Attention '95 owners (the last US FD)
Attention '95 owners (the last US FD)
The last FD made for the US would have been sold as a 96, though still technically a 95. IIRC they were still sitting on showroom floors until atleast 98, and were constructed until 12/95. It is possible because they sat at the stealerships for so long(when they were discontinued, dealers marked up the prices ridiculously), that some might have their 95s titled as 97s or 98s.
I know there's a girl in Philly with one that has a 12/95 build date. sexyrex is her username, or something like that.
The VIN number will be a 1995 code. Regardless of what a State may call it is still a '95 model. A 9/95 build date is early production, Mazda spent most of time from August '94 to August '95 debating whether or not to make any more US spec RX-7's. I remember well as I was working through Mazda Motosports to possibly get an '95 R2 and ending up geting an '94 shipped over from Japan in spring of '95.
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reliable performance
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 383
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From: MA, USA
When I took delivery of my 95 model in August of 1995, in what should have been the end of the model year, the first 95's were just trickling in. There were still unsold 94's on dealer lots.
An ad ran in Autoweek in the later 1990's claiming to have the last 95 RX-7 for sale. It was some guy who worked for Ford SVT, as I recall. I still have the magazine somewhere. I don't know what happened to that car, or if the claim of it being the 500th '95 RX-7 is true.
The RX-7 appears in the 1996 Mazda full line sales catalog. I have one. But it is not a '96 model. These were the unsold 95's that were still left over. (Or I suppose it's possible that when the catalog was printed Mazda was still undecided if there would be a '96 U.S. RX-7).
OBDII was required and no way was the RX-7 going to spill its actual running emmisions performance into a memory bank readable by the government. Orginally OBDII was going into full force in '95 but the deadline moved. OBDII killed many turbo cars, big money Toyota bite the $$$ bullet and updated the Supra Turbo to keep it going. Smaller companies like Mazda throw in the towel.
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Boost
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 498
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From: Florida
Their was no question in Mazda's mind that the RX-& was not going into a '96 model year production.
OBDII was required and no way was the RX-7 going to spill its actual running emmisions performance into a memory bank readable by the government. Orginally OBDII was going into full force in '95 but the deadline moved. OBDII killed many turbo cars, big money Toyota bite the $$$ bullet and updated the Supra Turbo to keep it going. Smaller companies like Mazda throw in the towel.
OBDII was required and no way was the RX-7 going to spill its actual running emmisions performance into a memory bank readable by the government. Orginally OBDII was going into full force in '95 but the deadline moved. OBDII killed many turbo cars, big money Toyota bite the $$$ bullet and updated the Supra Turbo to keep it going. Smaller companies like Mazda throw in the towel.
God bless OBDII. Surely whatever they intended to benefit emissions has backfired on them as even I've made a cloud or two fall out of the sky with my "OBDII tuning"...
Thread Starter
Boost
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 498
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From: Florida
Red, do you know if that was the last one for sale, or the latest one built? A few years ago I went to a dealer here in Broward to see a still untitled MB auto '95 on the showroom floor. At the time I was ready to offer $30k but they wanted $50k firm.... I wonder what happened to it.
reliable performance
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 383
Likes: 1
From: MA, USA
Their was no question in Mazda's mind that the RX-& was not going into a '96 model year production.
OBDII was required and no way was the RX-7 going to spill its actual running emmisions performance into a memory bank readable by the government. Orginally OBDII was going into full force in '95 but the deadline moved. OBDII killed many turbo cars, big money Toyota bite the $$$ bullet and updated the Supra Turbo to keep it going. Smaller companies like Mazda throw in the towel.
OBDII was required and no way was the RX-7 going to spill its actual running emmisions performance into a memory bank readable by the government. Orginally OBDII was going into full force in '95 but the deadline moved. OBDII killed many turbo cars, big money Toyota bite the $$$ bullet and updated the Supra Turbo to keep it going. Smaller companies like Mazda throw in the towel.
1.) the car was an image leader, even if it lost money. The RX-7 appeared in two places in the 1996 full line brochure. A photo of a silver FD is in the section titled "Technology" and there is also a separate section dedicated to selling the RX-7 model.
2.) The rotary engine gave Mazda a distinct corporate identity and there was a faction within Mazda dedicated to the RE.
It wasn't fear of a government read out but cost that killed the RX-7 here. Based on sales of the '95 model.....and those cars weren't selling.......it would have cost an estimated extra $10,000 per car to bring the FD into OBD II compliance.
No I didn't go into the full background; high price (mine had a $40,000 MSRP in April 1995, 38k base, 2k R2 package, 4k Bose package), ..... low sales due to price and market changes (no just a Mazda problem) but general decline sports car sales and increasing SUV sales, low profits due to factory to dealer incentives and high warranty costs (I had 8k in first 3 months (but no problems since), all leading to not enough sales/profits to justify OBDII mods, Nissan pulled the plug too.
Yes the RX-7 was/ is the flagship of Mazda; and the career dedication of many engineers and executives, all without the support of Ford ... great for career longevity.
And by fear of read outs .. I too ment the car would need modifying at $$$. Many n/a cars went over to OBDII for just a few dollars cost of the system vs. going back to the drawing borad and developing the Renesis engine.
Yes the RX-7 was/ is the flagship of Mazda; and the career dedication of many engineers and executives, all without the support of Ford ... great for career longevity.
And by fear of read outs .. I too ment the car would need modifying at $$$. Many n/a cars went over to OBDII for just a few dollars cost of the system vs. going back to the drawing borad and developing the Renesis engine.
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 25
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From: Detroit
Hmmmmm I should call up one of the original designers and ask him, I have his business card somewhere although his english was not so good. I met him at the press release party for the Mazda 3 several years ago. He was in from Hiroshima for the unveiling... I remember distinctly asking him over and over if he could get me some 99 spec parts LOL as i parked my FD next to the mazda 3 and got just as much attention BWHHAHAHAHAHHAHAAAA
Oh yeah forgot to add my 94 was titled in 95 :-/
Oh yeah forgot to add my 94 was titled in 95 :-/
Last edited by chili; Aug 2, 2008 at 12:37 AM. Reason: nunya biznis
wtfx100... All FD interiors are incredibly cheap. Nothing to do with the way they LOOK design-wise. Everything you can touch feels exactly like what it is: cheap plastic and cheap vinyl, and cheap carpet. Not a question of plain jane or boring, just cheap and cheaper materials. If you've had your car for any time, do you have both of your pins on the driver's side door bin? When you rst your arm on it occasionally, do you notice that it creaks and sounds like it will break? It will break. (See my thread Interior Update on 20b for more on all that) Anyway, as someone who owned a Ferrari 512 and a Porsche Turbo when I bought my first FD new, I assure you that the interior quality on the FD was not up to the standards of the rest of the car, much less any of its real competitors in the $38-45,000 price range.
Bought used for $10-15,000, these issues might not be a problem at all for many for whom that price is a good buy today. I view the car as one of the all-time great cars that needed a better rotary solution and a better interior to be a real keeper.
Gordon
Bought used for $10-15,000, these issues might not be a problem at all for many for whom that price is a good buy today. I view the car as one of the all-time great cars that needed a better rotary solution and a better interior to be a real keeper.
Gordon
-J
Thread Starter
Boost
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 498
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From: Florida
Agreed. One of the most gorgeous interiors EVER, but very poor quality and highly breakable. That's why the interior pieces is such big business. I should know, I've owned exactly 5 FDs. I always tell myself that if it gets out of hand I'll strip it into a race car, but you know it's not the same...
Gmonsen, 12/95 VR base ??? TEH SEXINESS !!! (Sorry about the loss)
Gmonsen, 12/95 VR base ??? TEH SEXINESS !!! (Sorry about the loss)