R2s with all original body panels, sequential twins, stock interior, etc. are left? It seems like most RX-7s I see are pretty heavily modified.

 

Numbers seem good to me (at least trend wise). Less numbers + strong demand = higher prices. Higher prices = less ignoramuses that can afford them which means less being chopped up, blown up, wrecked, etc by same ignoramuses. The RHDs will now fill that void

 

I have one
Interesting to see how the numbers have fallen over the years. I'm in the Philadelphia suburbs and pretty much never see another FD, so assume the attrition is a factor in that. Obviously there aren't many DD FD's around anymore, as mine was when new, which is another factor re: seeing them in the wild. When I attend the occasional C&C or car show I'm always the only FD.

 

I speculate there would probably be more FDs in long term ownership if it was easier to find a competent rotary mechanic. The original or second owner's of the FD, many of whom weren't hardcore enthusiasts, probably sold their cars simply because there were no longer good mechanics nearby. If you ever want to sell your original owner base VR (you don't want some old rattley Mazda anyway, drive your Cayman!) I would be interested. How many miles does it have on it, out of curiosity?

 

I've actually been pointing people in my local car group away from buy rotary powered cars for this exact reason. Myself, I'm an Aircraft Mechanic so I have no issues getting my hands dirty, reading the forums, and trusting myself to tackle the vast majority of issues that may arise. However, this next generation of car guys are the exact opposite. I had to show a couple of them how to do oil changes, which is fine, but I feel as though you should be at least comfortable with a tool set and have the proper space and time to dedicate to the well being of the car. I'm the only rotary guy in this town that can tell you the theory of operation how the car works, what parts are on my car and for what reason...and (drumroll)...THE ONLY ONE WHO'S ACTUALLY A MEMBER OF THIS FORUM! So I always point the younger ladies and gents away from this platform onto something much more forgiving. I'm already saving up the money to buy one of these FD's in town when it breaks...because it coming soon and I think he's more in love with the "clout" of having the car versus the car itself.

 

I don't think it's necessarily a case with the RX-7, any older car is going to have issues, especially a car that's very commonly modified. I imagine the same holds true with Z32's, Supras, M3's, you name it. An older car is going to require more input to maintain and very possibly needs work done to rectify previous owner's neglect or poor mods.

I've seen a lot of cars with terrible hacked-in front mount installs, battery relocations that are garbage, you name it. When you start getting a car with hacked up wiring, missing parts to "save weight", etc. you have something that requires a LOT of work to get right. And also MONEY and the right parts.

Really, the FD is overall a fairly reliable car all things considered. I actually drove mine for work for about 3 years before I bought a daily and put a LOT of trouble-free miles on in that time.

Thing that torques me off are guys that buy it as a project car - take a car that's near-stock and running OK, then they pull all the interior and drivetrain out and get ready for that big Bridgeport single turbo and roll cage and giant body kit. Then time goes on and they lose interest, can't figure out which bolt in the bucket goes to what, or get it half-*** put together and it won't start or runs terribly. Then it becomes a parts car and we lose another FD that could have been on the road.

Dale

 

It hurts my brain when I think about how many rx7 owners in the U.S. aren't on this forum. I can't imagine owning this car without this community.

 

Haha, you're right, I wouldn't want an old rattley one After now 27 years this one's not going anywhere except to my son when I'm done! Here's a link my fd at 25 to a thread I started 2 years ago when she turned 25. Now at 135K miles, but most would agree it doesn't look it. I think Gordon could vouch for me on that!

 

135k miles is impressive! Always good to see FDs with some mileage on them. Glad to see it's in good hands.