As far as collector-cars go, the Japanese genre has been picking up particularly hot momentum in recent years. One of the reasons for this is the level of community support with events like the Japanese Classic Car Show (JCCS) in Long Beach, California. Since the event is open to 1995 and older vehicles, this one fits right in.
The Pick of the Day is a low-mileage 1987 Mazda RX-7 listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a private seller in Hilmar, California. (Click the link to view the listing)
“One owner which was my late mother,” the listing starts. “Garaged its entire life, gold exterior with brown leather interior.” The odometer on this 42-year-old car shows only 24,976 original miles, and the crisp appearance in the photos certainly supports that number.
The RX-7 has been an import tuner favorite for years. It was first launched in 1978 as a front-engine, rear-wheel drive, rotary-powered sports car on Mazda’s SA22 platform. The first generation was a two-seater and is commonly broken out into three variations: Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3. Today’s example comes from the middle era, which is characterized by bumpers, body side moldings, and wrap-around taillight design.
Another unique thing about this year of RX-7 was that it was the first to carry a traditional 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN). Prior to that, the level of standardization across manufacturers was minimal – especially when it came to cars imported from other countries.
Power for this RX-7 comes from a 1.1-liter rotary engine paired with a five-speed manual transmission. Power for this arrangement was advertised at 115 horsepower and 112 lb-ft of torque. The five-speed was a noteworthy feature since prior models of the RX-7 had just four forward gears. “The entire drivetrain has recently been serviced,” the seller states. Even though the car has miraculously low miles, car collectors know that it’s important to keep things up to date with fluids and other “time-based” wear items that require maintenance.
The seller’s asking price is $27,000 for this low-mileage, unmodified RX-7. If you act quickly, you can register for JCCS. Best of all, the car is already located in California, so transport logistics are relatively easy.
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.
I actually reached out to the seller through the contact the seller in the add and have not heard a peep back. That was at least a week ago.