If my car had all its original equipment, a 13,108 mile 1995 PEP 5-speed in excellent condition is worth $17,665 according to the Kelly web site... which is about a seventh of what I've spent. Not bad.

The problem is that not everyone has the luxury of being able to hold out for the highest bidder.

I'm sure that many younger owners who think they can afford the FD quickly find out that as soon as something goes wrong, they can't. For instance, they had a job that allowed them to afford an FD if they stretched, but they get laid off. Or perhaps they're stretched so tight with payments and insurance that when their engine blows, they can't afford to replace it. It's probably their only form of transportation and they're probably upside down in their loan, so they have to dump the car ASAP for whatever they can get for it.

Unfortunately, "just hold out for the highest bidder" works about as well in practice as trying to get everyone not to buy gas on a given day to "punish" the oil companies for high prices.

 

Over the past few years people's eyes have really opened up to the whole "import scene." Let's face it, much of that can be attributed to the movie "The Fast & The Furious," as much as I hate to say it. But it's true.

These days every kid who is into import cars knows more about them then how it used to be, and they know the top dogs - which includes the Rx-7. Come on, everybody wants their car to look nice and be fast at the same time. As younger and younger people keep aquiring the Rx-7s, most can only afford the "show" without the "go." Not to say that every young kid who gets an Rx-7 slaps a body kit on and calls it a day, but most take that route.

I don't think the Rx-7 is becoming another "ricer's" car. It's just that people's eyes have been exposed to the Rx-7 more then before, and the same goes for manufacturers. More parts are being produced for the car, for cheaper. Drifting also helped along this process.

I myself am a Nissan 240 guy with nothing but FD friends. Right now on our boards we have a thread entitled "Is the 240 becoming the next Civic?" Yes, 240's are much cheaper then most Rx-7's - I know that. But us over there are also seeing the same pattern. People these days want a RWD drive car with lots of potential and great aftermarket support - and the 240 and Rx-7 both fall into that category.

To be honest, I don't care if the two cars become "ricers cars." If people start modding them the wrong way, it'll only make us (the people who do the cars 'right') look better.

-Adam

 

I really agree with the comment about how teenagers and Americans have been modding their cars for years. I remember stories from my dad remembering his teenage driving years and his raced out Mach 1 Mustang. The fact that the same kids who would still be hotrodding American Muscle right now are instead working on imports is just a testament to import cars gaining massive popularity overall throughout this country. Plus, being able to turn and slow down, instead of only going in a straight line is something I am fond of. HA

Also, no reason to forget how many aftermarket options and support is available for our cars that wouldn't be if the interest amongst the masses wasn't expressed.

 

I agree with SurroundedBySe7ens let everyone do stupid things to their car, that will only make the good ones better. And yes most kids with an FD will go the show route because its already twin turbo right? thats alot more then there other car was going to get. And theres no way most of them can undertake modding a rotary engine.

I think the only way to get out of a rice car is to get a super car, like a viper, 04 NSX, z06, ferrari ect.....or you could buy a civic! why a civic? because everyone who owns them is moving up the chain so youll be the only one with it :P

 

Thank you. I agree with you also when you say the car is twin turbo stock, which is much faster then what most people are used to already. So if they feel like the car is already fast, why not make it stand out a little better, right?

Let's face it, most people like their cars to be noticed and complimented - and even though the whole idea of a sleeper is awesome - it just will never be popular. So for a car to be noticed and to stand out from the rest, people make exterior modifications to try to achieve the look they want (whether it's attractive or not is a whole new topic).

-Adam

 

Because it doesn't need it.

Deeper socio/psycho-logical issues are the reason for that one, unfortunately.

 

I know what your saying but my T78 FD is bone stock exterior with pumping internals and I love the cars natural lines. The fact that it is a sleeper is all the better.

 

Riptor, You have caps , just not on the distributor. You had 2 coils and you could rig up a piece of styrofoam with coat hangers so one cap would run#1 leading plug and the other cap would run the #2 trailing plug. We used it to set point gap while the engine was running. It was great fun to see the piston guys faces when they looked at it run. They could not figure it out unless they picked up the caps and looked inside. Normally the styrofoam would not show. Wish I had a pic. If you go to Sevenstock check with an old school (early '70s) driver.

 

you mean like this riced out rx7 i found a pic on what a waste of such a beautiful car

 

I have an idea.....
I have to renew my insurance on the DD next month.

I've been with my insurnace company for almost 10 years, so I know the people there prettty well, but I'm gonna ask them if they have an idea of what the top speed of an FD is, then I'm gonna tell her to compare the insurance rate to something like a C5. Then I'll ask her....would you seriously sell a 165mph car to a 16 year old?

 

I know I can still catch people on the street, passers-by, and drivers of exotic machinery checking out my car with the wide-eyed, "wow, what the heck is that?!" look... and my car is very subtly done.... Sometimes i'll TELL guys (particularly corvette folks) about my car and i get the disinterested "whatever, its an old japanese car" look, but in person, it still knocks 'em dead, especially when I smoke their Z06, or 911 Turbo.

I think the key is tasteful execution... whenever i think about an exterior mod, i always ask myself "would i do this to my Ferrari or Prorsche?"

 

ok i am new to this thread and i am 21 years old, i've been a huge fan of japanese cars since i was 15. When you guys refer to the word *ricers* what your really saying is a modified car, you can argue agaist this but in truth on the street you see a honda or toyota and it's modified you'll think in your head ohh what a ricer. whats the difference with a rear wheel drive car? it's a hobby for most people not just little high school boys. If you thinkthere are too many ricers out there maybe it's time you retire from the game ahhaha, j/k guys, also it's what import tuner magazine and other magazine wants, like on tv what you see on tv you want to do in real life. It's comon human nature to be noticed so if you have a fixed up car you'll get noticed, you dont have to be a rocket science to figure this out.media+dreams=determined to have a chick magnet car

 

This thread is great. The one thing that bothers me more than anything is not the rice. When I see excessive rice, I shake my head and move on. They can have their way; it's their car and their prerogative.

<rant>

What bothers me is having a 17 year old kid come up to me and say, "Wow, I like your FD. I'm gonna get one next month when a graduate high school. I found a great deal on one for $15k. What did you pay for yours?"

1) What the hell do you do for a living? Work at the mall?
2) Why does that give you a right to ask me what I paid for mine, when I have worked my *** off full time and gone to college full time (and paid for it) trying to finish my engineering degree, with no assistance from anyone but myself?
3) Why do you parade around talking about "your" money when you've made $5.15 an hour for the last three months selling burgers and that $15k is coming out of your daddy's wallet? Not to mention the insurance?

These kids come from the local richy rich neighborhood. Fortunately I have only heard of one FD owned by a 16 yr old (driven for about 3 months before it blew from neglect and now sits behind a shop - makes me cry). The rest of these (no joke) are 16-17 yr old kids who confess that their loaded parents or grandparents have paid cash for a new 350Z, Evo 8, RX-8, you name it.

The one thing I thank my parents for was never spoiling the **** out of me. I worked for everything I have, from day one, because I was taught the work ethic of not having a $32k car and prepaid insurance handed to me on a platter. They bitch about having to work at Wal-Mart pushing carts 10 hrs a week to have money for gas for their 350Z. Sad, sad. Makes me want to kill someone.

At the age of 22 having worked as hard as I have to get where I am now I have no patience and probably a good bit of prejudice against people spending someone else's money with no respect whatsoever for the work ethic that generated it.

</rant>

 

Broken 93, the way I look at it is like this. Those kids who have there RX7s given to them ends up working out for us in the end. How? Sooner or later, they are going to blow the motor or wreck the car. When their parents find out just how rediculously expensive it is to maintain/fix them, the car will get scrapped or resold, reducing the numbers of RX7s on the road. The fewer that are on the road = good for us who are keeping them long term.