Bought on Facebook Marketplace. I originally bought some wheels for another Mazda RX7 I have and came across this car looking at the wheels I wanted. I’ve owned up to 14 RX7s in total (mainly first gen RX7s) and saw this at a really good deal.
The previous owners kept the car in great condition. It was originally a Florida car but lived its way across 10 different states. And 6 different owners who kept all of the parts and every single services on the car documented. All the way from 1985 when it was bought at the dealership. To all the way up to current date. All of the papers for these are kept in the original Mazda Dealership Service envelope from 1985.
I needed a new daily, and had originally owned a Mazda RX8 as my daily and commissioned a shop to rebuild the renesis 13b for me(I love the RX8 too). Sadly, my rx8 sat for 3 years untouched after I had sent full payment off for the shop to rebuild it. At this point I needed a car to get around in.
Why a first generation RX7? My very first car is a 1980 RX7 and over the years I’ve owned that car, it taught me a lot about rotary engines. And overall about the car in general. Many years down the road I’d ended up getting extra parts, extra part cars and other RX7 projects along the way.
The 1980 RX7 Ended up becoming my project street weekend car. I then thought. Well, if I have two of the same cars that I both know all the ins and outs of. And having extra parts for the same model. Why not just keep one as a daily? Less hassle on parts I already own. And I could swap existing parts if one broke and I needed another to get around in. So it ended up working perfectly.
What’s it like to daily drive? A lot of fun! This car has never left me on the side of the road. But it’s not a perfect car. Especially for being 40+ years old. I’ve had to change the gas tank, suspension, belts etc. but as I said earlier. The car was really well loved and well cared for. All the previous owners have made sure everything was replaced if broke. And fluids changed at the right milage. I can say this very confidently. Keeping a car stock will 99.9% will be very reliable. Mazda knew what they were doing especially on these older rotary engines. If you take care of the car it will take care of you.
This car has 217,000+ ORIGINAL MILES. Yes you heard me say that right. This is the ORIGINAL ENGINE from 1985! This engine has NOT BEEN REBUILT. Millage keeps going up as I drive it. And it still starts up with no hesitation and right on the nose. It’s healthy and happy. And all I have to do is make sure the oil and coolant are full. And redline the carbon deposits away. Rotary’s are reliable if they’re in the right hands. 🙌
