At $11,799, Could This 1978 Mazda RX-7 GS Make You Go Hmmm?

With no new rotary-powered cars currently on offer, people wanting to get in on the Dorito-shaped piston scene need to look to used cars like today’s Nice Price or No Dice RX-7. Considering it’s now a classic, let’s decide if this Wankel is worth our time.

In America, bigger is almost always better. We have bigger dinner plates than do most of the rest of the world. We also have bigger refrigerators to hold all that food needed to fill those bigger plates. That necessitates a larger kitchen to house the big fridge, demanding a bigger house around that, and likely a comparatively large driveway leading to that big-ass house. That super-sizing could make any normal-sized car or truck parked on the property seem dinky by comparison. 

In such a case, the mega-big six-door, lifted, and wide-tired 2006 Ford F350 we looked at last Friday would be the perfect accompaniment to any such oversized McMansion. Unfortunately for its builder/seller, a $55,000 asking price proved too large for most of our tastes. That was obvious in the comments and the extremely overwhelming 90% ‘No Dice’ loss the fancy Ford suffered in the vote.

For the longest time, the Ford Motor Company maintained a relationship with Japan’s Mazda Motors. Ford sold some massaged Mazdas as Mercury models, and shared its popular Explorer—albeit only in two-door form—with their Asian partners. At no time, however, did Ford ever sell any of Mazda’s Wankel-engined products as its own. In fact, aside from NSU and a dalliance by Citroën that actually drove the company to bankruptcy, Mazda has pretty much gone it alone in cheerleading the rotary engine.

Perhaps the most famous and beloved model to carry the triangle piston torch is the RX-7, and today we’re looking at a fairly unmolested 120,000-mile 1978 GS edition to see what all the fuss is about.

This Spark Yellow over beige vinyl RX-7 hails from the model’s first year on the market. It entered the U.S. market replacing the Cosmo, becoming Mazda’s sole rotary offering in North America over three ensuing models and its RX-8 replacement.

According to the seller, they have owned the car for 13 years, and it came with a fresh build of its 12A two-rotor motor at that time. That 1146cc Wankel put out a laudable 100 horsepower when new. Per the ad, this one has a Racing Beat header and exhaust, so perhaps it makes a couple more ponies.

Everything looks stock under the sloping hood, although a missing belt on what looks to be an air-injection pump does raise questions. Backing the engine up is a five-speed manual transmission driving the solid rear axle. Braking is by discs in the front and drums in the rear, masked by handsome factory four-spoke alloy wheels.

Those wheels look to be in great condition, as does the bodywork atop them. Age has taken its toll on the matte black paint on the windscreen pillars and license plate lamp housings, but aside from those minor issues, it’s difficult to tell the car from new. Unfortunately, the ad doesn’t say whether it drives as well as it looks.

One thing that can be gleaned from the pictures in the ad is that the car’s interior has not staved off Father Time as well as the exterior has. 1970s plastics don’t have the same mojo as modern ones do, a fact made obvious by the cracked dashboard, broken door lever surrounds, and split seam in the driver’s seat. Additionally, there are faded window cranks, worn silver paint on the dash separator, and a tear in the passenger-side door cover.

Do any of those issues kill this Mazda’s appeal? Probably not. Taken as a whole, though, the interior’s flaws should offer some wiggle room in negotiating a deal on the car. Replacement parts for these cars are going to be next to impossible to obtain, after all, so its current condition is likely going to have to be lived with by its next owner.

One final note about the interior is the stereo, as it’s in stereo, with a more modern unit having been placed in the dash under the factory-installed one. That’s kind of weird. In the plus column, this is a GS model and so comes with a sunroof. That’s a glass panel, which the seller claims is a fairly rare inclusion.

Aside from the stereo and the exhaust, this SA RX-7 appears to be completely stock and in very decent condition. It also carries a clean title and will come with some original literature and a few maintenance receipts. That’s everything you might expect from a well-cared-for car.

To take possession of this RX-7, there is the small matter of the $11,799 the seller is asking for it. That, they warn, is the only deal they are willing to entertain, as trades are off the table. Additionally, they only want to deal with serious inquiries, so low-ballers and shenanigan-eers need not apply.

What do you think about this tidy if flawed RX-7 when its $11,799 asking price is taken into account? Does that seem fair for the car as it’s presented in its ad? Or do the interior foibles demand a lower asking price?

You decide!

Chicago, Illinois, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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