I had a car with pop up headlights. One of the main reasons they had that pop up headlight button (without turning the lights on) is that when you got a really heavy snow or a thick layer of ice, those pop up headlights (sometimes) wouldn't pop up if they were covered with thick ice or a layer of heavy snow. So, if you knew it was going to snow all day while your car was parked outside of the office, you'd pop up the headlights so you'd have headlights on for your drive home on a dark, cold snowy night.
@@FlyingTigersKMT Winter 1944, have u watched clips from F1 2020 unseen? Those clips are based from the last great F1 game, F1 2020. Released for PS4. One clip featuring an anime TV Size version of Neo Sky Neo Map. 👍
I LOVE when Doug does an overview of older cars like this. I grew up when cars like this were new and it takes me back. Never stop doing reviews of older cars Doug they're great!
I agree. While I enjoy Doug's reviews of current cars, the old and odd ones are the most fun, I think. When I was in high school in the mid-80s I had a friend who had an FB RX-7. (She was a waitress at the restaurant I worked at after school; these were *accessible* cars, not just toys for the wealthy.) It's a lovely car. Yes, the engine is going to want a lot of maintenance; and I couldn't keep one of these myself these days, as it would be constantly bottoming out on the gravel road to my house. But they're pretty and fun. As attractive as the FD is, the FB is still my favorite. And that power/weight ratio was very respectable at the time.
he’s stating he won’t do anything before the 80s. He says the views aren’t there. Which I think he should do them anyway because he’s making a ton of money now through Cars & Bids.
I don't like when he does reviews of older cars. He's a good car salesman. However, I don't think he can remove his mind from the present. He always compares the old to the new. He's also clearly not mechanically inclined. I find it difficult to listen to people talk about cars when they don't know anything about the mechanics of the car. Manual steering for example. Sure it's difficult to steer at low speeds but it's never going to leak power steering fluid and may never need to be replaced, ever. Someone who has never had to fix their own leaking steering box cannot fathom that.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The GSL-SE was upgraded with a 1.3L rotary with fuel injection and 135 hp and 4-wheel discs. The pre-84 cars had a 1.1L with a carburetor and 100 hp and rear drum brakes, and that engine continued in lesser models in 84-85. I bought the first GSL-SE sold in San Diego in this same Sparkling black, but with a more tasteful (all) grey cloth interior. Mazda introduced the RX-7 with the 1.1L engine, but at that time they offered the 1.3 (13B) in the RX-4, so I knew it would end up in the RX-7 some day. I waited patiently, then got the first SE. I won a local autocross championship with it and kept it for 3 enjoyable years. With a limited slip diff, it did great drifts. At 6’1”, I fit fine even with a helmet. Thank you Doug for this wonderful memory!
I originally thought Mazda only produced the SE (GSL-SE) model in 1985, but I guess they did so in late '84 as well. (Besides being fuel injected, the SE also came with these 14' wheels vs 13".) I drove a White '85 GSL, fully loaded, with 4 disc brakes, but with Grey cloth interior, (in San Diego as well). I agree, the cloth interior was stellar, and in hindsight, ages ALOT better than all the leather examples I see on Bring A Trailer. My biggest question for @dougdemuro is, how the HELL did you successfully smog that thing for use in California?!! (That's my biggest obstacle to owning this again.)
It’s been a LONG time, but I think the ‘84 GSL-SE models hit dealerships in the 4th Quarter of ‘83, since I had mine to run in the full 1984 Autocross season. The first 3 arrived on the same day, and I was on the waiting list at all 3 dealers. A white one, a beige one, and I bought the Sparkling Black one. You’re right that prior RX-7s had 13” wheels; these got 14” which allowed for larger brakes.
exactly, people who are into audio do actually know how to use a graphic equaliser, and can hear by ear which frequency bands need cutting and by how much
Doug's continued ignorance on graphic equalizers is hilarious. He was roasted years ago for not knowing what it was when he saw one the first time. Now he acts like it's totally useless. But man, I WISH I had a graphic eq in my cars. They are awesome!
Wow, hard to believe yet another stupid comment from Mr. Zancone. Your coveted position as king of the village idiots is retained. Stop annoying millions of normal people for the applause of a few of your fellow social rejects.
This was the one for me. The car I wanted in high school couldn't afford, no matter how many shifts I worked at the movie theater. The RX-7 is still gorgeous all these years later.
Hey Doug, I think you missed a pretty important detail when discussing trim levels: every trim up to and including the GSL came with the carbureted 1.2L 12a motor. The GSL-SE was the only trim that got the fuel injected 1.3L 13b motor that is so loved by rotary fans, and was only available for the final years of its life, 1984-85, if my memory serves right. I owned an '84 GSL myself as my first project car. Never got it running properly but it was sure nice to look at! 😅
Must have been the engine my 85 had. My buddy had an 84 that was a lot slower! I remember mine being pretty competitive at the stoplight for it's time!
Thank you @duckraisin! I was surprised to see Doug miss that! I had a GSL-SE with the 13b and enjoyed pulling away from my buddies with lowly 12a motors. I replaced the RX7 with a GTI Mk2 16v. Oh how I miss them....
In 1996, I was 19 and my girlfriend had an 86 RX-7. We took it on a camping trip to the Canadian rockies. Sure, the car was already old at that time, you couldn't leave town without having a spare jug of motor oil. But it still ran well, looked cool, was a conversation piece. I got to drive it on some narrow, winding mountain roads and I still remember that as a very fun experience.
THISSSS..... is a Monday upload, and it is quite a pleasant surprise from Doug. He has long maintained a consistent Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday schedule, but today appears to be a special exception. And indeed, we are here for it.
ive had my family's fb for a couple years now after it was abandoned for 2 decades, been my daily for 3 years. constantly doing clutch dumps, taking it 1k over redline, pulls at every stoplight, delivering packages etc and that 12a rotary just took it all no problem. these cars are gems, glad to finally see doug cover this one.
So much nostalgia in this review for me. I had a white exterior, black interior 85 RX7 GS in 1996 when I was in high school. It was way too much fun to drive. I got a great deal on it after a full rotary rebuild and sold it after a year of driving. It was the worst winter car I have ever owned. A lightweight, high revving, rear wheel drive, manual, with low ground clearance, and no power steering is a recipe for disaster. I bought an 85 Isuzu Trooper II for winter driving. I'd love to see Doug review one of those.
omg, speaking from experience the first-gen RX-7 was awful in the snow. I had all-season tires on it and ended up in someone's front yard after just an inch or two.
I had almost this exact car. Same exterior color, with the same red pin stripe. Mine had a black interior and both the glass roof and a metal roof you could choose between. My step-dad ordered it from the dealership with all the options and drove it for around 10 years before I got it from him. So much fun to drive. So easy to break the tires loose around corners. It always felt like you were right on the edge, even though you were never really going that fast.
@@knupaw that's what I was thinking. Doug mentioned how 80's it was, but I dont think so at all. Compared to almost any other interior from '84, including German vehicles, this interior has held up incredibly well
It's been mentioned above, but the critical difference with the SE was the 13B fuel-injected rotary. ALL other trim levels featured the carbureted 12A (still with a manual choke!). It's also the only trim level to feature the 14" wheels. Others were 13s only. A 1984 GSL-SE was my first new car, and it spoiled me forever. Wish I still had it! ❤️❤️❤️
The other purpose to pop the head lights up without turning them on is if you were to park outside in cold weather, is to prevent them from freezing shut and damaging the headlights or the motors if you tied opening them.
No. On my 323F / Astina they never froze in place. The motors on Mazda model are usually the same as the wiper which turns two wipers plus two long levers. No ice could damage them. 😂 A bulb change requires opening them.
This was my first car 2009 when I first got my license, it was in my brother in laws family for about 20 years then handed to my brother, then to me. I didn’t have the se version, mine was carbureted, I legit had a choke I would have to pull on the left side of the steering wheel and I couldn’t drive it hard until you’d hear it pop in lol. It was the best car I ever had, super reliable and was the most fun I’ve had in a car to date. I’d get about 120-130 miles on a full tank, it had a JB welded “block” and never left me stranded. I raced everyone of my friends back in the day, it would keep up with my brothers GSR Integra, my friend’s NB Miata around every turn and everyone would stop to ask me about it. It sounded like a commercial fan when it started so everyone knew when I was skipping class lol. I genuinely miss this car, I am always on the hunt for another. Sold it to a racing company out of PA, apparently they turned it into a 9 second monster but never got proof of it.
k, ima say it...... The sound in this car (at the time) was incredible as the speakers were all right behind and beside you. My brother had a 1985 version . Those equalizer controls were sooo cool at the time. You could adjust the midrange and the high notes, and of course, the bass. I try to use the one integrated on my phone and it is NOTHING compared to the system in the RX-7. What song were we listening to you ask? Def Leapord: Love Bites. Perfection!
Millennials have only ever heard music with brickwall production and low bit rate mp3's. Doug is simply clueless about certain aspects of tech. I do look forward to the day his kids tell him that an EV sounds as good as his Carrera GT.
Agreed- I had an '84 GSL-SE, and that stereo was really good among factory systems of the time. That being said, I upgraded all four original speakers, added door tweeters, and built a subwoofer in the storage compartment behind the driver's seat. It was amazing!!
@@gregmakulec3092my 82’ GSL had the Clarion stereo with the separate tape deck…no EQ…I was so mad when the GSL-SE came out with the fuel injected 13B and that incredible stereo! I had upgraded my speakers and ran a second set of rear speakers at the far back hidden behind the carpet where you filled the rear washer “bag”…I ended up getting some great sound. I’ve had an 85’ GSL-SE for some time now and I changed out the stereo and speakers…added the rear speakers like I originally did, and then a subwoofer in the storage box behind the driver seat…built a box to mount flush after removing the compartment door and added two amps, awesome sound now.
My sister owned an RX-7, which looked a lot like this one with the red interior but I think with a charcoal gray exterior. It was an amazing car. I love the looks. This video brings back a lot of memories. It turns out I liked the car much better than I did my sister. Rotary engines seem like they should be more efficient because the motion of the rotors continues in one direction, unlike pistons which are constantly reversing direction. However, I think that rotary engines don't get as good of compression or fuel combustion as conventional engines do.
It doesn't have good FC not because of a lack of compression or inefficient combustions. Compared to 4 or 6 bangers in that era, all engines are not very efficient. The reason is has very poor FC is simply the number of cumbustions strokes per revolution of a crank. In an Otto cycle engine, every 2 turns of the crank corresponds to 1 combustion cycle. In a rotary engine a combustion cycle occurs every 1/3 rotation of the crank. So essentially, for every turn of the crank, you get 1 bang. Coupled with leaking apex seals. FC is always going to be terrible. But it's got great power to weight ratio.
My first car... had a base model 85 GS. I am 6' 2" and I fit very well! Terrible heat shielding means the red hot exhaust heated the cabin nicely in the winter, but ROASTED me in the summer. No AC, no power steering, manual windows, what a blast that thing was. Miss it daily.
It was my first car too back in 2000. I had a GSL, so I had a/c and power windows. I’ve owned multiple of all three generations and still miss that 12a first gen the most. It wasn’t fast, but it had full racing exhaust so it sounded like it was, and at 16 that was probably a good thing. I loved the semi manual choke. It never once stranded me either.
My first new car was a 1980 Mazda RX-7. The rotary was of enormous interest, and a huge bonus was that the car came with everything; the only upgrade I remember being available was a tape deck. The earlier version like mine didn't have a lot of the "quirks and features" as found in this one - there was no beeping to insist on upshifting, for example. It was incredible good fun to drive, was great in the snow and even more impressive through fairly deep flooding - one late night on the way home a lot of cars were stranded and I just powered on through no problem. With over 100K on the speedometer, I sold it after four years for 70% of what I paid for it. A great memory!
My dad had an original RX7. My mom would drive us to school in it. However, it only had two seats so I rode in the trunk. Those were different times for sure. My dad had to sell it after owning it for less than a year because he got so many speeding tickets in it.
Hello from Gatlinburg TN Smoky Mountains Park..Found this channel on Colin and Samir...I love how he doesn't use 100k graphics to make his video...I do Vlogs Daily here in Gatlinburg TN.. Great channel! 🌄🐻🏞️
"Really, you don't." The audio bit. Sorry Doug but as someone who went to audio engineering school I damn well do. Now is that head unit good enough with its pre amp, amp and speakers to really make it good... LOVE these cars, so damn fun to drive. Thanks for sharing Doug!
He is utterly clueless about graphic equalizers. I get the impression he has never even tried to figure it out, especially the way he moves the sliders, and talks about it like it's some kind of random code you need to set for each song. It doesn't take an audio engineer to move a slider and observe the results.
i had an 83 fb, same black/red like this one and an 87 fc. bought them both used, drove each one about four years. never had an engine seal issue with either, both just great fun to drive cars. never saw that speaker sound joystick before watching this vid.
One of the most 80's Cars out there, my Dad used to own one of these into the mid 1990s and i loved riding Shotgun in it! Also Doug already uploading on a Monday? I hope that means we get one more Car Review than usual this Week! Prost & Cheers from the Bavarian Alps
My Mom had purchased a 1985 RX-7 new from the dealer. 1.2L 12A engine 5-speed. Red exterior, grey interior. She couldn't even drive manual at the time, so her friend drove it home for her, and I was in the trunk area. The car got passed down to me in high school, and I just sold it a few years ago. So many great memories in that car. Think I fit 5 in there one time to head to the local pool! I would just take it out for drives in the summer evenings listening to the cassette tapes, just to drive. Miss those days.
There used to be a manual choke on the RX-7 where the circular cutout is on the left side of the steering wheel. To start the RX-7, you'd have to pull the choke all the way out then turn the key to get the fuel mixture right. It was the quirkiest of quirky features.
The second car I ever owned (in 1990) was a '79 RX7. It was a bucket of bolts by the time I got to it but still, a dozen or so cars later, it is my all time favorite car I have owned. Loved not having power steering...it was like the road was talking to you through the wheel. And SO low to the ground. What a driver's car. (And totally unreliable!) Thanks for bringing me down memory lane, Doug.
I used to drive around in one of these. Man, it was so fun to drive, much like the Miata. These were a lot of fun. Then I drove the 1993 twin turbo and it was a whole new level. The high revs were so nice, as mentioned by Doug. He is right on point. I know Doug is an expert.
My Grandma's neighbor had a FB parked on the side of their driveway for YEARS. Mainly because it did not run. I'd always stop and look at it when I'd go over to their house. Unfortunately, they sold it about a year ago. But it's nice to see this one in such nice shape.
Once upon a time I had 3 of these (FB) at the same time. All earlier carb 100hp models. Felt faster than they actually were. Would probably feel painfully slow today. The steering was not great at low speed (and not even rack and pinion) but I do miss manual steering. The rear axle hopped around a bit on bumpy corners which the FC with IRS did not. Gearbox was great. I put an RX-7 box in the B2000 pickup I also had at the time and it was such an improvement to that truck (which had the worlds worst gearing). At 5'10" I barely fit with a helmet on in a sunroof equipped car, no problem with a solid roof. The pop-up headlight feature was handy for autocross so I could better gauge where the front corners of the car were. I got rid of those eventually and got an FC, with which I won a few local autocross championships. I currently have a Subie BRZ 2022 which is light years ahead of all of them. Since I am not nostalgic I would never go back. If you absolutely have to have one of these 1st gen cars though, the 84-85' GSL-SE model shown here is the only one worth bothering about. The larger fuel injected engine and bigger brakes just much better, even if the car is a bit chunkier. Can't get decent tires in the original size anymore though, which sucks.
I owned multiple RX-7's back in the day. Both FB and FC models. I raced a RX-3 in SCCA ITA class and we would test various ideas on the 7's. I now own a GSL-SE but the rotary has been swapped out for a 5.3 LS motor. 400 hp rather than the stock 135. It is still a fun car to drive and gets looks and comments wherever I go(mainly because we were able to keep the stock look of the 1984 model unless you looked close at the wheels and brakes). I still remember selling one of the 7's to a young girl in the winter and she called back several days later asking why the buzzer kept going off. Fun Times!
My buddy in high school had a 83, this was 94-95ish. We decided to drive it ftom Phoenix to a airshow in Yuma. It broke down three times, last time the AC compressor froze up, so me being the car nerd decided to just cut the belt off, which worked. He never fixed it and just drove it like that till he totalled it.
The wheels are one of the best things about it. The first and second generation RX-7s actually had real tires that allowed it to be driven on actual streets with bumps and potholes. I used to have a 1976 Carmaro, a MUCH larger car than the RX-7, and it had 14" wheels. That allowed for tires that actually had sidewalls, and looked and worked great.
This was the car I drove in high school/early college. My interior was grey/black (so may have been one spec below this) and it was great. This along with my Suzuki RM125C was all my 19 year old self needed back then. Great memories. And BTW Doug, that switch to flip the headlights without turning them on, drivers of this car used it to "wave" to other RX7 owners as they passed on the road.
If you flipped the headlamp switch on and off repeatedly quickly they would go out of sync alternating back and forth with one go while the other was down.
I had a 1982 GSL and one thing that people around here did with the pop up headlights was whenever you saw another RX-7 coming towards you, you would pop the lights up and then back down to "wink" at them. Kind of like the Jeep wave now. Had more fun in that RX-7 than any other car I owned.
So the sliders on the radio are for the EQ. EQs definitely make a difference to the sound, but they’re pretty much all digital these days. Most of them only let you control 3 bands: bass, mid, and treble. So it’s impressive that this Mazda included a 9 band EQ actually. Along with the physical joystick to direct sound and the tape deck, this car’s audio is a fun blast from the past
This was my first car back in 2000 at 16. 83 GSL black with tan leather. Had full racing exhaust. It wasn’t fast, but it sounded like it. Loved it so much. I’ve owned all three generations and that first gen is the one I miss the most.
I had a 79 & 85,and with a few mods, you could get some good performance.I mean feeling the rear tires twisting going from 1st to 2nd,and a tiny bit going into 3rd. And they were great in the twisty bits, literally you felt like you were on rails,they were super fun little cars.
Bought my '88 RX-7 convertible in 1994. It's still my daily driver. It's slow as hell by modern standards, but it's fun to drive, makes a great sound, and the steering is delightful. It's also great not having to worry about timing belts/chains, head gaskets, camshafts, valves, and all the other things that kill piston engines.
I had an '83 GSL - I really miss that car, it was so much fun! There is a circular blank on the dash to the left of the steering wheel, which is where my manual choke knob was. When the engine was cold, you'd pull the plunger like a pinball machine and when the engine warmed up the plunger would pop itself back in
My first car was an 84 RX-7. I didn't keep it long partly because it was carbureted and I had no idea what to do with a carb to keep it running smoothly but mostly because it was one of the few that came with the automatic. That car was a pretty solid lesson in what an awful match a little rev-happy rotary is with a 3 speed slushbox.
Among all the other reasons I can't stand dug This is another one Ĥe thinks because he doesn't know something no one else does And when he's looking at older cars his so called quirks and features are just the way things used to be I don't know how anyone can stand to listen to him for more than 5 seconds
I miss mine. I had this exact year and model in brown. He really hit the nail on the head. It’s fun and responsive even tho it’s not really fast. I didn’t know it was so light, it never felt that light to me bc you really have to drive it with the manual steering. I’m 5’9 so it wasn’t too small for me. You gotta watch the electricals on this vintage and it’s much harder to work on than the 78-82.
I've always liked the Series 1 RX 7, and it looks especially good in this spec. I've never seen one of these in black before, and with that red leather interior too it looks fantastic. A friend of mines Mum had one of these back in the late eighties. A 1982 model in red, and it had the Elford turbo conversion, which pretty much doubled the horsepower. It was a properly quick car for its day
My second car was a 79 and my third car was an 85. Both the carbureted 5 speed versions. The 79 backfired like a mofo and had a more raw feeling. The 85 was far smoother and nicer inside. They never ran quite right but were reliable enough for my high school days. I was in the orchestra and jazz club and would drive my upright bass around town in them, along with an amp and still had room to spare. Super squirrelly on the road though, rear wheel drive with 13 inch tires could have gotten me in a loooot of trouble a few times but I got lucky. Fishtailing on highway 17 in front of a semi was probably my scariest moment. Also pulled a 180 in Los Altos hills which could have gone way worse. Fun.
Cool video! I learned to drive a manual transmission in a red 1984 RX-7 GSL in the way early 2000s. Fun fact, all trims except the GSL-SE had the 12A carbureted engine. The GSL-SE got the 13B fuel injected engine. It would have been my first car if the rusted brake lines didn’t fail sending me into a tree.
I learned on mine right after the exchange of insurance, and had to get home. Went from 1st to 4th and kept stalling at each light until I got home and had my gf at that time show me how to shift. I learned to rev up a bit before going in gear and letting out the clutch more gental. Didn't take long and I was doing good down shifts and letting her rip out.
6:00 Doug...an equalizer is not overkill, it's very simple to use to maximize the sound you want. Right side is treble, left side is bass and the middle is voice. Equalizers are still used today in apps for headphones, amps, etc.
I think he’s trying to say that during that time car speakers together with the radios we’re not going to be spitting out sound high quality enough for you to truly hear a difference by messing with the equalizer.
@@MrCashMoneyD18, the 80's was the beginning of hifi audio. I'm 60 and the audio was incredible back then. Today is of course better but so are most things.
Car stereos at that time were getting a lot better than they'd ever been before. The 1/8" cassette took a while to make 8-track obsolete, and the early 80s WAS that 'heyday' of mid to high(er)-fi on the move ...boom boxes, anyone? Graphic Equalizers could be either gimmick-y _and/or_ a modest advance. Every form of stereo that was trying to 'be with it' had them. Legitimately it's for helping the speakers get along better with the room they're in. _In a car, though, all it can do is help cheap speakers sound a bit livelier._
I just think Doug is not a big music listener, which is okay. He's so thorough about everything else but the car sound system never seems important to him
I've always loved the FB RX-7. I still remember buying one in Forza Motorsport 6 as pretty much my first custom car in that game. I painted it black with diffusing blue stripes running along the bottom. I lowered it and slapped some Super Advan Racing V2 wheels on it, as well as adding a rear spoiler. ~9 year old me loved that car. The shape of the front-end, the wheels, the single-piece taillights, the pop-up headlights, the little slits on the bottom of the front bumper, I loved it all! Thanks for reviewing it!
My dad got the first Gen. 83 or 84 and I rode in the back under the rear lid. Such fun memories of this car. He died several years later but had the car a while. I was just watching old RX-7 vids last night for the first time ever and this video pops up. Talk about coincidence. Such fun. Had the cheesy plastic sun cover on the back lid too. Whatever it’s called.
I bought an '82 back in '86 and absolutely loved it! Had an epic 360 degree spin out in really heavy rain on the freeway when some jackass cut me off - thumbs up from other drivers when I came to a stop facing the right direction to just keep going. Not sure it would have ended so well in a less balanced car, but also the light weight of it may have contributed...😅
Actually it really was quick more than fast. Not particularly powerful, but faster that any muscle car of the prior decade stock in short bursts. It was a throwback to 50s porches with less horsepower that were light with hi rev gearing.
A '84 GSL-SE with 130k miles (in hideous and faded Havana Brown Metallic) was the first car I ever bought.... couldn't have asked for a better first car choice. Man, I miss it! Thanks so much for the nostalgia blast, Doug!
I owned several GSL-SE's which I still miss, but the small handful of shops that actually worked on them stopped and certain parts became unobtainable or too costly. Either way, this was my favorite car that I ever owned.
My local Mazda dealer, when I owned one 8 years ago, still had an older tech that worked for them on their rotary hillclimb cars. So I could take it there if I desperately needed someone to work on it for me. Im sad I dont have that car any more :(
There was a shop in fort Worth Texas that repair these and I remember back in the day there was probably 20 non-running rx7s just sitting on the property. Nobody wanted them once they were deemed non-repairable for whatever reason.
@@danielknepper6884 Yeah, that reminds me of the shop that I used to take mine for repair called Rotary Perfomance. All they work on these days are the RX-8's. These were either too costly to replace the blown Apex seals or in many cases certain parts were unavailable. Very unfortunate since these cars were so fun to drive.
@@Cant_Frag Yeah, I feel you and also used to take mine to one Mazda dealer who worked on them as well, but the repair bills were always astronimical 😲🥴.
This review brought back many memories of one of the most favorite cars I have ever owned. My 1985 GSL-SE was painted Charcoal Gray, which I think is the same as this car, especially when the video had better lighting. Mine was not leather, but otherwise the same with the all red interior and cassette player with an equalizer. Definitely a nice setup back then. The one thing Doug forgot to mention that really was the difference in the GSL-SE over the other versions was the engine size. The GSL-SE had the 13B engine which continued in the next generations. I test drove both the 13B version and the 12A. The horsepower and feel of the 13B over the 12A was pretty huge. I kept the car for 25 years. There were a couple years of not driving it, but when I did, it was a whole lot of fun and without any of the ABS and computer controlled handling of a modern sports car.
This car is true black, if yours was charcoal grey, it was called Tornado Silver, even though it wasn’t silver at all. I had an 82’ GSL in Tornado Silver with the cloth red interior…the only two options I didn’t get were leather interior and the automatic transmission. I hated the leather interior, it looked too plush and not sporty. My cloth seats had striping going down the middle that was so much better looking (in my opinion).
My grandpa had one of these but it was silver. Bought it new and still had it when I was 6 years old in 1997. We'd go to Oshkosh every weekend and fill the back with trays of flowers for his garden. He'd teach me how to shift on the way there and back. It's a good memory.
An 84 rx7 was my first car and owned it for 10 years. Loved how mechanical everything felt except the steering box. Only reason why i sold it was because i bought a 93 and didnt have space for it. Only issue i had was sourcing parts, really hard to come by any sort of parts in good shape. Very few aftermarket upgrades and very expensive that usually require some sort of fab work. Even suspension was hard to source, it was either OEM like replacement or sourcing from other cars like Fox body mustang and MR2. But if i had the space i would have 100% kept it.
One of my favorite cars I ever owned! Bought an 85 GSL from an original owner. When I bought it it came with brushed aluminum 5point mags on low-profile Pirrelli tires--in addition to factory tires and wheels. The car sat like 5 inches off the ground! Seating was an experience as drivers legs went down a tunnel to the pedals. I likened it to a fighter jet cockpit. My interior was a grey velour on an otherwise black interior--save the silver center console--that I like so much better than the all red leather interiors. Also interesting was the manual choke which I had never seen before! I loved mine and it certainly was a compliment getter. Never had any engine trouble and agree with everything Doug said about driving a rotary! And yes, the lack of power steering made parking at the mall (yes, I am a proud 80s kid!) painful experience!
This thing is gonna bring $30k or more absolutely beautiful car. Good job as always Doug, I always wanted one of these this might just make me push that button.
I had an 84 RX7 GSL-SE in grey with burgundy leather seats and a moon roof. Very fun car!!! Also popping up the headlights was good for winter snow and ice. You could pop them up knowing if it was going to snow while you were at work or parked somewhere you didn't have to worry about them being frozen in the down position.
I had the 85’ GSL-SE. You could take off from a dead stop and accelerate to 60mph in 3rd gear without shifting. The compartment behind the seat was a great place to store the extra set of spark plugs that were necessary because it was really good at fouling the plus occasionally when starting the motor. That was caused by the oil injection. Also had to remember to add oil between changes.😮
I bought a brand new 1988 RX-7 10th anniversary edition back in the day and i really liked it at the time.... until it blew up three years later after dealer replaced the engine.
I owned a 1981 RX-7 GS and took it to Germany. Great fun running it on the autobahn, pegging it to 6000 rpm. It was the era of the 85 mph speedometers in the states. But since the gearing was 20 mph per 1000 rpm, I maxed out at 120 mph. I used to race 3-series BMW's back in the day on the autobahn. There were so few RX-7's in Europe in the early 80's, everyone asked me what it was wherever I went. Fortunately there was a Mazda dealer/garage in the German town where I lived that took care of me and my car. Nothing but great memories.
Mazdas for the American market were equipped quite well. My family had a 1980 626 coupe. It had the same steering wheel and shifter. It was very sporty, so much the press called it the poor man's BMW. Our 626 had the RX-7 waffle wheels, so many cool cars of the 70's had waffle wheels.
The one thing you must do if you own a rotary motor is constantly check and fill the oil. They will burn oil, especially when driving hard. You need to stay on top of it, and really check it a couple times a week if you drive it alot or at least every time you fill the gas.
I owned a few of these. One I purchased from Mazdatrix employee in 1998 out of Chatsworth, CA and the second one I purchased from Mariah Motorsports out of Santa Barbara, Ca in 2002. What a fun time in fun platforms. Both of them were 1984 models that had port jobs and Racing Beat exhausts. Later on I sold them both and bought a 90 Turbo II from Mariah Motorsports.
It was 1986, I was 17. My GF had this exact RX7, same color, but an 85. Her dad bought it for her used w/18k on it. 3 things > #1 Without knowing it at the time, I was not only sold on 'foreign cars' forever, but I fell in love with the rotary. #2 Ive owned dozens of cars in my life, but this was the only car that could be revved to 5 grand and leave from a parked posistion at the curb on a city street, do a 180 with no fuss at all and send you in the opposite direction. #3 At 20 I bought an 1988 RX7 Turbo and spent years working to buy every upgrade I could. Turbo cars were an unbeaten path back then, not a ton of parts nor did we have Google. In 95 I sold it and bought a 93 RX7. Went nuts with that car. Wish I had either one of them today. Who would of ever thought??? Lol.
Actually... The EQ in the radio is a neat feature to have on the radio, and it isn't overkill by any means. Thats basically to finetune the audio in the car. Some people like more bass, some people like to pull up the mids, and then there are musicians/audio geeks that will finetune the audio to have it sound the best it can, tuning it to the interior of the car. Not wantingh to sound condescending, but those "stereo controls" are mostly for people that understand how sound works.
The GSL-SE is really the one to get, all the other FBs had 12A rotaries and were carburated. The GSL-SE came with a 6 port fuel injected 13B which was CONSIDERABLY faster than the 12a, came with a transmission with better ratios, and a ~4.10 rear diff.
Doug, great video! That same exact car, same year, SE model, same interior color in white. I really did love that car! You are quite right about how heavy it was to park with no power steering. However, absolutely no problem whatsoever when moving. Also, very tight and enjoyable clutch. And, of course, the rotary engine just winds and winds. Joyful!! After that car I bought a 1994 silver RX-7 and took that incredibly obnoxious spoiler off. It was touted as 0 to 60 in 4.9 seconds - a slight manufacturer's exaggeration. However, that car was also great a great joy to drive.
When I was a teen, my parents bought an '85 GSL-SE and I loved it. That gen of RX-7 were oversteerers, and very easy to controls ones at that! Plus, the engine was so smooth, there was an audible warning at redline. When doing a stoplight to stoplight run, one could essentially shift at the buzzer. Very, very fun car to drive. They replaced it with a '90 (the middle gen) that had a more sophisticated chassis and 160 HP and an 8000 rpm redline. It was faster, but not as fun. One other fun fact: the pedals have the same pattern as the tread of the OE Pirelli P6 tires!
Man I remember being a kid in the 90s and seeing a bunch of these along with the 300zx, Mark II and Mark III Supras all the time in New York. Can’t wait to see reviews for those.
Wow, that RX-7 looks to be in great shape. It seems most 80s sporty cars are beat to a pulp by now or modded beyond recognition. I always thought they were cool cars but I had a Dodge Daytona Turbo at the time. A coworker did have an SB RX-7 that I rode in once, even teaching her how to drive the 5 speed better to take advantage of its power curve. Another friend later had an SC gen RX-7. I never knew anyone who owned the SD gen.
I had a car with pop up headlights. One of the main reasons they had that pop up headlight button (without turning the lights on) is that when you got a really heavy snow or a thick layer of ice, those pop up headlights (sometimes) wouldn't pop up if they were covered with thick ice or a layer of heavy snow. So, if you knew it was going to snow all day while your car was parked outside of the office, you'd pop up the headlights so you'd have headlights on for your drive home on a dark, cold snowy night.
Yup, also it was how you changed out the sealed beams.
Makes all the sense in the world.
It was so you can say hi to other cars without actually waving your hands.
@@aaroncollins5188 Biturbo Coupe and Acura Legend Coupe have 200+ bhp on average.
@@FlyingTigersKMT Winter 1944, have u watched clips from F1 2020 unseen? Those clips are based from the last great F1 game, F1 2020. Released for PS4. One clip featuring an anime TV Size version of Neo Sky Neo Map. 👍
I LOVE when Doug does an overview of older cars like this. I grew up when cars like this were new and it takes me back. Never stop doing reviews of older cars Doug they're great!
He should do more classics like this
I agree. While I enjoy Doug's reviews of current cars, the old and odd ones are the most fun, I think.
When I was in high school in the mid-80s I had a friend who had an FB RX-7. (She was a waitress at the restaurant I worked at after school; these were *accessible* cars, not just toys for the wealthy.) It's a lovely car. Yes, the engine is going to want a lot of maintenance; and I couldn't keep one of these myself these days, as it would be constantly bottoming out on the gravel road to my house. But they're pretty and fun. As attractive as the FD is, the FB is still my favorite. And that power/weight ratio was very respectable at the time.
he’s stating he won’t do anything before the 80s. He says the views aren’t there. Which I think he should do them anyway because he’s making a ton of money now through Cars & Bids.
I don't like when he does reviews of older cars. He's a good car salesman. However, I don't think he can remove his mind from the present. He always compares the old to the new. He's also clearly not mechanically inclined. I find it difficult to listen to people talk about cars when they don't know anything about the mechanics of the car. Manual steering for example. Sure it's difficult to steer at low speeds but it's never going to leak power steering fluid and may never need to be replaced, ever. Someone who has never had to fix their own leaking steering box cannot fathom that.
OId cars are where its at. New cars are done.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The GSL-SE was upgraded with a 1.3L rotary with fuel injection and 135 hp and 4-wheel discs. The pre-84 cars had a 1.1L with a carburetor and 100 hp and rear drum brakes, and that engine continued in lesser models in 84-85.
I bought the first GSL-SE sold in San Diego in this same Sparkling black, but with a more tasteful (all) grey cloth interior. Mazda introduced the RX-7 with the 1.1L engine, but at that time they offered the 1.3 (13B) in the RX-4, so I knew it would end up in the RX-7 some day. I waited patiently, then got the first SE.
I won a local autocross championship with it and kept it for 3 enjoyable years. With a limited slip diff, it did great drifts. At 6’1”, I fit fine even with a helmet.
Thank you Doug for this wonderful memory!
GSL models featured 4 wheel disc brakes as well.
I originally thought Mazda only produced the SE (GSL-SE) model in 1985, but I guess they did so in late '84 as well. (Besides being fuel injected, the SE also came with these 14' wheels vs 13".) I drove a White '85 GSL, fully loaded, with 4 disc brakes, but with Grey cloth interior, (in San Diego as well). I agree, the cloth interior was stellar, and in hindsight, ages ALOT better than all the leather examples I see on Bring A Trailer. My biggest question for @dougdemuro is, how the HELL did you successfully smog that thing for use in California?!! (That's my biggest obstacle to owning this again.)
It’s been a LONG time, but I think the ‘84 GSL-SE models hit dealerships in the 4th Quarter of ‘83, since I had mine to run in the full 1984 Autocross season. The first 3 arrived on the same day, and I was on the waiting list at all 3 dealers. A white one, a beige one, and I bought the Sparkling Black one.
You’re right that prior RX-7s had 13” wheels; these got 14” which allowed for larger brakes.
I can't believe he doesn't mention this critical issue.
I'm pretty sure the rear disc brakes were offered before 1984. My 1.1L 1983 Fb has them.
the sound controls in this car are actually very awesome, actual physical Equalizer and balance controls is pretty sick
Just shows that doug isn't really into music, an equalizer like that is a dream and rarely even accessible today.
Ya I had an 84 and that stereo was actually quite good.
exactly, people who are into audio do actually know how to use a graphic equaliser, and can hear by ear which frequency bands need cutting and by how much
Doug's continued ignorance on graphic equalizers is hilarious. He was roasted years ago for not knowing what it was when he saw one the first time. Now he acts like it's totally useless. But man, I WISH I had a graphic eq in my cars. They are awesome!
Doug the kind of guy to hold up a bank and demand they check out Cars and Bids before handing over the cash.
WOW Holy cringe
Doug the kind of guy to absolutely destroy the whole collector car market, and then tell you to buy one on cars and bids.
Wow, hard to believe yet another stupid comment from Mr. Zancone. Your coveted position as king of the village idiots is retained. Stop annoying millions of normal people for the applause of a few of your fellow social rejects.
@@fergamis erm it was gonna happen anyway but hey do you boo 😂😂
@@richardmiller6422 THIIIIIIIS is what we call an internet meme boomer 😂
This was the one for me. The car I wanted in high school couldn't afford, no matter how many shifts I worked at the movie theater. The RX-7 is still gorgeous all these years later.
Hey Doug, I think you missed a pretty important detail when discussing trim levels: every trim up to and including the GSL came with the carbureted 1.2L 12a motor. The GSL-SE was the only trim that got the fuel injected 1.3L 13b motor that is so loved by rotary fans, and was only available for the final years of its life, 1984-85, if my memory serves right.
I owned an '84 GSL myself as my first project car. Never got it running properly but it was sure nice to look at! 😅
Correct. The 84 85 GSL-se was the only model with the fi 13b. all others were 12a with a Nikki 4 barrel.
Must have been the engine my 85 had. My buddy had an 84 that was a lot slower! I remember mine being pretty competitive at the stoplight for it's time!
Thank you @duckraisin! I was surprised to see Doug miss that! I had a GSL-SE with the 13b and enjoyed pulling away from my buddies with lowly 12a motors. I replaced the RX7 with a GTI Mk2 16v. Oh how I miss them....
Good point! I had a s4 gtr, was amazing. Will eventually get me a s3 and sd
The GSL-SE also had the slits in the front air dam in front of the front wheels.
The SE only.
In 1996, I was 19 and my girlfriend had an 86 RX-7. We took it on a camping trip to the Canadian rockies. Sure, the car was already old at that time, you couldn't leave town without having a spare jug of motor oil. But it still ran well, looked cool, was a conversation piece. I got to drive it on some narrow, winding mountain roads and I still remember that as a very fun experience.
THISSSS..... is a Monday upload, and it is quite a pleasant surprise from Doug. He has long maintained a consistent Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday schedule, but today appears to be a special exception. And indeed, we are here for it.
I was wondering that. Wonder if we will get a video tomorrow still
He uploaded this video on Monday because this car is going to be listed on cars & bids and also we can see that he didn't put timestamps in this video
maybe he wanted to match the timing with the video he did with jay leno, they both released their videos within 5 minutes of each other's
UA-cam algorithms changed possibly?
@@Tempsho make me wanna say THISS.... also. 😂
ive had my family's fb for a couple years now after it was abandoned for 2 decades, been my daily for 3 years. constantly doing clutch dumps, taking it 1k over redline, pulls at every stoplight, delivering packages etc and that 12a rotary just took it all no problem. these cars are gems, glad to finally see doug cover this one.
So much nostalgia in this review for me. I had a white exterior, black interior 85 RX7 GS in 1996 when I was in high school. It was way too much fun to drive. I got a great deal on it after a full rotary rebuild and sold it after a year of driving. It was the worst winter car I have ever owned. A lightweight, high revving, rear wheel drive, manual, with low ground clearance, and no power steering is a recipe for disaster. I bought an 85 Isuzu Trooper II for winter driving. I'd love to see Doug review one of those.
My neighbour drives an ‘99 Isuzu Trooper. That thing is a proper tank
omg, speaking from experience the first-gen RX-7 was awful in the snow. I had all-season tires on it and ended up in someone's front yard after just an inch or two.
I remember my Dads 83 RX 7 in the winter. Manual pull choke and would take forever to start
My dad had a gold 81 in the early 90s and this is the car I learned how to shift in and started my car obsession.
@@lancairw867 I was trying to forget about the pull choke. 😂
I had almost this exact car. Same exterior color, with the same red pin stripe. Mine had a black interior and both the glass roof and a metal roof you could choose between. My step-dad ordered it from the dealership with all the options and drove it for around 10 years before I got it from him. So much fun to drive. So easy to break the tires loose around corners. It always felt like you were right on the edge, even though you were never really going that fast.
5:05 I love the interior. The contrast between the wine red leather and silver plastic is very nice. It looks simultaneously sporty and luxurious.
it also looks very modern. That center console could have been from the 2000s
@@knupaw that's what I was thinking. Doug mentioned how 80's it was, but I dont think so at all. Compared to almost any other interior from '84, including German vehicles, this interior has held up incredibly well
One of the most ergonomically correct interiors I’ve experienced. Everything is right where you want it.
I agree, looks quite nice even if a bit too red for my standards :)
The overall condition is quite impressive aswell - looks very fresh!
It's been mentioned above, but the critical difference with the SE was the 13B fuel-injected rotary. ALL other trim levels featured the carbureted 12A (still with a manual choke!). It's also the only trim level to feature the 14" wheels. Others were 13s only. A 1984 GSL-SE was my first new car, and it spoiled me forever. Wish I still had it! ❤️❤️❤️
Here in Australia, we got the 14inch wheels and bigger brakes with the 12a engine,. They didn't sell the 13b version here
The other purpose to pop the head lights up without turning them on is if you were to park outside in cold weather, is to prevent them from freezing shut and damaging the headlights or the motors if you tied opening them.
And to wink at the pretty ladies.
Add being able to change the bulbs to that.
YESSS! I was screaming that at my monitor!
@samlepro3 yep, had a 323F / Astina. You have to remove the metal cover to change the bulb.
No. On my 323F / Astina they never froze in place. The motors on Mazda model are usually the same as the wiper which turns two wipers plus two long levers. No ice could damage them. 😂 A bulb change requires opening them.
that equalizer and balance switch is literally my dream. 10/10
Just watched Jay's video. So cool to have a car guy like him call you friend and show admiration for all you've accomplished. Doug has truly made it.
This was my first car 2009 when I first got my license, it was in my brother in laws family for about 20 years then handed to my brother, then to me. I didn’t have the se version, mine was carbureted, I legit had a choke I would have to pull on the left side of the steering wheel and I couldn’t drive it hard until you’d hear it pop in lol. It was the best car I ever had, super reliable and was the most fun I’ve had in a car to date. I’d get about 120-130 miles on a full tank, it had a JB welded “block” and never left me stranded. I raced everyone of my friends back in the day, it would keep up with my brothers GSR Integra, my friend’s NB Miata around every turn and everyone would stop to ask me about it. It sounded like a commercial fan when it started so everyone knew when I was skipping class lol. I genuinely miss this car, I am always on the hunt for another. Sold it to a racing company out of PA, apparently they turned it into a 9 second monster but never got proof of it.
This looks so cool. Always preferred this one rather than the successor.
Thanks for reviewing this one, Doug.
Yeah, what a well preserved car too.
what's wrong with FC RX-7?
@@volvo09 I'm interested to see how much someone is willing to pay for this. There can't be many of these left in the condition that this one is in
@@JJ_5289 same here.
(Imagine someone buying it only to spray paint the interior white and turn it into a stretched tire "stance" car) 😂
@@Grulaz Perhaps nothing is wrong with the FC, he may just prefer the FB more. The Corvette C8 is a fine car but I prefer the C7 more.
k, ima say it...... The sound in this car (at the time) was incredible as the speakers were all right behind and beside you. My brother had a 1985 version . Those equalizer controls were sooo cool at the time. You could adjust the midrange and the high notes, and of course, the bass. I try to use the one integrated on my phone and it is NOTHING compared to the system in the RX-7. What song were we listening to you ask? Def Leapord: Love Bites. Perfection!
Millennials have only ever heard music with brickwall production and low bit rate mp3's. Doug is simply clueless about certain aspects of tech. I do look forward to the day his kids tell him that an EV sounds as good as his Carrera GT.
Agreed- I had an '84 GSL-SE, and that stereo was really good among factory systems of the time. That being said, I upgraded all four original speakers, added door tweeters, and built a subwoofer in the storage compartment behind the driver's seat. It was amazing!!
@@gregmakulec3092my 82’ GSL had the Clarion stereo with the separate tape deck…no EQ…I was so mad when the GSL-SE came out with the fuel injected 13B and that incredible stereo! I had upgraded my speakers and ran a second set of rear speakers at the far back hidden behind the carpet where you filled the rear washer “bag”…I ended up getting some great sound. I’ve had an 85’ GSL-SE for some time now and I changed out the stereo and speakers…added the rear speakers like I originally did, and then a subwoofer in the storage box behind the driver seat…built a box to mount flush after removing the compartment door and added two amps, awesome sound now.
My sister owned an RX-7, which looked a lot like this one with the red interior but I think with a charcoal gray exterior. It was an amazing car. I love the looks. This video brings back a lot of memories. It turns out I liked the car much better than I did my sister. Rotary engines seem like they should be more efficient because the motion of the rotors continues in one direction, unlike pistons which are constantly reversing direction. However, I think that rotary engines don't get as good of compression or fuel combustion as conventional engines do.
Yea amazingly junk.
A friend bought an early one and got around 16 MPG.
I like this car also much more then I like your sister.
It doesn't have good FC not because of a lack of compression or inefficient combustions. Compared to 4 or 6 bangers in that era, all engines are not very efficient.
The reason is has very poor FC is simply the number of cumbustions strokes per revolution of a crank. In an Otto cycle engine, every 2 turns of the crank corresponds to 1 combustion cycle. In a rotary engine a combustion cycle occurs every 1/3 rotation of the crank. So essentially, for every turn of the crank, you get 1 bang. Coupled with leaking apex seals. FC is always going to be terrible. But it's got great power to weight ratio.
@@sgtjyf01 Thanks for the info.
My brother and I shared an RX-4 in 1984. At the same time my friend's dad, a doctor, bought one of these and we loved "borrowing" it. 😉
My first car... had a base model 85 GS. I am 6' 2" and I fit very well! Terrible heat shielding means the red hot exhaust heated the cabin nicely in the winter, but ROASTED me in the summer. No AC, no power steering, manual windows, what a blast that thing was. Miss it daily.
Man I am old enough to remember when cars had A/C, power steering/abs as optionals lol.
Love it! I tried to buy one for my 1st car but was told it was too unreliable.
It was my first car too back in 2000. I had a GSL, so I had a/c and power windows. I’ve owned multiple of all three generations and still miss that 12a first gen the most. It wasn’t fast, but it had full racing exhaust so it sounded like it was, and at 16 that was probably a good thing. I loved the semi manual choke. It never once stranded me either.
My first new car was a 1980 Mazda RX-7. The rotary was of enormous interest, and a huge bonus was that the car came with everything; the only upgrade I remember being available was a tape deck. The earlier version like mine didn't have a lot of the "quirks and features" as found in this one - there was no beeping to insist on upshifting, for example. It was incredible good fun to drive, was great in the snow and even more impressive through fairly deep flooding - one late night on the way home a lot of cars were stranded and I just powered on through no problem. With over 100K on the speedometer, I sold it after four years for 70% of what I paid for it. A great memory!
My dad had an original RX7. My mom would drive us to school in it. However, it only had two seats so I rode in the trunk. Those were different times for sure. My dad had to sell it after owning it for less than a year because he got so many speeding tickets in it.
Your dad must be a reckless driver
Lol, your dad must be 'Most Wanted'
I remember riding in the space behind the back seat of a VW Beetle.
Hello from Gatlinburg TN Smoky Mountains Park..Found this channel on Colin and Samir...I love how he doesn't use 100k graphics to make his video...I do Vlogs Daily here in Gatlinburg TN.. Great channel! 🌄🐻🏞️
"Really, you don't." The audio bit. Sorry Doug but as someone who went to audio engineering school I damn well do. Now is that head unit good enough with its pre amp, amp and speakers to really make it good... LOVE these cars, so damn fun to drive. Thanks for sharing Doug!
He is utterly clueless about graphic equalizers. I get the impression he has never even tried to figure it out, especially the way he moves the sliders, and talks about it like it's some kind of random code you need to set for each song. It doesn't take an audio engineer to move a slider and observe the results.
@@crookedtool definitely one of those things where people have huge talents in one area of life but are COMPLETELY incompetent in other areas lol
@@crookedtool HAHAHAHA You are not wrong.
i had an 83 fb, same black/red like this one and an 87 fc. bought them both used, drove each one about four years. never had an engine seal issue with either, both just great fun to drive cars. never saw that speaker sound joystick before watching this vid.
One of the most 80's Cars out there, my Dad used to own one of these into the mid 1990s and i loved riding Shotgun in it!
Also Doug already uploading on a Monday? I hope that means we get one more Car Review than usual this Week!
Prost & Cheers from the Bavarian Alps
My Mom had purchased a 1985 RX-7 new from the dealer. 1.2L 12A engine 5-speed. Red exterior, grey interior. She couldn't even drive manual at the time, so her friend drove it home for her, and I was in the trunk area. The car got passed down to me in high school, and I just sold it a few years ago. So many great memories in that car. Think I fit 5 in there one time to head to the local pool! I would just take it out for drives in the summer evenings listening to the cassette tapes, just to drive. Miss those days.
There used to be a manual choke on the RX-7 where the circular cutout is on the left side of the steering wheel. To start the RX-7, you'd have to pull the choke all the way out then turn the key to get the fuel mixture right. It was the quirkiest of quirky features.
That's the same as older carburetor motorcycles with the pull out choke to flow extra fuel to cold start the engine.
Nothing really *that* quirky with a manual choke on a carb car in the early 80's though really :)
yes, my 83 fb had a choke, my 87 fc did not
Many, if not almost all cars of this era, had a manual choke.
No choke on the GSL-SE since it had fuel injection, but all the carbureted rotaries had a manual choke.
The second car I ever owned (in 1990) was a '79 RX7. It was a bucket of bolts by the time I got to it but still, a dozen or so cars later, it is my all time favorite car I have owned. Loved not having power steering...it was like the road was talking to you through the wheel. And SO low to the ground. What a driver's car. (And totally unreliable!) Thanks for bringing me down memory lane, Doug.
I used to drive around in one of these. Man, it was so fun to drive, much like the Miata. These were a lot of fun. Then I drove the 1993 twin turbo and it was a whole new level. The high revs were so nice, as mentioned by Doug. He is right on point. I know Doug is an expert.
My Grandma's neighbor had a FB parked on the side of their driveway for YEARS. Mainly because it did not run. I'd always stop and look at it when I'd go over to their house. Unfortunately, they sold it about a year ago. But it's nice to see this one in such nice shape.
Once upon a time I had 3 of these (FB) at the same time. All earlier carb 100hp models. Felt faster than they actually were. Would probably feel painfully slow today. The steering was not great at low speed (and not even rack and pinion) but I do miss manual steering. The rear axle hopped around a bit on bumpy corners which the FC with IRS did not. Gearbox was great. I put an RX-7 box in the B2000 pickup I also had at the time and it was such an improvement to that truck (which had the worlds worst gearing). At 5'10" I barely fit with a helmet on in a sunroof equipped car, no problem with a solid roof. The pop-up headlight feature was handy for autocross so I could better gauge where the front corners of the car were.
I got rid of those eventually and got an FC, with which I won a few local autocross championships. I currently have a Subie BRZ 2022 which is light years ahead of all of them. Since I am not nostalgic I would never go back.
If you absolutely have to have one of these 1st gen cars though, the 84-85' GSL-SE model shown here is the only one worth bothering about. The larger fuel injected engine and bigger brakes just much better, even if the car is a bit chunkier. Can't get decent tires in the original size anymore though, which sucks.
I owned multiple RX-7's back in the day. Both FB and FC models. I raced a RX-3 in SCCA ITA class and we would test various ideas on the 7's. I now own a GSL-SE but the rotary has been swapped out for a 5.3 LS motor. 400 hp rather than the stock 135. It is still a fun car to drive and gets looks and comments wherever I go(mainly because we were able to keep the stock look of the 1984 model unless you looked close at the wheels and brakes). I still remember selling one of the 7's to a young girl in the winter and she called back several days later asking why the buzzer kept going off. Fun Times!
My buddy in high school had a 83, this was 94-95ish. We decided to drive it ftom Phoenix to a airshow in Yuma. It broke down three times, last time the AC compressor froze up, so me being the car nerd decided to just cut the belt off, which worked. He never fixed it and just drove it like that till he totalled it.
Like god intended
Z Z Z We stand with Russia
So hard to believe this is now a classic, loved my turbo SA22C with the 12A. Went genuinely quick with a TO3 snail. Rotors forever.
The wheels are one of the best things about it. The first and second generation RX-7s actually had real tires that allowed it to be driven on actual streets with bumps and potholes. I used to have a 1976 Carmaro, a MUCH larger car than the RX-7, and it had 14" wheels. That allowed for tires that actually had sidewalls, and looked and worked great.
This was the car I drove in high school/early college. My interior was grey/black (so may have been one spec below this) and it was great. This along with my Suzuki RM125C was all my 19 year old self needed back then. Great memories. And BTW Doug, that switch to flip the headlights without turning them on, drivers of this car used it to "wave" to other RX7 owners as they passed on the road.
If you flipped the headlamp switch on and off repeatedly quickly they would go out of sync alternating back and forth with one go while the other was down.
That stereo is a thing of beauty IMO
I had a 1982 GSL and one thing that people around here did with the pop up headlights was whenever you saw another RX-7 coming towards you, you would pop the lights up and then back down to "wink" at them. Kind of like the Jeep wave now. Had more fun in that RX-7 than any other car I owned.
So the sliders on the radio are for the EQ. EQs definitely make a difference to the sound, but they’re pretty much all digital these days. Most of them only let you control 3 bands: bass, mid, and treble. So it’s impressive that this Mazda included a 9 band EQ actually.
Along with the physical joystick to direct sound and the tape deck, this car’s audio is a fun blast from the past
This was my first car back in 2000 at 16. 83 GSL black with tan leather. Had full racing exhaust. It wasn’t fast, but it sounded like it. Loved it so much. I’ve owned all three generations and that first gen is the one I miss the most.
I had a 79 & 85,and with a few mods, you could get some good performance.I mean feeling the rear tires twisting going from 1st to 2nd,and a tiny bit going into 3rd. And they were great in the twisty bits, literally you felt like you were on rails,they were super fun little cars.
Bought my '88 RX-7 convertible in 1994. It's still my daily driver. It's slow as hell by modern standards, but it's fun to drive, makes a great sound, and the steering is delightful.
It's also great not having to worry about timing belts/chains, head gaskets, camshafts, valves, and all the other things that kill piston engines.
Doug the kind of guy to install speed cameras in his hallway.
I had an '83 GSL - I really miss that car, it was so much fun! There is a circular blank on the dash to the left of the steering wheel, which is where my manual choke knob was. When the engine was cold, you'd pull the plunger like a pinball machine and when the engine warmed up the plunger would pop itself back in
My first car was an 84 RX-7. I didn't keep it long partly because it was carbureted and I had no idea what to do with a carb to keep it running smoothly but mostly because it was one of the few that came with the automatic. That car was a pretty solid lesson in what an awful match a little rev-happy rotary is with a 3 speed slushbox.
Recently picked one of these up for myself. Super exited to see that Doug made a video on one of these cars 😁
Dude, it's called an equalizer and plenty of people actually know how to adjust it. It's not really a mystery, unless you're ignorant.
Among all the other reasons I can't stand dug
This is another one
Ĥe thinks because he doesn't know something no one else does
And when he's looking at older cars his so called quirks and features are just the way things used to be
I don't know how anyone can stand to listen to him for more than 5 seconds
I miss mine. I had this exact year and model in brown. He really hit the nail on the head. It’s fun and responsive even tho it’s not really fast. I didn’t know it was so light, it never felt that light to me bc you really have to drive it with the manual steering. I’m 5’9 so it wasn’t too small for me. You gotta watch the electricals on this vintage and it’s much harder to work on than the 78-82.
I've always liked the Series 1 RX 7, and it looks especially good in this spec. I've never seen one of these in black before, and with that red leather interior too it looks fantastic. A friend of mines Mum had one of these back in the late eighties. A 1982 model in red, and it had the Elford turbo conversion, which pretty much doubled the horsepower. It was a properly quick car for its day
My second car was a 79 and my third car was an 85. Both the carbureted 5 speed versions. The 79 backfired like a mofo and had a more raw feeling. The 85 was far smoother and nicer inside. They never ran quite right but were reliable enough for my high school days. I was in the orchestra and jazz club and would drive my upright bass around town in them, along with an amp and still had room to spare. Super squirrelly on the road though, rear wheel drive with 13 inch tires could have gotten me in a loooot of trouble a few times but I got lucky. Fishtailing on highway 17 in front of a semi was probably my scariest moment. Also pulled a 180 in Los Altos hills which could have gone way worse. Fun.
Cool video! I learned to drive a manual transmission in a red 1984 RX-7 GSL in the way early 2000s. Fun fact, all trims except the GSL-SE had the 12A carbureted engine. The GSL-SE got the 13B fuel injected engine. It would have been my first car if the rusted brake lines didn’t fail sending me into a tree.
I learned on mine right after the exchange of insurance, and had to get home. Went from 1st to 4th and kept stalling at each light until I got home and had my gf at that time show me how to shift. I learned to rev up a bit before going in gear and letting out the clutch more gental. Didn't take long and I was doing good down shifts and letting her rip out.
And you could easily tell the difference in sound with the eq. It certainly wasn't overkill. Would love to have that option back.
6:00 Doug...an equalizer is not overkill, it's very simple to use to maximize the sound you want. Right side is treble, left side is bass and the middle is voice. Equalizers are still used today in apps for headphones, amps, etc.
I think he’s trying to say that during that time car speakers together with the radios we’re not going to be spitting out sound high quality enough for you to truly hear a difference by messing with the equalizer.
@@MrCashMoneyD18 even fm radio can benefit from some EQ. I think Doug just doesn't really care about music.
@@MrCashMoneyD18, the 80's was the beginning of hifi audio. I'm 60 and the audio was incredible back then. Today is of course better but so are most things.
Car stereos at that time were getting a lot better than they'd ever been before. The 1/8" cassette took a while to make 8-track obsolete, and the early 80s WAS that 'heyday' of mid to high(er)-fi on the move ...boom boxes, anyone?
Graphic Equalizers could be either gimmick-y _and/or_ a modest advance. Every form of stereo that was trying to 'be with it' had them. Legitimately it's for helping the speakers get along better with the room they're in. _In a car, though, all it can do is help cheap speakers sound a bit livelier._
I just think Doug is not a big music listener, which is okay. He's so thorough about everything else but the car sound system never seems important to him
I love those audio controls, especially the fader adjuster
I've always loved the FB RX-7. I still remember buying one in Forza Motorsport 6 as pretty much my first custom car in that game. I painted it black with diffusing blue stripes running along the bottom. I lowered it and slapped some Super Advan Racing V2 wheels on it, as well as adding a rear spoiler. ~9 year old me loved that car. The shape of the front-end, the wheels, the single-piece taillights, the pop-up headlights, the little slits on the bottom of the front bumper, I loved it all! Thanks for reviewing it!
My dad got the first Gen. 83 or 84 and I rode in the back under the rear lid. Such fun memories of this car. He died several years later but had the car a while. I was just watching old RX-7 vids last night for the first time ever and this video pops up. Talk about coincidence. Such fun. Had the cheesy plastic sun cover on the back lid too. Whatever it’s called.
Louvers!
KEEP THESE OLD CAR REVIEWS COMING! forget the views, make us happy!!
I bought an '82 back in '86 and absolutely loved it! Had an epic 360 degree spin out in really heavy rain on the freeway when some jackass cut me off - thumbs up from other drivers when I came to a stop facing the right direction to just keep going. Not sure it would have ended so well in a less balanced car, but also the light weight of it may have contributed...😅
Absolutely love your videos Doug. Please review a Hyundai Genesis coupe 3.8 please.
Having an EQ in a car stereo was wonderful, they need to bring that back.
Oh no, Dougs inflating the cheaper RX7s, there goes my dream of ownership 😪
It was not fast for anytime
Actually it really was quick more than fast. Not particularly powerful, but faster that any muscle car of the prior decade stock in short bursts. It was a throwback to 50s porches with less horsepower that were light with hi rev gearing.
A '84 GSL-SE with 130k miles (in hideous and faded Havana Brown Metallic) was the first car I ever bought.... couldn't have asked for a better first car choice. Man, I miss it! Thanks so much for the nostalgia blast, Doug!
I owned several GSL-SE's which I still miss, but the small handful of shops that actually worked on them stopped and certain parts became unobtainable or too costly. Either way, this was my favorite car that I ever owned.
My local Mazda dealer, when I owned one 8 years ago, still had an older tech that worked for them on their rotary hillclimb cars. So I could take it there if I desperately needed someone to work on it for me. Im sad I dont have that car any more :(
There was a shop in fort Worth Texas that repair these and I remember back in the day there was probably 20 non-running rx7s just sitting on the property. Nobody wanted them once they were deemed non-repairable for whatever reason.
That’s always been the thing stopping me from owning one
@@danielknepper6884 Yeah, that reminds me of the shop that I used to take mine for repair called Rotary Perfomance. All they work on these days are the RX-8's. These were either too costly to replace the blown Apex seals or in many cases certain parts were unavailable. Very unfortunate since these cars were so fun to drive.
@@Cant_Frag Yeah, I feel you and also used to take mine to one Mazda dealer who worked on them as well, but the repair bills were always astronimical 😲🥴.
This review brought back many memories of one of the most favorite cars I have ever owned. My 1985 GSL-SE was painted Charcoal Gray, which I think is the same as this car, especially when the video had better lighting. Mine was not leather, but otherwise the same with the all red interior and cassette player with an equalizer. Definitely a nice setup back then. The one thing Doug forgot to mention that really was the difference in the GSL-SE over the other versions was the engine size. The GSL-SE had the 13B engine which continued in the next generations. I test drove both the 13B version and the 12A. The horsepower and feel of the 13B over the 12A was pretty huge. I kept the car for 25 years. There were a couple years of not driving it, but when I did, it was a whole lot of fun and without any of the ABS and computer controlled handling of a modern sports car.
This car is true black, if yours was charcoal grey, it was called Tornado Silver, even though it wasn’t silver at all. I had an 82’ GSL in Tornado Silver with the cloth red interior…the only two options I didn’t get were leather interior and the automatic transmission. I hated the leather interior, it looked too plush and not sporty. My cloth seats had striping going down the middle that was so much better looking (in my opinion).
My grandpa had one of these but it was silver. Bought it new and still had it when I was 6 years old in 1997. We'd go to Oshkosh every weekend and fill the back with trays of flowers for his garden. He'd teach me how to shift on the way there and back. It's a good memory.
An 84 rx7 was my first car and owned it for 10 years. Loved how mechanical everything felt except the steering box. Only reason why i sold it was because i bought a 93 and didnt have space for it. Only issue i had was sourcing parts, really hard to come by any sort of parts in good shape. Very few aftermarket upgrades and very expensive that usually require some sort of fab work. Even suspension was hard to source, it was either OEM like replacement or sourcing from other cars like Fox body mustang and MR2. But if i had the space i would have 100% kept it.
One of my favorite cars I ever owned! Bought an 85 GSL from an original owner. When I bought it it came with brushed aluminum 5point mags on low-profile Pirrelli tires--in addition to factory tires and wheels. The car sat like 5 inches off the ground! Seating was an experience as drivers legs went down a tunnel to the pedals. I likened it to a fighter jet cockpit. My interior was a grey velour on an otherwise black interior--save the silver center console--that I like so much better than the all red leather interiors. Also interesting was the manual choke which I had never seen before! I loved mine and it certainly was a compliment getter. Never had any engine trouble and agree with everything Doug said about driving a rotary! And yes, the lack of power steering made parking at the mall (yes, I am a proud 80s kid!) painful experience!
This thing is gonna bring $30k or more absolutely beautiful car. Good job as always Doug, I always wanted one of these this might just make me push that button.
I had an 84 RX7 GSL-SE in grey with burgundy leather seats and a moon roof. Very fun car!!! Also popping up the headlights was good for winter snow and ice. You could pop them up knowing if it was going to snow while you were at work or parked somewhere you didn't have to worry about them being frozen in the down position.
I had the 85’ GSL-SE. You could take off from a dead stop and accelerate to 60mph in 3rd gear without shifting. The compartment behind the seat was a great place to store the extra set of spark plugs that were necessary because it was really good at fouling the plus occasionally when starting the motor. That was caused by the oil injection. Also had to remember to add oil between changes.😮
Just was able to drive my grandpa's 1980 rx7 Anniversary edition today and it was a blast. Great to see reviews about old cars on your channel.
I bought a brand new 1988 RX-7 10th anniversary edition back in the day and i really liked it at the time.... until it blew up three years later after dealer replaced the engine.
I had a full page ad for this car on the cork board in my bedroom when I was in high school. Loved loved loved it.
I think that interior is actually pretty cool looking! Leather on dashboard as well, nice touches on this car.
I owned a 1981 RX-7 GS and took it to Germany. Great fun running it on the autobahn, pegging it to 6000 rpm. It was the era of the 85 mph speedometers in the states. But since the gearing was 20 mph per 1000 rpm, I maxed out at 120 mph. I used to race 3-series BMW's back in the day on the autobahn. There were so few RX-7's in Europe in the early 80's, everyone asked me what it was wherever I went. Fortunately there was a Mazda dealer/garage in the German town where I lived that took care of me and my car. Nothing but great memories.
Owned 5 of them. Love them. No Rotor, No Motor.
Mazdas for the American market were equipped quite well. My family had a 1980 626 coupe. It had the same steering wheel and shifter. It was very sporty, so much the press called it the poor man's BMW. Our 626 had the RX-7 waffle wheels, so many cool cars of the 70's had waffle wheels.
That stereo control with the EQ, GOLD!! LOVE IT!!!
I had a 1983 in baby blue that got me through grad school at DePaul in my native Chicago. Great little car that I still miss to this day!
I literally just bought a 1985 Mazda Rx-7 GSL about 2 weeks ago, even though this is a different model you helped me learn more about my Rx-7
The one thing you must do if you own a rotary motor is constantly check and fill the oil. They will burn oil, especially when driving hard. You need to stay on top of it, and really check it a couple times a week if you drive it alot or at least every time you fill the gas.
Oh man. I love it when you review old cars. Fantastic effort as always Doug.
Would be interested to see you do a review of one of Rob Dahms RX-7’s.
Had a 79, 80 and 88. Loved these. Only thing I hated was the backfiring in the 79. Man that was annoying.
I owned a few of these. One I purchased from Mazdatrix employee in 1998 out of Chatsworth, CA and the second one I purchased from Mariah Motorsports out of Santa Barbara, Ca in 2002. What a fun time in fun platforms. Both of them were 1984 models that had port jobs and Racing Beat exhausts. Later on I sold them both and bought a 90 Turbo II from Mariah Motorsports.
What many people don't know is that after quirks and features, rev matching is Doug's favourite words 🙂
A review of Honda Prelude would be nice specially the older generations. pretty cool car!
It was 1986, I was 17. My GF had this exact RX7, same color, but an 85. Her dad bought it for her used w/18k on it. 3 things > #1 Without knowing it at the time, I was not only sold on 'foreign cars' forever, but I fell in love with the rotary. #2 Ive owned dozens of cars in my life, but this was the only car that could be revved to 5 grand and leave from a parked posistion at the curb on a city street, do a 180 with no fuss at all and send you in the opposite direction. #3 At 20 I bought an 1988 RX7 Turbo and spent years working to buy every upgrade I could. Turbo cars were an unbeaten path back then, not a ton of parts nor did we have Google. In 95 I sold it and bought a 93 RX7. Went nuts with that car. Wish I had either one of them today. Who would of ever thought??? Lol.
My dream car when I was a penniless college student back in '84. One of Doug's best, most-surprising reviews in ages.
As a Miata owner ive always wanted an FB, now i want one even more.
Actually... The EQ in the radio is a neat feature to have on the radio, and it isn't overkill by any means.
Thats basically to finetune the audio in the car. Some people like more bass, some people like to pull up the mids, and then there are musicians/audio geeks that will finetune the audio to have it sound the best it can, tuning it to the interior of the car.
Not wantingh to sound condescending, but those "stereo controls" are mostly for people that understand how sound works.
The GSL-SE is really the one to get, all the other FBs had 12A rotaries and were carburated. The GSL-SE came with a 6 port fuel injected 13B which was CONSIDERABLY faster than the 12a, came with a transmission with better ratios, and a ~4.10 rear diff.
My late father in law had this exact car except the exterior color is grey/silver. One of the most fun cars I ever drove. Love it.
Doug, great video! That same exact car, same year, SE model, same interior color in white. I really did love that car! You are quite right about how heavy it was to park with no power steering. However, absolutely no problem whatsoever when moving. Also, very tight and enjoyable clutch. And, of course, the rotary engine just winds and winds. Joyful!!
After that car I bought a 1994 silver RX-7 and took that incredibly obnoxious spoiler off. It was touted as 0 to 60 in 4.9 seconds - a slight manufacturer's exaggeration. However, that car was also great a great joy to drive.
When I was a teen, my parents bought an '85 GSL-SE and I loved it. That gen of RX-7 were oversteerers, and very easy to controls ones at that! Plus, the engine was so smooth, there was an audible warning at redline. When doing a stoplight to stoplight run, one could essentially shift at the buzzer. Very, very fun car to drive. They replaced it with a '90 (the middle gen) that had a more sophisticated chassis and 160 HP and an 8000 rpm redline. It was faster, but not as fun.
One other fun fact: the pedals have the same pattern as the tread of the OE Pirelli P6 tires!
Man I remember being a kid in the 90s and seeing a bunch of these along with the 300zx, Mark II and Mark III Supras all the time in New York. Can’t wait to see reviews for those.
Wow, that RX-7 looks to be in great shape. It seems most 80s sporty cars are beat to a pulp by now or modded beyond recognition. I always thought they were cool cars but I had a Dodge Daytona Turbo at the time. A coworker did have an SB RX-7 that I rode in once, even teaching her how to drive the 5 speed better to take advantage of its power curve. Another friend later had an SC gen RX-7. I never knew anyone who owned the SD gen.