How Many 1st Gens Still Running?

[David Nock (RIP)]

Selling due to lack of use:
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1200851.htm

Thanks for the heads up Paul.
David.

[Ian65]

Hi,
I\'ve just found this forum whilst surfing the net and it\'s great to find a forum dedicated to 1st gen RX7\'s.
I love these cars, I first saw one, an Elford Turbo whilst on holiday in Bournemouth in 1884 and thought, \'wow, that\'s gorgeous, I\'ll have one of those one day. Quite a bold statement for an 18 years old with a 1.3 Marina!. I didn\'t know what type of car it was, it could have been a Maserati for all I knew, but it was beautiful and I wanted one.
 
My dream was realised when, 4 years later in 1988 I bought a V reg series 1 in black for 2 grand. Man, I loved that car. I was only 22 when most 22 year olds were aspiring to XR3i and XR2\'s, I had the sleek RX7.
 

 

 
DVLA records show that this car is no longer on their database.
 
I traded it in against my next RX7 in 1989, a white A reg series 3 which I paid £5300 for from a dealer in Derby.
 

 

 

 

 
This car was mint and original and low milage but in a crazy moment, I swapped it for a Porsche 924, something I\'ve regretted ever since.
 
I bought another white RX7 in 1996, an A reg series 2 which was a dog then moved onto other cars.
 
In 2002, however, a guy at work have a copy of the autotrader and whilst glancing through, I saw an ad for a red C reg series 3 at a car dealer just down the road. He wanted a grand for it and on the way home I called around to have a look.
It was all polished up in the middle of his showroom and looked the business, surrounded by run of the mill euroboxes.
 
The bad news was that it didn\'t run, or rather, it only ran for about a mile then stopped.
He\'d taken it in PX hoping to burn around in it himself for a while but couldn\'t get it going, neither could the local garage. I offered him £300 and which he flatly refused saying that it owed him more than that.
I left my number with him after depressing him further with exaggerated tales of rotary engine complexity and 2 days later he rang and told me to fetch it for £300!
 
I half towed it and half drove it the 5 miles back home and it took me 3 weeks to suss that the tiny fuel filters within the carb were block with rust from the tank. Cleaned them out and ran this car everyday for the next year and a half.
I finally sold it in 2003 for £900.
By co-incidence, a thread on this forum features a photo of the car which I took in 2003 when I put the car on ebay....
 
http://mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?p=24407#post24407
 
The car was a reliable solid useable everday driver in 2003 although the paint was a bit faded.
DVLA show no record of it. It would be a pity if it has been scrapped in the 6 years since I sold it, maybe someone has it still.
 

 

 

 

 
If anyone does have this car and wants to know some of the history of it, please let me know.
 
I would love another RX7. I don\'t have one at the moment.
I\'ve always wanted a metallic black Series 3 but have never found a really nice one for sale. Most minters seem to be metallic green for some reason!
I was amazed to see how few 1st gens remain on our roads.
 
Buy them up now while you can!
 
Cheers,
Ian
 
Staffs

[Ian65]

Does this car already exist on Davids excellent database?
I saw this in this weeks autotrader, looks lovely...
 
the ad says...
 
 
A reg, A--WOM, all past Mot\'s, Mazda history, stunning original example, lady owner, loved and garaged, new engine fitted by Mazda done 46,000 miles, recently tuned by an RX-7 specialist who said it was the best hes ever seen. £4,300 ONO.
 

 
cheers,
Ian

[David Nock (RIP)]

Wow, Ian, thanks for that great write up.
Of the 3 cars you\'ve put up in pics I had the white one FUT already.
It was advertised for sale in 2001 by a guy in the Birmingham area.
The other 2 of yours I didn\'t have the Reg\'s but I have now.
I don\'t know if FUT\'s still running but I\'ve put the Black S1 and the Red S3 into the scrapped cars section of my register.
The white one WOM I think is for sale at the moment in the Staffs area. I had got it logged, obviously as a runner.
Some questions.....
Is there a website for DVLA enquiries or did you make a special enquiry to ask about the Black and Red ones?
What was the Reg and Colour of the S2 that was a dog, in 1996? Can you remember?
Finally did you enjoy your 1884 holiday in Bournemouth? I hope so!:cool

[syebba]

Elford turbo rx7,s were in bournemouth in 1884 & there\'s me thinking the beetle had the longest production run.:confused:
Was it a steam powered Elford?:2Confused
This is staggering,have you informed mazda that their production dates for rx7\'s need to be corrected?
Keep us posted,were all ignorant about this period in the rx7\'s history.:god
Ta...

[Ian65]

fair enough! Got me!
It\'s amazing, no matter how many times you read through a post before you post it, you always end up missing something!
I was actually there a 100 years later than I tried to make out,1984!

[Ian65]

David,
the DVLA link I use to check current vehicle status is:
 
http://www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/
 
Just click on the vehicle enquiry button.
 
It\'s free and interesting to check up on your old cars.
 
 
I wonder if my old RX7, A24FUT still exists, I\'d love to buy that back and restore it.
I\'d also like to buy A84WOM if it\'s still around. That used to belong to a mate of mine, at the same time that I owned A24FUT.
according to DVLA it was still taxed until 2004 so maybe it\'s in a lockup somewhere...?
 
I don\'t think that I have any photos or the reg of the series 2 that I owned in 1996 but I\'ll have a look.
I bought it as a restoration project. It was white with a brown interior and \'A\' reg so was on the crossover between series 2 and series 3.
It had a Hurley recon engine and I put a new rear valance on it and a clutch slave cylinder but it was a tired car and never drove well.
I bought it from Derbyshire for £275 and sold it about 2 months later for around £500.
 
1st gen RX7s are unfortunately at that stage in their lives where it isn\'t economically viable to restore them, especially considering the high cost of spares for them, unless, like the 2 cars above, you have some nostalgic connection with them.
Nice cars are still pretty cheap so sadly, the rough ones with no mot are left to rot.
It\'s left to the few enthusiasts of these cars to preserve the ones that are left.
I have a real passion for them. I have to stop myself buying everyone that I see, no matter what state it\'s in!

[David Nock (RIP)]

Got hold of the DVLA idea now Ian. Very many thanks for that. It will help enormously with the identifying of \'dead\'uns\'.
What colour was A84 WOM?
Pay no attention to Syebba, (Stuart), he\'s a good egg, keeps posting finds, but lives somewhere near London!!!
My fault for pointing out that the Queen might have had a 1st Gen....Victoria that is.:King

Anyway, you\'ve passed the 1st test to be a proper 1st gen contributor... you can take a joke... good man.

[Ian65]

A84WOM was a white series 3 with a burgundy interior. My mate sold it in 1990.
Looked identical to my series 3.

[Ian65]

B722VKX Blue Series 3 Elford Turbo??
 

 
Have you got any record of this car on the list David?
Listed on Ebay, starting price £200, seller in Plymouth states that it\'s been in the garage for 3 years with high emissions.
I haven\'t seen a series 3 Elford before, only series 2\'s
Shame there\'s not more pictures.
Cheers,
Ian

[rei99]

Very nice this.... 147000miles are not less for a Turbo 12A... A MKIII will be also a very good car for suspensions/brakes... We need more photos!

[David Nock (RIP)]

Hmm....yes not many Series 3 Elfords. Not many across all the series but the S3 Elford\'s seem to be much fewer, car for car.
I had got this one off ebay but initially no pics so I pestered the seller for the Reg!!

[rei99]

I\'m sorry I dont have any other pictures of the car. The car has not been started for 3 years , the engine burns oil, the rotor tips have worn.

rebuild needs. And in Italy it will cost 10times the cost of the car. Damn.

[Ian65]

1980 series 1 on ebay in Liverpool. Needs love and affection!
 

[David Nock (RIP)]

1980 series 1 on ebay in Liverpool. Needs love and affection!
 

Thanks Ian, got heads up from your post.
Pretty rare if it\'s S1, that\'ll make 11 only known examples.
My problemo now...squeeze the reg out of the seller.