Hey everyone
id absolutely love a JC cosmo, even a 13b version (can import a 20b engine one day) but you cant seem to find them anywhere!
last one i saw for sale was £16,000 as well..ouch
Anyone own a jc cosmo and give their views on them? they look lovely to drive about.
(still have my rx8 by the way, not selling it, done some work to it, will be drifting it more with support i require)
I have a 20B, I live in the US and keep it in the UK (I am British and use it when I visit). There is no doubt they are amazing to drive, even friends who are not rotary passionate say so. Prices and scarcity of them (especially 20B) in Japan has been increasing fairly heavily but I see this with all old school JDM, compared to say 8+ years ago there are less appearing for sale in Japan. I am of course biased, yet JCs will be highly collectible, especially as the US market can start importing the early ones soon. I expect the demand and price of them to sky rocket when this happens.
Do not underestimate owning one though, they are not for the faint of heart and pocket. Fuel - UK cost - to drive one properly is insane, it's a car and they are 20+ years old now and do generate a lot of heat and things go wrong, the electric system that controls some of the systems is fairly complex and getting some components replaced or repaired is either very expensive (sometimes if you can find the part) or send to Japan only job. Mazda Japan does not have a lot or any spares kicking around for some of the Cosmo parts. Much of the work on a Cosmo comes down to trusting your friendly rotary mechanic or yourself and a lot of research and studying the Japanese parts/factory manuals; there are a couple of websites that still have decent info and fairly active members.
Now if you do own one, getting the most out of them isn't too hard, typical rotary mods and precautions that apply to an FD apply here. Finding some of the performance/aftermarket parts can take time and patience for them to come up is required.
Don't bother buying a 13B to do a 20B transplant; do it right and buy a 20B. Watching prices of what comes up in Japan and keeping an eye on the Cosmos around the globe your 16k figure is acceptable for one ready to go.
I can't stress enough that you need to be financially content you can run a Cosmo and keep up with any issues and maintenance. These are not cars to buy because they look nice and you fancy one! :-)
Here is mine, front bumper was recently repainted:- http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/148959 (http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/148959)
"they are not for the faint of heart and pocket"
Doesn't the same apply to an RX-7? :p
Mind you, 50% more rotors, more complicated electronics and added rarity, I can see why running costs would be even higher...
Quote from: Ravell on January 28, 2015, 11:10:42 AM
"they are not for the faint of heart and pocket"
Doesn't the same apply to an RX-7? :p
Mind you, 50% more rotors, more complicated electronics and added rarity, I can see why running costs would be even higher...
You made 2 valid observations ;-)
I've not owned an FD for a number of years but I expect it is still fairly easy to obtain parts and it is a well understood and documented car.