The setup is likely to be further refined once some seat time has been accrued. ![]() A set of shortened Tokico HTS shocks were mated to some Eibach springs and are coupled with Techno Toy Tuning front camber plates and RE-Speed rear upper mounts. In terms of footwork Eric decided to keep it simple and go with what he knew and adapted a popular setup from the hachiroku world onto his seven. However I must admit that even as it sits the car has a pretty gnarly exhaust note, thanks largely to a custom straight exhaust with a radical turndown tip. I’ve been assured that there is still lots more to come for the engine as it is destined to become a track car in the future. A basic tune up was the first order of business followed by an HKS filter. With what little time they had left over Eric decided to add a few bits to pep up the rotary. I’d say that they were right on the money! Once everything was mocked up the car was sent off for paint and body work which included smoothing out the FRP pieces and shaving a few unwanted holes. ![]() He also knew that in order to get the set of special ordered 15X10/11 Work wheels he would have to order them ASAP, so as soon as the car arrived the first thing the crew did was fit the fenders and start taking some measurements. ![]() In addition to the kit, the massive Mariah Motorsports IMSA rear wing was also shipped from SoCal and patiently awaiting the RX-7. With just less than two months before JCCS this was very good news, as Eric knew that he wouldn’t have time to do a complete build so this allowed him to focus on the exterior first.įortunately he began planning the build before the car ever made it to American shores and already had the IMSA replica body kit sourced from Japan and sitting the the warehouse awaiting the chassis. This RX-7 is a prime example of what they can source, a rare first generation Turbo model.Įric, the owner of the car and shop manager at JDM Legends, was astonished to find that the original 12A engine fired up on the very first try from the container. For those of you that don’t know much about JDM Legends, they are (amongst other things) in the business of finding, importing and selling classic Japanese cars. Just a few weeks ago this car was in a much more raw state, fresh off the container from Japan. I think it goes without saying that an unimaginable amount of work was completed since then to get the car ready for JCCS. So in a strange case of automotive “chicken or the egg”, this car is actually a life sized replica of the Hot Wheels car, and a what a beauty it is! Some of you might remember seeing this car in a work-in-progress state from Mike’s shop visit last month. Jun ended up doing the design work shaping the car while Brandon Ozaki, who also owns a SA I spotted at JCCS, did the livery. Some months ago Jun Imai from Mattel, who’s Datsun Wagon was recently spotlighted, reached out to JDM Legends about building a RX-7 and using their logos on it. In reality this car is the byproduct of a collectable children’s toy. But despite the obvious cues, this car wasn’t inspired by the past, at least not entirely… And it isn’t only Work that have taken a page from that book as Enkei has followed suit and Volk has even gone as far as to introduce brand new retro-inspired designs. Take for example the recent trend of reproducing discontinued wheels like the beautiful Work CR-01s on this Savanna. If you don’t believe me, look no further than our own industry for proof. There’s a saying that “everything goes in cycles” in regards to fashion and trends and I’d say that with the advent of apps like Instagram and stores like Urban Outfitters, this is a period in time that is very “in” at the moment. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t appreciate such a machine, in fact I’d argue to the contrary. Other times you can look at a car and quite clearly see the inspiration behind a certain build, and at first glance I’d presume most of you see the IMSA GTU influence that is gushing from this RX-7.Įverything about the car right down to the very deliberate color scheme screams of an era when many of you reading this were yet to be born. Whether people realize it or not, even the most unique harebrained one-off creations are inspired by something. In the world of cars inspiration is the common bond we as enthusiasts have the keep us building and tweaking for year after year. No matter what it is we’re going through we draw inspiration from past experiences which inevitably define our future. Inspiration it’s a word we all use and understand, but I believe we seldom realize just how strongly it impacts our lives.
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