I am 40 now, but I bought my RX7 when I was 22. Still have the same one and still love it. It's changed a lot over the years, but it has been a blast.

I picked mine up the day after I turned 18 and still have it at 21 :)

I am 63 years old. Bought my first RX7 in 1980, a used red 1980 FB GS (6 months old). Traded it in the fall /winter of 1985 for a new red 1986 FC GXL. Traded it in the winter of 1994 for new red 1994 FD Touring, which I still have. I have been driving RX7's now for 43 years and counting.
Mike

See below.

At that rate you will have six at sixty.

The was "pre-war", no?

That Mazda logo script is relatively recent.

So something in the last 30 years perhaps?

Looks like a tire tread depth gauge.

turning 28 fairly soon. Bought my first FD when I was 23. Been lurking on the forum since highschool since it was much more active than rx8club.

30-39s are pulling ahead.

What demographic is that?

The Fast & Furious gang?

When did "Initial D" kick in?

Will there be a "Wallmart T-Shirt" generation?


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...f092264638.jpg

These are selling out fast, locally. Better get down to Wallmart before closing time!

lol, It’s a key for the accessory louvers on the rear hatch circa 1981. Remember this was in the days before window tint and that greenhouse effect was serious in the summer. The louvers were hinged at the top to allow cleaning with a little lock/latch which took the key. I found it not long ago in the back of drawer in my old toolbox. Even took me a moment to recognize it.

I got into Rx7s in the early 2000s shortly after getting a drivers license and am 36 now. I had lusted over 3000GTs and bought a nonturbo one at 16. Drag racing was huge at the time and my Mitsubishi couldn’t hold a candle to a TII that was the fastest import at the street races and Friday nights at the strip. This was right before the first FnF movie came out.

Mischief, FnF, NFS, Gran Turismo, Sport Compact Car, Modified, Super Street, etc all made the FD seem amazing. I plain couldn’t afford one and had several FCs through college through early 30s. Friends and my wife (girlfriend at the time) all got FCs. Jamespond24 on this forum let me drive one of his FDs in 2007 or 2008 when rebuilding one of my cars and I knew I had to have one after that. I was already in the modded FC in my signature at the time. I kept that car 9 years before selling it in 2016 as part of a work relocation.

I finally purchased my FD at 35 in March of 2022. I had taken a 6 year hiatus from Rx-7s due to family, career, etc requiring having 2 cars or less.
It was Covid lockdown time and I was paying for but not driving an F80 M3 and disgusted with the payment. Modding the M3 made it way too fast for the street.

It was finally time to go back to my rotary roots. I sold the M3 and got a cheaper daily and began the search. After 8 months of looking a nice example was found less than 200 miles away that had been a long term project owned by an Rx7 enthusiast that hadn’t been all chopped up. The car was $48k.

I’ve been pouring hours and labor into the FD since then. It is all worth it as it is a forever car. They don’t build anything like this now. Get them while you still can.

Terrific story! Please plan to pop up to our Sevens Day (Westcoast Rotary) this year!

My first car was a 1957 TR3 which was bought used in 1965 when I was 20 and in Louisianan..
Second car was a 1954 WV bought in 1967 when in W. Germany.
Third car was a 1968 Alfa Romeo GT1300JR when I was in W. Germany.
Fourth was a 1967 Alfa Romeo GT1300Jr in Delaware after a radio distracted female totaled my 1968.
Fifth was a 1979 Mazda GLC in Houston. Alfa did not have A/C and the new American allowed Alfas were crap.
Sixth was a 1983 S 1.1 L model RX-7 in Houston. Ended up dynoing at 185 WHP.
Seventh is a 1992 R1 FD RX-7 bought in Houston now making over 400 WHP.
I am still here at 78 years. My wife/wifes may have had a family car but mine except for the GLC have always been sports cars.
Never give up your car dream!

Hot Danm, Son!

Bought my first fd in '15 after lusting after them since my teen years in the '90s. 950 miles round trip in one day to pick it up. Bought my next fd in '16, and still have it and love it.
The irony--my first car was a manual '93 mazda. Albeit a far cry from an fd.

Seems you bought at a good time.

My first car was an N/A FC and I always wanted an FD. After owning too many FC's, N/A and Turbo, in various stages of body condition and completion I bought my first FD that was a basket case from an old ad here out of Kentucky a month after my first child was born. I parted out my GTUs and sold my turbovert to put the cash I spent back on it back in the bank. Once home I looked the car over and then covered it up.

Two or three months before that a local Craigslist ad popped up for the first FD I ever drove, the owner wanted too much money for the condition and I passed on it. I sent her a rundown of all my recommendations for her if she kept the car and told her where I would be interested in buying it at (half her asking) not expecting a reply. I received a text in reply a little over a year later saying that she hadn't driven the car more than 300 miles in the last year because it was having trouble starting, was smoking more, and that she'd sell it to me for the number I gave her. That text came the day we were celebrating my daughter's first birthday, that week I took cash out, obtained a transport permit, grabbed my dad, and drove 45 minutes North without telling him what we were doing. When we arrived he was super pissed because he said I needed to stop messing with cars and focus on my family but after I explained I was going to sell the MB car her cooled off. I drove it home and parked it and started on the project I have stayed true to the longest.

I had neglected the MB/Tan car for most of the prior year, never getting it running or doing much work to it. I uncovered it after getting the SSM home and it was a mess inside. I cleaned it, and sold it for a profit even though it was not running.

Mid 30's here.

Is it a car, or a college education fund?

Seems there is a number of migration stories from FC to FD.

Are we now seeing a further migration to RX8 as FD become more collector items than recreational cars?

I wouldn’t say migration. I’d say adding another rotary to the stable as a natural progression. :)
I didn’t think I’d own an rx8 because the last thing I was looking to do was waste more money on a daily driver. Prices for vehicles have gotten out of hand. I thought spending over 40g’s back in 2008 when I picked up my new miata PRHT was a lot. It only lasted me 10yrs before I had to spend money again on replacing it. Don’t get me wrong, she did exceptionally well for the time I had her. Covered over 265k km’s and never gave me any headaches. She always fired right up and kept me moving. Alas, the winters up here are absolute murder on vehicles. Despite krowning the car every year, the paint in the rear quarter wheel wells was starting to peel off. It was either spend money doing a full resto on the body or attempt to find something else with less wear and tear.
People absolutely fear the rx8 which kept the prices very low. Thankfully managed to pick up an R3 in 2018 to replace my miata. Only had 50k km’s on the clock and was properly maintained. Despite having really high mileage on the Miata, I still managed to get 5g’s for her. The Miatas do hold their value. I picked up the R3 for a song. Best purchase I’ve done.
It’ll be 5yrs this May. Currently showing 102k km’s on the clock. I think she’ll be able to do another 5yrs easily. I honestly think I’ll be keeping her indefinitely. She’s an absolute joy to drive. No electronic Nannie’s whatsoever. Only the traction control. Much like I did with the Miata, it is the only button I push immediately after starting her. :)
It makes you appreciate the FD so much more. You just get in the FD and fire her up. That’s it. There’s nothing else you have to push. No electronic Nannie’s watching your every move. It’s becoming such a lost art now.
I hope to keep both rotaries going for the foreseeable future. :cool:

My thinking is when the grandson turns 15 he can have the RX8 and that will keep his hands off grandpa's rx7.

That's a good story. Mine has some parallels to yours, I too bought my FD right after my daughter was born, trying to sort of dive into a hobby that would keep me at home more (building the car). I'll never forget driving the 600 miles (each way) to Long Island with a 4 month old in an extended (not crew) cab truck. Us getting an hour or so of sleep at the hotel the night before picking up the car, drving my truck pulling a uhaul trailer through manhattan to where the car was garaged. And all the other experiences along the way. My wife and I still talk about it all the time. Wouldn't trade this experience for anything. Now, once I realized the condition of the car in the proceeding weeks, and the money spent on the restoration/build over the coming years, that is a topic for another day. Back on topic with the poll, lets just say I'm squeezing into the 30-39 category, at least for the rest of this year, lol.

So many 30-39s!

This looks like a solid core of long term owners to me!

Bump! Fishing for more stories!

Bought my Fd new in 1994 when I was 24 . First Mazda I ever owned. Worked at a Mazda specialist shop since 1989 and drove many rx7 . But when the Fd came out I fell in love with the looks that I had to buy one. Still own one to this day

Wow, long hauler!