Think back to 1978 when the first Mazda RX-7 appeared. No, Howard, that doesn’t mean putting on your former burnt orange leisure suit, just think back to 1978. This 1982 Mazda RX-7 GSL is listed here on eBay in one of the greatest cities in America: Austin, Texas. The seller is asking $16,500 or you can make an offer. Thanks to Larry D. for sending in this tip!
American cars were huge back in 1978 when the RX-7 hit our shores, and imports were appearing on the U.S. market by the millions. Gas prices were volatile (no pun intended) and gas was often hard to get. American cars were sometimes 18 feet long or more and a lot of them got 10 mpg if you were lucky. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Enter the Mazda RX-7, a weirdo rotary-powered wedge of a car, slick and sleek with maybe the most-unusual engine of the time. Fun to drive? If you haven’t driven one, yes, they were and still are very fun to drive. They weren’t the fastest cars available but they sure stood out from the crowd back then, and they still do today. This example looks like a jewel in these photos, in this beautiful color with a colorful interior. What a concept!
This is a first-generation “Series 2” car, which would have been made for 1981, 1982, and 1983, followed by the Series 3 cars, which were made until the end of 1985 at which point, Mazda redesigned the cars for the 1986 model year. You can see some discoloration on the side of the driver’s seat and maybe some general dirtiness and fading in a few areas, but overall it looks pretty nice inside. The back seat… er… wait, this is a two-seater, of course, but you can hide some groceries back there, and if nothing else, you can put them in the rear cargo area, which also looks nice. The GLS was the top trim-level at the time.
The engine is Mazda’s 12A-series Wankel 1,146-cc two-rotor four-barrel engine with 100 horsepower and 105 lb-ft of torque. That doesn’t sound like a lot but it propelled this 2,400-pound car in such a manner that you can’t help but have fun driving a car like this. The seller has done a few modifications, which may have boosted the performance a bit. They say that everything works as it should and all of the original parts, including the original wheels, come with the sale. According to Hagerty, this car is either right on the money or maybe even a little light on the price. They list a #3 good car as being $10,600 and a #2 excellent car as being $24,800, and that’s for a base car, not a GSL. The seller is right between those two numbers, and this sure looks like a nice example. Good buy or goodbye?
While at a local import repair shop,a guy came by with
the first one our local dealer got.We took turns driving it.I
thought it was pretty cool.
When these first came out, a man I worked with was going to buy a VW Sciroco…I had fallen in love with the new RX-7 but was still raising a family so my 1972 RX-2 had to stay. So I convinced him to go test drive a new RX-7…he did and the next day he had a pretty red one. He loved it for years.
If compression checks out and emissions testing are not a concern then absolutely buy it and drive it.
Looks to be in nice shape. My GSL (84) has the leather interior and the moon roof as well as the hard one. The seller has removed the ‘birds nest’ of relays and installed a Weber carb in place of the Nikki. Hope he dealt with the flapper valve beneath the carb properly. A lot of folks think that the Weber can give them something the Nikki can’t, but with proper rejetting of the Nikki and a few minor mods to the accelerator pump system, and turning the vacuum secondary control into mechanical control, the Nikki 4 barrel will give you all the ooph you could ask for short of a turbo. The RX7 forums have volumes of discussions on this very issue. Interestingly enough, the serious rejetting has to do with the air jets rather than the fuel jets.
Dude…that’s a Holly 4 barrel under that Racing beat air cleaner…not even close to a Weber.
Eric_13cars, are you seeing something that I am not? Seller states that it has the Racing Beat intake with Holley carb? I do agree that there is nothing wrong with the Nikki, since I am still running the Nikki in my 1982. Wonderful cars, wonderful engine. I prefer the Tokico shocks for the street. $16k is probably a reasonable asking price provided it checks out as advertised. Although that Racing Beat air cleaner housing is really cool and period correct… the stock filter housing with a cold air duct ahead of it would be much better on the street where air gets rather static and hot under the hood.
I could be wrong (wouldn’t be a first), but it looks to me like the Weber box. I didn’t change the struts on mine, but I used the Racing Beat springs which lower it 2 inches. Did that really early on (bought it in 88 with 5K miles.. it now has 185k) and, having been garaged for almost all of its life and never driven in snow and rarely in rain, it’s almost as pretty as it was when I first bought it.
Eric, have you rebuilt the engine? I got mine at about 70k miles and am now at about 130k miles. Have not needed a rebuild, but it might help a little. I wish I could say the same about garaging it and the condition. Not bad, but I do need to do some work on the rocker panels, and back fender arch. If you are aware of patch panels, let me know. Otherwise I will be fabricating within the next year.
JMB#7, I did replace the engine at 160K, only to discover that I hadn’t needed to do so (a running-hot problem that I misdiagnosed). I got the engine from a guy out west who used to rebuild them. That was 20 years ago maybe and it’s still running well. I have a lot of running vehicles so I don’t drive the RX7 much any more. I start it up and drive it around every month or so.
As to replacement parts, I bought an 83 parts car from someone in NC. Overpaid and it’s really not right for my 84 in terms of the small stuff. 84-85 share parts. 81-83 share parts. I’m not aware of anyone providing patch parts, although you might check the usual RX7 providers and check on the RX7 forums. Sorry I can’t be of more help.
My 1st one was a banana yellow 1979 I bought in the fall of 1978. I loved that car, but I bought a new 1982 when they came out at $12,300 and had it 8 months before I was in a 50+ car pileup on Rte495 in MA. The insurance totalled it and I was able to get a new 1983. Over the years after that I owned a 85 GSL-SE, 88 GTU, 88 ragtop and a 91 ragtop. I loved those ragtops the best as they might be a hair down in power due to being a little heavier, but top down driving with the speakers in the headrests was nirvana.
Had a ’79 (orange) and and ’80 (gray) in the mid ’80s. They were a blast to drive and well constructed. Wish I still had them both!
One of the comments reminded me (to remind the rest of you). The J109 ignitors are prone to fail (because they might be 40 years old). They are mounted on the side of the distributor. If they fail on the leading plugs the engine will not idle. If you attempt to increase the idle, the engine will run hot (poorly, and eventually stress all the old o-rings). If they fail on the trailing plugs, you might hardly notice. You can buy salvaged ones, or top dollar for new ones (scalper prices). It is not too difficult to convert to a very common GM style ignitor. There are various levels of converting to the GM style ignitor. I have converted mine to run on common GM style ignitors with the 3-coil Dual Leading Direct Fire arrangement.
Fun cars overall and if well maintained can achieve a fair amount of miles provided the apex seals and rotor housing seals remain viable. The only real consideration for this vehicle given what I see is its modifications, carburetor change, and possible elimination of the thermal reactor should give any buyer pause as to was this car driven hard as a result. Emission compliance can be another issue depending on where you live. They were designed to burn oil, increasing H/C levels etc and if not moderated as they were by the factory, spells trouble.
Very fun and well-balanced cars to drive. But the exhaust fumes will make your eyes water.
Got a silver 79 GS off the first truck hauling 10 RX-7s to Columbus OH in August 78. Paid $7,200. Base model was $6,995. Drove it for 5 years and sold it for $5,500 with 105k on it. Great car. I did experience the rear end getting lose a couple of times which was common to the series 1 cars. Did a full 360 in the rain…not on purpose but ended up heading in the right direction.
I’d rather be seen in the above mentioned burnt orange leisure suit.
I had a 1982 RX-7 GSL in Renaissance Red Metallic with the cloth interior – this example seems to be the same. I always thought the black instrument controls and trim in the 1981-1983 cars were nicer than the 1984-1985 “champagne” theme. The 1st generation 12a rotary was durable, and we drove ours close to 200,000 miles without issue (the 13b in my 1990 GXL lost compression twice). The 1st generation was small, fun, and handled really well, even though not the fastest. If the body is rust free, this example seems like a nice find.