SP or no SP? VIN question too..
 

Is there a way to decoded the VIN on an RX-3 to determine the year of the car? What year did the SP model come to the states, '76 or '77?

Official differences in the body and driveline on the SP vs regular coupe? I've heard the rain guard on SP is the only one that didn't go all the way down to the bottom of the windshield, but is that true or was that possibly a late to production change Mazda made in '76-'78?

SP'S were produced from 8/76 thru about 2/78. All SP'S came with a 12A single dizzy motor 5 speed transmission. The stripe kit (appearance package)was a dealer add on. SP's didn't have the chrome gutter trim around the doors.

So would the 8/76 cars be sold as a '77 model or still as a '76? Thanks for the details on the gutter trim...

And any way to confirm build date/model year based on the VIN?

Yes, 8/76 cars were sold for the 77 model years. If you PM your vin I can ask Rotarydave to check it for me. He has all the book for VIN id

in general Mazda starts a new model year sometime in August, 8, and it ends sometime the next June, 6.

there are of course exceptions, usually when the body style changes. its common for the new body style to start early, and the old one to either end early or stay late.

for example, the FC starts in may of 85 (i think), and the 1st gen doesn't finish until August 1985, so they overlap. the other is the FD, which starts 12/91, as a 1993 model...

Actually, the FC began production in September 1985.

If I had my laptop, I'd run your VIN number and make a build sheet to nail it down for certain.

Interesting...

I'll send you the VIN of the car in question surem03... Akagis - will you have access to your laptop again? If so, I'll shoot you the VIN as well. The more information I can find on the car, the better.. It has an interesting history I'm sure, but details are a bit fuzzy and I want to start with making sure I've got the right car, etc.

Supposed to be this weekend. I'm not 100% sure if I can help tho, it goes back to 1977 and things are a tad funky in those years. Worth finding out at least :)