While we sometimes are conditioned to think that a car has to be over 50 years old to end up in a garage looking like this, the actual passage of time to finding a more modern vehicle wedged between the trappings of life takes much less time than you think. This 1991 Mazda RX-7 convertible may have been a driver at one time with a maintenance history that indicates a devotion to this iconic 90s droptop, but it’s been parked in this garage for the last 10 years. It doesn’t look bad out in the daylight, and it’s listed here on eBay with bids to just over $3,000 with no reserve.
If we’re reading the details correctly, the owner prior to the last one spent a fair amount of money on a factory engine replacement with a receipt indicating a labor bill of over $3,000 was paid. The most recent owner used the car for a short while before parking the Mazda in the garage one year after purchase and then sadly passing away two years later. The Mazda bears the scars of long-term indoor storage, with plenty of dings and dents, and it also bears a scar of the parking lot with a scrape going down the right side of the car. This being a later RX-7 means it wears the desirable factory BBS wheels.
Mileage isn’t exactly low, ringing in at just over 160,000. The interior looks like you’d expect for a neglected car with higher miles, as the upholstery is torn and the cabin is generally tired. The radio is also mounted on some sort of odd block of…..wood? I’m not sure but I’m guessing it seemed like a good idea at the time. The seller notes that in addition to the engine replacement, the factory manual gearbox was rebuilt a short time later, so there’s a high likelihood this RX-7 will drive decently enough once it’s properly refreshed after its long sleep in the garage.
The previous owner had big plans to restore this Mazda all the way back as the seller has uncovered numerous spare body panels in the garage that all point to plans to address the dented-up sections of the nose. There are numerous other boxes of spare parts that remain unidentified at the moment, but I’d guess there are some very useful spares in those containers. The seller says the top appears to be leaky but there are no obvious leaks under the car. Once the cosmetics are sorted out, this RX-7 will likely look even more tempting than it does now – and the rebuilt drivetrain should provide years of driving enjoyment.
Neat cars, this particular one has seen some use, but let me just say this, coming into tornado season. While it always breaks my heart to see someones cherished memories blowing in the wind, another BIG reason it looks so devastating, and it is, but mostly because people have a ton of crap in their flimsy structures, just like this garage. That “cloud” of debris, is mostly crap like this. The farm I lived on in Wis. was just like this, generations of crap eventually getting thrown away anyway. Human nature, I suppose.
These are fun cars and this one will be putting a smile on someone’s face in no time. That home
Made radio installation kit is an insult to “back yard hero” mechanics everywhere. Nice try, but I would have to pull that out before the two truck driver even saw it.
The radio plays “Woodn’t” It Be Nice.
Nice!?#$!?
When I was in business, a man said that he wanted us to rebuild the carb on RX-7. I told him to bring the car is as that was the way we worked. He refused saying that he had the carb off. We had the carb rebuilt expensively. When it was done, he drove the car into the shop. I have no idea where he got the cab from, but it was not from his car and it was the wrong one.
I worked at a gas station in the early 80s and guy came in on pretty much the same day every week to fill up and add a quart of oil. He said it was the norm for a rotary engine to go through oil like that. His was the prior generation.
I bought the earlier gen, a ’79, that had been sitting for year in the garage of a neighbor down the street in ’94 or so.for $500. Guy said it would turn over but not fire. I found a majordomo list for rx7 owners back then and was told to dump a dixie cup of two-stroke oil down the carb and, with good gas and a good battery, crank it until it fired. Took about a minute or so as I recall and it started and ran. Thankfully no neighbors called the fire department on me as the cloud of white smoke filled my street and the next one over. Redid the door panels, changed the oil and flipped it a few weeks later for double the money. Had two more after that, an ’89 coupe and a ’91 convertible. Great cars and the rotary was awesome. Heard stories about them being problematic once they got over 125k miles or so but never owned one long enough to find out for myself.
He was wrong. There are tables that list the oil injection flow rate. Depending on the generation, it works out to a half ounce per gallon of fuel (256:1). For builds that eliminate the oil metering, sometimes ratios of 128:1 are used (1 oz oil to 1 gallon gas)..
Looks like it has potential. Not too many miles on the new engine & transmission. Very tempting. I suspect that the price will double the current offer.