We hope your holiday season has been better than ours. Maybe you got that new set of tools, the diecast car you’ve always wanted, or one of those brand new Lexuses in a giant bow that you see on TV. Here’s hoping that JDM Santa Claus brought you everything you good little boys and girls wished for.
What automotive presents did you get this year?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What should become of the totaled JNC FD Mazda RX-7 R1?“.
We cannot describe how heartbreaking it has been to deal with destruction of this beaut. We’ve gotten it back from the tow yard (at considerable expense), so we are not simply abandoning it. But, it’s going to take time before we can even bring ourselves to open the garage door and look at it. With that said, your comments have served as inspiration when despair sets in. The wonderful JNC community has been a beacon of light in an otherwise bleak time.
As Tom Westmacott wrote, keeping an FD RX-7 bone stock is incompatible with its true nature, as the car was built to be driven hard. That fits with jan groenendijk‘s suggestion to “set it free” to realize its full potential as an outlaw RX-7. Chet Manley prods us to go even further with the ultimate time attack build. Mark Farrell-Churchill‘s offered perhaps the most poetic solution — to go out in a blaze of vengeance against the perpetrators with “Ride of the Valkyries” playing over the sound of helicopter blades.
The other school of thought was, as Nathan Smith proposed, to restore it to original. Land Ark recommended that the restoration be documented and f31roger encouraged us to ask Mazda’s heritage parts program for help. That would be the best outcome for the car, we agree, but Dutch 1960 cautioned us to make sure the frame isn’t permanently f’ed before embarking on that journey.
Truly, we would like to see the car live on, but whether or not that’s possible is something we will have to determine with the help of experts. For now, Rod Panhard has offered us the brightest glimmer of hope, something that we need badly right now.
It’s an interesting car. You’ve got a great story. The car is worth saving. The story is worth telling. I’m certain there are a lot of unobtainium parts in the car, and some that now need to be found.
I don’t know that putting all that together will cover the out-of-pocket expenses of sorting out the car, but there are much less interesting stories being told out there about less interesting cars. And those guys are certainly underwriting the costs of their renovations.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
Only a winning lottery ticket can solve my automotive dreams … I’m not picky (yes, actually I am but not greedy … well not THAT greedy anyway) as $500,000.00 would be enough to get the S-Cargo finished as well as take care of OTHER bills and household “honey-do’s”. As it wasn’t forthcoming this year, even tho I’ve been GOOD, I can wait until Santa tries next year. So the question of what would I do with such largesse ,,, not sure but, I do know that I can imagine quite a bit and, we’ll leave it at that for now.
I got A Quiet Greatness, the four-volume set of books covering highlights of the collectible JDM market. Damn near threw out my back putting it in the back of my van before driving home with it in tow. I’ll be leafing through it for months–and doubtless learning much along the way. I’ve already learned something about my own car that I didn’t know!
My wife definitely stayed clear of my wish list LOL.
Link ECU – $1500
Intercooler and Piping at least $500
Oil Filter relocation mount – $150
Thrash Racing Snowy Leopard seat – $600
But I bought her what she wanted on her wish list and I also got my kids TJ Maxx GI joe’s and Steam Games.
As far as automotive gifts go, I got a hose nozzle with a soap dispenser,
a brake line forming tool,
a vacuum and fuel pump tester,
a double flaring tool kit,
and a body hammer and dolly kit.
The gift that got me the most excited wasn’t even automotive in nature, it was the Lego Pirate ship that my family got me. I had missed out on every Lego Pirate themed set until now. So, this kinda checks off a box on my list.
As much as I need or will need some of these tools, the Lego set takes the cake, sorry.
Maybe it’s a mix of mid-life crisis (getting close to being mid-40s), spontaneity, or the fact that it’s an itch I have never scratched, but I bought a 200k miles 1991 Honda Accord EX CB7. Not just any ol’ CB7, but an EX with a 5-speed manual, and in excellent condition.
But wait, I’ve always envied those who were fortunate to have souped-up Hondas back in the high school / college days. So, this Accord is packed with an H22A backed by a chipped ECU married with an LSD-equipped 5-speed manual from an Accord SiR-T, and larger-diameter intake as well as exhaust treatment. Exterior is the oh-so-common Seattle Silver Metallic (champagne color), and maroon interior, but the paint still pops, and the interior has held up very nicely. Moonroof, OEM foglights, JDM front / rear lights. The previous owner also converted the hubs to 5×114 and added a set of Acura RSX accessory 16″ wheels that look like NSX wheels at first glance.
Definitely a purchase due to wants, not needs. Car is very much turn-key with a few minor things I can / will sort out, but this car will definitely satisfy that four-door VTEC desire I’ve never experienced myself. While I prided an old 4-cyl ’86 Ford Taurus during high school, my friends had Accords and Civics and Integras that just blew my mind.
Looking forward to receipt of this car, will drive it like it’s meant to be driven. Family car and 7500rpm here we come.
I got a 5-pack of HW cars & a 1:24 scale Le Mans car that I have to build and paint myself:
5-Pack of HW Cars: It’s definitely an interesting pack. All of them are almost fast or crazy fast. Sadly, none were JDM cars, which didn’t bother me that much, but I want to get into modifying HW cars, so then I could compete on Youtube Channels that host diecast racing. I believe that what I got is a good place to start.
1:24 Scale Le Mans car: Also, sadly, it wasn’t JDM, it was a Ford GT, a legitimate race car. This is a nice place to start for building scale models, but if it was a little more of my style, like an R35 GT-R or Mazda 787B, I’d be more into it. But it’s nice to receive access to something I couldn’t do before.
Happy Holidays!
Maybe it’s a mix of mid-life crisis (getting close to being mid-40s), spontaneity, or the fact that it’s an itch I have never scratched, but I bought a 200k miles 1991 Honda Accord EX CB7. Not just any ol’ CB7, but an EX with a 5-speed manual, and in excellent condition.
But wait, I’ve always envied those who were fortunate to have souped-up Hondas back in the high school / college days. So, this Accord is packed with an H22A backed by a chipped ECU married with an LSD-equipped 5-speed manual from an Accord SiR-T, and larger-diameter intake as well as exhaust treatment. Exterior is the oh-so-common Seattle Silver Metallic (champagne color), and maroon interior, but the paint still pops, and the interior has held up very nicely. Moonroof, OEM foglights, JDM front / rear lights. The previous owner also converted the hubs to 5×114 and added a set of Acura RSX accessory 16″ wheels that look like NSX wheels at first glance.
Definitely a purchase due to wants, not needs. Car is very much turn-key with a few minor things I can / will sort out, but this car will definitely satisfy that four-door VTEC desire I’ve never experienced myself. While I prided an old 4-cyl ’86 Ford Taurus during high school, my friends had Accords and Civics and Integras that just blew my mind.
Looking forward to receipt of this car, will drive it like it’s meant to be driven. Family car and 7500rpm here we come.
not sure if my response is going into the SPAM bin again…
I received (mostly thanks to that day the USD hit 150 JPY):
-JDM 6th-gen Legacy front grille that’s going onto my Outback.
-A very subtle STI cap that just has the livery stripes from the 2021 champ BRZ GT300
And from closer to home:
-Matchbox Subaru SVX in white/green that is much more Radwood than JCCS.
My bosses leaving my Christmas Eve alone after they assigned me work on the 23rd, which I specifically said I needed off for personal reasons…….
Aside from that, the driver I was working with was nice enough to drop me off where I could get my Christmas shopping done. Managed to find for myself the Hot Wheels team transport Liberty Walk R34 Skyline and Cabover lorry. Nice little treat for myself. Surprised the other collectors didn’t get to it first.