Right Hand Drive 1990 Savanna GTX Full Restoration
 

I just picked up a 1990 Savanna I have decided to give a full restoration. I have always wanted one of these cars and when I had the opportunity to purchase it I jumped on it. The car has spent its life in Japan and was put up for auction a few years back. The buyer was a guy up the road from me who was in the military and we ended up cutting a deal on it. He imported it and unfortunately crashed it right after he had got it. He was in the highway and lost control, spun out and flipped it over. The car actually made it out ok! The roof and window, toast, the front core support, chunky, however the frame was good. The bumper supports and a few mounts needed to be reset, but the chassis was great! So when I saw this I bought it! Here are a few pictures of what it looked like when he imported it. I am hoping he will find a video he says the owner in japan had of it and might be able to get that for me as well!
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...dc939f2501.jpg
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The interior on this car is in mint condition. It only has 50k miles on it and the interior plastics somehow made it through the crash. This interior will be going right back in once the new roof is put on it.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...ce3dacd534.jpg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...6404bd9c8a.jpg
This is what the car looked like when I found it. I first wondered why I did not see it around, then when I found out it just happened and then was stored I was saddened. He just wanted it gone at that point and I did not want it crushed. So I bought it and went to pick it up.

The crash was bad. After making sure he was ok I started talking with him about the crash. He gave me these and told me it just flipped after hitting soft gravel.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...0ed429e34c.png
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...b7b0a352aa.png





Do not get me wrong, the car was not pretty and the images will make you shutter. However I knew that the car was still good and I could save it. There are not many of them left and it would be nice to put it back to its original glory! This is what I have to start with... It is going to be a very long build thread. This is not my first rodeo though and I will be sparing no expense. The build plan is not fully set. I am not sure if I will be going back to factory specs or if I will be going restomod. As much fun as a 3 rotor 20b or some insane 4 rotor AWD FD3s build like others might be taking on, this is going to be a tasteful blue collar build. I can only wish to build their amazing toys and will continue enjoy watching them while I play!
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...44aa2b25e7.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...570bde8aeb.jpg
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The interior looked terrible, however after a closer inspection I came to realize that not only did not of the plastics break but the seats are not even wet.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...f409ff4d58.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...eccbed5619.jpg
Somehow even the a pillar plastics just popped off instead of cracking when it flipped. The entire car checked out great! This may be a easier restoration than I first thought it was going to be!

Although I love these rims, I know they are not the original or the rims I will be going with if I am using the stock rims. So I ended up letting them go to a local rotary enthusiast. These are not easy to come by and I look forward to seeing them in my local shows!
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...76c2d9cad8.jpg

The car has a ton of work that it needs to be what it was. There is going to be a lot of hard months turning wrenches and block sanding well after the welding has stopped. But this car deserves the love and the second chance at life. I look forward to its progression.

Nice! crazy story about that accident. Save her and we'll look forward to seeing pictures along the way.

-M

Im debating on buying something like this to restore or buy a built, good luck on yours!