Can Someone Decode this JDM VIN for me?
 

I do not know what year it is. And if it did come with extra mods from the factory.

Vin is FD3S-420506
Special edition TYP-RS-R
Model Spec F137-21R

It says RE 30th Anniversary on the RPM meter.
Does that mean it a 98 model?

Check Manufacture Year - Japan Partner

Tach sounds re-amemiya unless Mazda considers the r100, car 1.

Hot Product
 

This is a rare car. Mazda resumed production in the later half of 1997 with the serial numbers starting 42XXXX. Your car was manufactured on November 25, 1997, as 1998 model. Original paint code was PZ, the car is designated as Type RS-RD. It came as a four seater with 17" wheels, Bilstein Shocks and "hard suspension". As such it is a precursor of the Spirit R.


1998 designated models where the lowest production run of the various model years and so are, likely, more rare. Especially a top of the line model such as this.

Lucky me! Thanks for the info! :icon_tup:

Random Three
 

Not sure what the 3 means, The 2nd generation is nicknamed FC3S so ?


The JDM VIN start with 1,2,3,4,42,5,6 which correspond to "Versions" of the FD3S, typically denoting some upgrades to the cars.


You will also hear of Series of RX7, roughly Series 1~3 are the first generation, Series 4~5, second generation, and Series 6,7 & 8 the third generation.


Wikipedia goes into a fair amount of detail.


(There is some discussion that Series 8 was a connotation made up by the Australians and not actually used by the company. Series 8 usually covers Versions 5 and 6 and is in common usage. Also referred to as Kouki - "later period")

Yes, this is where I got the info with the Series (Not type) 3 from.

I didn't mean the 3 in FD3S but the 3 after that. This is what wikipedia says (Series 3).

But it would be nice to know, when the car was built a little bit more precise.

Where did you get the precise info of the car of the thread opener?

You ever ran a carfax?

I thought carfax is only for the US? The car only ran in Japan, the UK and than Germany.

Manufactured on the 16th of September 1994 :)

Wow, thanks a lot!

But with that production date it wouldn't be a series 3, would it?

Can there be any more infos obtained from the VIN or the other numbers, or just the production date?

Where do you guys get that infos?

"Year" is at best tricky for identifying JDM cars. Here is some information about properly decoding your FD3S vin for the purpose of ordering parts etc..

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-gen-gene...sense-1103931/

From the VIN it is a VERSION 3 (don't get mixed up with series; there are 6 Versions and 8 series [Although I've only seen reference to series 6/7/8 for '98 -'02 cars])

In theory the changeover time was March 1995, but it's possible your car among others was built in advance during a changeover period, or some completely different reasoning all together!

Two easy ways to verify if yours is a Version 3; 1) is your rear view mirror double jointed? V3 cars were double jointed; 2) do you have a interior light in the boot? V3 cars had this deleted.

Yes, the rear view mirror is double jointed and no, I did not find a boot light. So this means, its a version 3, but what is the difference between version and series? And what series is mine than?

As far as I understand it RX-7's (FB+FC+FD)exist in eight series.

Considering the FD only, we are only required to talk about Series numbers 6, 7 and 8.

Series 6 is made up of FDs produced from production start (1991/1992) till a point in 1995.

Series 7 FDs were produced following this point in 1995 to around the end of 1998 (so prior to the facelift and '99 spec upgrades).

Series 8 FDs are then the remainder from the start of 1999 till end of production in 2002.

So that is the "series" of FD explained.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now you are comfortable with that, the RX-7 FD exists in six versions: Versions 1 through to 6.

Version 1 is really only the very earliest of cars produced in 1991 and 1992. These cars had the following features:

Yellow Fog Lamps
Rod end mount front strut bar end
Silver gauge bezels
Interior plastic parts painted
Steel sunroof option

Colours: Vintage Red; Silverstone metallic; Brilliant Black; Motego Blue mica; Competition Yellow mica

And came in (from what I can find, so not necessarily exhaustive) at least 4 specifications: X, R and S; with the first iteration of the RZ (the RZ 1) starting production in October 1992.

The RZ 1 offered the following specs:
Brilliant Black
Hard shocks
Recaro Carbon Seats
No back seat

That's really all my knowledge of the Version 1 cars, I've never seen one in real life as I don't think the existed in the UK. (potentially not the US either but I have poor knowledge of the US side of things).

Next was the Version 2. This forms the majority of UK spec and US spec cars from what I understand. These were manufactured between August 1993 to March 1995.

These had some "refinements" over the version 1:
Suspension refreshed (Rear softened)
Added Rear stiffener bars to rear sub frame
Two seater "R II" version
White fog lamps
Ridged mount front strut bar ends
Front strut shaft cover changed shape
Rear strut shaft cover changed from rubber to urethane
Black gauge bezels
Interior plastic parts new unpainted surface
Speedo design change
Ash tray replaced with arm rest console box
Coin holder added
Number plate holder changed to moulded type
Aircon gas from R12 to R134a

Optional 17" BBS wheels
Optional sunroof changed to glass

Colours: Vintage Red; Silverstone metallic; Brilliant Black; Motego Blue mica; Chaste White

I count at least 6 models of Version two car excluding the extra variants that existed here in the UK and elsewhere where they messed about with what they included as standard or optional extras a bit for some reason.

With these 6 models being:
Touring X
Touring S
R
R II

Special editions:
RZ 2 (October 1993)
Brilliant Black
17" BBS wheels, Bilstien shocks,
Full bucket front seats, Two seater
Driver's Knee Pad
Smallest production run Special Version
Most expensive version (even more than a spirit R when new)

and

R II Bathurst: which was essentially the poor man's version of FD at the time. Cheapest FD ever produced but I'm not 100% on what the skimped on to make it so cheap...

After March 1995 came the Version 3 cars which ran to around January 1996.
Changes:
Rear Wing changed to Dolphin type with two stays
Rear view mirror double jointed
Boot interior light deleted

Optional 17" BBS wheels
Optional glass sunroof

Colours: Vintage Red; Silverstone metallic; Brilliant Black; Chaste White

Here I record at least 5 model variants on top of the previous version models:
Touring X - automatic, suede seats.
R Bathurst
R Bathurst X
RZ 3
and the first version of the RS.

Version 4 January 1996 to 1999.
Changes:
Computer changed to 16 bit
Manual models gained a bit of power.
Hard "Y" Pipe all changed to alloy
Round tail lights (like 99 spec ones)
Adjustable dash illumination deleted.
Changed dash illumination from amber to green
Last glass sunroof option
Spare wheel changed from aluminium to steel
Carpet changed from cut pile to loop pile
All interior parts cost reduced (Mazda started cheaping out to reduce the costs)
Colours: Vintage Red; Silverstone metallic; Brilliant Black; Chaste White

I count 7 models for this:
RB (the new base model)
RB Bathurst
Touring X (auto)
RS (top of the line; bigger brake calipers and discs, 4.3 diff ratio, 4 seats, harder suspension)

RB Bathurst X
RS-R (Bilstein suspensioncame in new yellow colour exclusive to this model; Sunburst Yellow).

With the start of Version 5 came the start of Series 8. Version 5 cars were made between January 1999 and September 2000 apparently.
This version features the largest and most important changes Mazda made to the FD.

Changes:
Body 10 mm shorter due to new front bumper
Integral number plate holder
Bigger bumper mouth for newly design intakes for airbox and intercooler.
Better air ducting for intercooler/airbox
Lip spoiler with integral canards
Combination lamps added (sidelights/indicators)
New Rear wing with adjustable attack angle (4 positions)
Fog lamps changed 35W to 55W
New 17" wheels 6.72kg (lighter)
Tyre changed Expedia S07 to Potenza S07
Rear glass tinted
Mazda badge changed (gulwing style used still)
Engine power up to 280p
Muffler changed; 10% less back pressure and quieter
Turbos changed; abraidable exhaust wheels
Boost up 0.62 > 0.74 bar
Bigger Radiator
Changed oil metering
25% less power steering force and check valve added
Suspension more mild damper changed from 297M to 149M
Suspension setup changed
ABS program changed
Angled brake ducting
Brake backing plates changed
Wheels centre cap changed (to reflect new mazda badge)
Passenger airbag
Dash gauges smaller
Nardi steering wheel with airbag
oil pressure gauge changed to boost gauge
Rev gauge, 0rpm now at six o'clock position.
Colours: Vintage Red; Highlight silver metallic; Brilliant Black; Chaste White; Innocent Blue mica

Models: (at least)
RB
RB-S

Only these models below got the upgraded turbos and supporting systems for 280ps
R
RS - same extras as old RS model but with bilstein shocks and springs
RZ - same as RS but with recaro seats and BBS wheels.

Version 6 cars are still classed under the same Series (8), but featured big enough changes to warrant Mazda naming them another Version!

Changes:
ABS unit changed, 8 bit to 16 bit
Electronic Brake Distribution added
Clutch interlock added, clutch in required to start engine
Silver gauge bezels come back
White gauge faces
Lower side impact bar added
Colours: Vintage Red; Sunlight silver metallic; Brilliant Black; Pure White; Innocent Blue mica

Models:
Same ones as Version 5 but:
An updated RZ (6)
R bathurst R
And the three Spirit R models: A, B and C (Mazda made 1503 Spirit R's not 1500 as people think :lol:.

The rarest car out of all these is actually the Version 6/Series 8 RZ!

Anyways, I'm not quite sure why Mazda bothered with this whole Version and Series thing, more confusing than helpful, but I hope some of the above is useful knowledge.

The Long and Short of It.
 

Excellent and extensive summary XPT! Very useful.


People may also wish to refer to Brain Long's "RX7 Mazda's Rotary Engine Sports Car" which was recently republished (I believe in the UK).


One has to puzzle through the variants, but I suspect it comes out much as described above. It certainly gives more background into the thinking behind the variants.

The "series 6 / 7/ 8" terminology originated in Australia or NZ I think, and it is really a misnomer.
S6 is 1991 - 1995.
S7 is 1996 - 1998, most notable by the rear spoiler, round tail lights, and 16 bit ECU with 265ps.
S8 is 1999 - 2002, having the facelift front bumper, adjustable rear wing, and 280ps model options.

But there is so much more detail within those years, as noted in a post above.

If you look at parts on RHD Japan for example, they use the correct JDM terms. Which correspond directly to the first digit of the JDM VIN.

This site also lists all the JDM versions in detail. Its crazy that Mazda had so many versions of this car!
The Efini cars MAZDA EFINI RX7 catalog - reviews, pics, specs and prices | Goo-net Exchange
The Mazda cars (Efini was dropped in 1997) MAZDA RX7 catalog - reviews, pics, specs and prices | Goo-net Exchange

@ XPT: Wow, just... wow!

Thank you very much!

@ PeloNZ: The Efini chart from Goo-net states that the last Type-R (II) was sold in 8/1993. But mine is a Series 3 (starting 3/1995) but the vehicle information sticker in the doorsill (See photo above) says its a Type-R.. So there is quite a big gap in time..

Can anyone say, what the differences where with the Type-R of this time?

Type R
 

I just took a quick look at Brian Long's write up regarding the Type R in the period around when your car was made. Unfortunately, the description is vague. I note that your car is in fact a Type R "Special Edition". Which adds more confusion. Brian Long speaks of a special edition Type R being a Type RZ. Take a close look at your C pillars. Is there any remnant of an RZ sticker?

Data Base snapshot
 

300800 Bathurst
300801 TRG-S (Touring S/Automatic)
300802 Type-R
300803 Bathurst
300808 Type-R
300809 Type-R2
300810 Type-R
300811 Type-R2


Type R had four seats and hard suspension; Type R2 had two seats and "normal control".


Brian Long, on page 155 of his book confirms Type R2 was a two seat version of the Type R. He also mentions that a limited edition of Type R was introduced on October 1, 1994. Such car had 17 inch wheels. Given your car's manufacture date, it could be that Special Edition refers to this limited edition with 17 inch rims.

No, there is nothing on the c-pillars.

Thanks a lot for the confirmation that its a Type-R!

You guys are just great! :nod:

What info can you guys get me on JMZFD13B200200019 ?

USDM VIN Codes
 

This is from the USDM parts catalogue.


Attachment 602374

By converting it to a JDM vin: FD3S-200019

It seems like a Version 2 Type RII; Paint Code NU? I think that's Vintage Red?

Produced on the 22nd of July 1993

Does that seem correct? I'm not sure if taking the last 6 digits of a US market VIN is the right way about this.

If it's an RII it should have no rear seats

Nope
 

I understand that USDM/CanadaDM, and likely the European models, ran separate VIN and so you can not reference the JDM Vin for these cars. I do not know if there is searchable USDM, or other, data base.


My understanding is that Canada versions where likely assigned sequential numbers within USDM production with only the designation 1 for US and 2 for Canada being the difference. I have not seen definitive proof of this though. I note the last six digits are referred to as production serial numbers.


I note that JDM production seemed to closely follow the sequence of the VIN. Likely indicating the VIN was assigned to the chassis early in the production process.