I've lived in Japan for almost 10 years and I have NEVER heard of FB! People in the U.S. must not know why TurboIIs are also known as FC's and that is because the Japanese are referencing the VIN#. So, the 1st gen is known as SA in Japan, not FB??

 

The FB/FC is a North American VIN# thang. Maybe some of the first US ones were the same though, because I could swear my old '79 had a SA22..... VIN#.

 

FB's are '81-85 RX-7s. (In the US anyway)

SA's are '79-80 RX-7s in the US, all 1st gens ('79-85) in the rest of the world.

 

just to be awkward ... Europe got the FB designation too ... AFAIK japan and Oz retained the SA chassis code for some reason

 

O.K. - this post can be killed now

 

Reason for the dual SA/FB vin codes for 81+:
In 1980 the US DOT standardized VIN's (mandatory starting 1981 model year) so that they all had the same number of characters in a set pattern. Prior to that each Manufacturer had their own coding system (often different for each chassis type) many European countries also adopted the US standard since the US market was very important to their car manufacturers. In their Local Domestic Markets many (japanese & european) Mfgr's waited untill a significant model change to implement the VIN style change for their domestic products hence the dual FB/SA designations for 81+ First gens

 

Nothing awkward about it. Thanks for the heads-up.