A Japanese modern classic – these RX-7s are well and truly on the upswing
Despite its thoroughly Australian name, the Type R Bathurst variant of the FD-generation Mazda RX-7 was never sold domestically in Australia, only in Japan.
Even so, the Japanese clearly held an admiration and a respect for Australian motorsport, as the limited edition Type R Bathurst was built to commemorate Mazda’s consecutive endurance wins on Mount Panorama.
Based on the Type R model, the Bathurst R took the lightweight ethos and ran with it: shedding a further 30kg, for an ultimate curb weight of 1280kg.
The car’s twin-turbo 13B rotary engine was capable of 206kW and sent power to the rear via a five-speed manual gearbox.
This Mazda RX-7 is on offer by Bespoke Motors in Victoria, listed for $48,990 with 83113kms on the clock.
If you haven’t looked at the prices of Japanese sports cars for the past few years, that price may come as a shock – however, the burgeoning market for semi-modern Japanese sports cars has exploded in the past few years especially. Our latest market review from our recent Japanese Classics special issue puts the final Series 8 RX-7 at a median price of $41,275.
This particular car looks to present very well; its black paint still has plenty of lustre in it, the engine bay is near spotless, and the interior photo shown exhibits no signs of excessive wear and tear.
The car however does feature some easily reversible modifications, including: 17″ Gram Lights racing wheels, HKS adjustable suspension, AutoExe muffler and carbon fibre shift knob, and Mazda Spirit R Carbon front and rear lip spoilers.
If the car is as good as it looks, it could be a good buy! As FD RX-7s are highly sought after and judging from the rate of price increase over the past few years, may only go up from here.
You can check out the full listing here!
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