An RX-7 Spirit-R... as an investment??? Please advise!

[Ada7]

Most cars that make classic status are wanted as standard as possible by the sort of people that "invest" in them. Gotta feel that modding a genuine Spirit R is something of an act of vandalsim anyway, isn\'t it?

But you could take a 1999 car and buy all the Spirit R bits for it. Yes technicly it wouldn\'t be a Spirit R but it would be exactly the same... if you know what i mean:3Confused

Adam

[DR SCHNITZEL]

dont buy an rx7 buy a property while the prices are low. an rx7 is like a box of chocs you never know what your going to get. but it will be a toffee that tastes like szhit !!!!!!

[DR SCHNITZEL]

Hey pipps the answer is yes. that car under your proposed circumstances is a good investment. if your being honest in what you say you want. if your not your a .... with a lot of money and i hope the spirit r ....s on you every time you start it which it might do.

pounds per smile plus the resale value of one of these in ten years will be great id love one. if you dont love the car or the "scene" you will cry and i will be there to take photos and laugh

But if some .... just garages one up for ten years then it will cost a fair bit to get it on the road. so bad idea. how many rotary specialists will there be in the future?

[BlitzBoy]

I think there are only 3 Spirit Rs in the country these were imported before the 10 year old rule change

[BlitzBoy]

i know you said you cant register a import on the road unless its over 10 years old, but there are loads of imports that are less then 10 years old.  What about the new nissan gtr? and the civic fd2? a mate of mine has one of them, its only about 6 months old

because as been said before the models you mentioned have had type approval reports done on them where the spirit R hasnt I believe from reading stuff

[Pipps]

Hi Gents

I am amazed at the kindness and abundance of response this thread has received. This is surely the most thriving online motoring community I\'ve ever seen!

My understanding so far from your comments is that a good condition Spirit R, with the added rarity of Titanium Grey, and kept completely standard, with low mileage and lovingly maintained, would be a car that in 5-10 years would be likely to hold its price relatively well?

Thank you for all the information on the issues with importing a personal motor vehicle.

I would be interested to know whether anyone thinks that the works which would most likely be necessary in order to make a Spirit R compliant for UK type approval would be costly? Is it mainly the emissions that would be the significant issue?


Thank you!

Pipps

[BlitzBoy]

Well I heard to two different stories , to make a type model approval report it costs circa 10K, but I hear some people can do an individual engineers report for 2K, you will need to contact an importer like Speedline or Newera that will have all the info

[Kieron]

If you own it in Japan for 6 months you can bring it back with you. Apart from that no way you\'ll legally get on on the road.

I know of one at the moment, dark grey, red carbon recaro seats, 18,000km on the clock for £27000 in Japan.

[sadgoth]

Estimates on developing a model report are varied but the costs are high (£20k - £100k depending on who you talk to) and there is no guarantee it is possible! The problem as far as I understand it is that the car has to be in manufacturers trim to get through the ESVA but win stock trim it would fail the EURO emmissions tests, to modify it would mean it was no longer stock so the only way to do it is to develop an emissions system which meets the standards and also is acceptable under the ESVA! + you will probably find other issues which would need to be modified under the same restrictive system.

[sadgoth]

re: the £2k thing I thought that was how much you could "rent" a model report out for if you developed one?

[Kieron]

I\'ve seen 3 different Spirit R types
A: Red carbon recaro seats and rear bins, black carpet
B: Red leather front + rear seats, red carpet  
C: Red leather front, black rear, red carpet

[Hi RX7]

The guy who imported my previous Pajero Evolution and put it through the test himself told me it cost him over £3000 and he would never put himself through the hassle again despite being someone who imported vehicles himself.

[Pipps]

If you own it in Japan for 6 months you can bring it back with you. Apart from that no way you\'ll legally get on on the road.

And if I understand you correctly, are you saying that the vehicle will not require type approval in this instance?

I know of one at the moment, dark grey, red carbon recaro seats, 18,000km on the clock for £27000 in Japan.

Does it have the grey alloy wheels too, by any chance?

[Pipps]

This is all fascinating information guys! I had no idea of the hassle involved.

In a way, then, this provides an even deeper answer to my original question. A matter which I had not even originally considered. As it would appear that this EU emissions type approval nonsense would mean that the number of Spirit Rs which make it to UK shores in the future are likely to be severely restricted, if any at all? There will remain only those aforementioned three vehicles - and no more - unless someone takes the plunge for the type approval costs.

So do you think that a Spirit R, which is one of three, or four, such UK-legal vehicles, would be a good investment? It would appear so! If only the acquisition wouldn\'t be so darn expensive!

[shaunwil]

Depends if they change the 10yr Rule before 2012 !

Shaun