eventual death of specRX7, it7, pro7 whatever
 

its a shame.... ive been in the SCCA road racing scene for the past 2 years and i noticed a very significant number of specRX7 drivers are going to Spec Miata. Heres the deal in the Washington DC region... i would estimate about 1/4 SRX7 drivers will be driving in SM next season. this means there will be about 35-40 cars instead of 50-55. Right now, there are so many SRX7's for sale, that you cant get more than $4000 for them! Even for the best cars prepared to the maximum! i hate to say it, but these cars are not getting any younger. not that im eager to see the class die (because im a big srx7 fan), but i think it would be cool to eventually make SRX7 a class for 2nd gens..... i dunno that just my thought.

is this the case in other regions across the country too???

--eric

yes, this class has seen its high point come and go. spec miata is the new low budget entry class here in California too. pro7 suffers from the early RX7's getting old and difficult to find in good condition. miatas are easy to find cheap and clean. so spec miata is the thing until all the good cheap cars are turned into race cars and it is replaced by spec(whatever).

The three reasons why SM is taking off so big is that SM has major backing involved, ONE set of rules across the country and it is a nationally recognized class.

I started out road racing in 90 in a ITA 1st gen and then ran a Spec Ford regionally and nationally. After the Honda invasion I thought the IT7 class here in the south east was a great idea. We have seen huge fields. Mazda did not get behind it the way they have SM. The localized rules have hindered the first gen class from growing. My IT7 car would not be the same as the Spec7 car built elsewhere. Without a national rule book you can not set up a pro or national level series.

I would not fret though. IT will never be a national class. You will find most guys in IT are their for budget reasons. The converts will soon realize how much it really takes to run a "SPEC" series car on a national and PRO level. Some will be back a little lighter in the wallet.

Besides, this makes for new members in your area. Those $4000 first gens will be scarfed up by some new guys.

-billy

ALSO....ive learned alot about SM over the last year. the cars are not bullet-proof like people claim. they need a head job at least once a year. however, the miata & toyo tires combination is amazing. They just dont use tires.. its crazy. Guys can go a whole season on 1 or 2 sets of tires. And toyo claims they "get better" towards the middle of their life (im not sure how true that is).

--eric

bwaits: which number do you run in the southeast? My in-laws run the silver #07 (1979 IT7)

My last drive in an IT car was 2 years ago in the orange #07 car that was owned by Dave Payne.

-billy

Oh man, SpecKia is gonna ROCK! ;)
I think Spec miata will be around for a while though. There are still plenty of M1 miatas (90-97) on the road whos prices have plenty of room to fall. Nicely maintained M editions are still selling for over $10K...

Also MAZDA sold more Miatas than First Gens RX-7s & the cars eligible for Spec Miata are significantly younger than the First Gens were when Spec/Pro-7 got started

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I'd prefer the "new" spec class to be something else that is slow (ITA or slower). Granted the Miatas aren't as bullerproof as claimed, but they are still pretty good.

Spec Civic (using the 92-95 DX) might be workable - just as "bulletproof" as the Miata and less expensive to buy/repair the sheet metal bits.

I really don't see SM going away. With SCCA and Mazda support, it's pretty tempting. And SRX-7 probaby won't disappear anytime soon - there are too many cars out there already built (certainly in DC). If the group plays it's cards right (and I think this years rule changes are a step in the right direction), it will stay attractive based purely on price of entry (where else can you buy a championship caliber car for <$5000?)