I'm constantly reading and hearing how GSL-SE's are rare but see that alot of people in this forum has them...

Does anyone know how many GSL-SE's were sold in the US during 84 and 85?

 

I always think that the guys that own the GSL-SE are more likely to be enthusiasts, and therefore, a greater percentage of SE owners are on this board. Also, lots of guys start out with a 12A powered SA/FB and move up to the SE if they can find one.

 

Sealab RULES!

 

I got lucky and the first one i got was a 84 GSL-SE. Even if it had been any other model im sure i still would have fallen in love with it.

 

se arent that rare.. . theres a nice se for sale here(very little fb's here that arent driving by white trash or people who use it as a beater car) every 6 months or so in the paper...

-greg

 

There are maybe 25 in the entire Northwest, but the really nice ones are never for sale. When a GSL-SE is running right, it's a very satisfying driving experience. There are ads in the Seattle paper maybe twice a year -for good daily drivers that need a little work - and the price is very reasonable considering the performance and classic looks. But that's a double-edged sword, because if the car isn't very valuable, there may be little incentive to maintain it properly.

Anyway, looking at the raw numbers, GSL-SEs were always pretty rare, even when new. I've heard there were 8000 or so (total) imported into the North American market. And since then, many have been lost to rust or accidents. I can think of several lost in the last year alone, on this forum..

 

I think most people , who don't know the difference.
see the 1st gens as just an rx7, ' they all look alike to them' It's not untill one dives into the realm of 7's that there are many differences between the models. I know when i made up my mind to buy an rx7 i didn't have an idea of a certain model, and i wound up here on the board asking what model i had, since then i've come a long way,,, and own a GSL-SE. I don't think the -SE's are rare at all. IMO

 

I don't know if rare is the right word... but there are a hellava lot more 12A's around than SE's. And to find a nice one - well, then you might use the "rare" word. I had to travel 1000 miles to get mine

 

Hmmm...

Not rare at my house.

jerij

 

I think most people , who don't know the difference.
see the 1st gens as just an rx7, ' they all look alike to them' It's not untill one dives into the realm of 7's that there are many differences between the models. I know when i made up my mind to buy an rx7 i didn't have an idea of a certain model, and i wound up here on the board asking what model i had, since then i've come a long way,,, and own a GSL-SE. I don't think the -SE's are rare at all. IMO

 

Facking double post's.. c'mon forum,,...
man you own a gremlin ??? does it run ?? do you drive it ?? i thought they were removed from the face of the earth,,, Lol

 

Wow,

You young kids missed ALL the really good cars.
Runs, ZERO rust, found in Tupelo Mississippi.
Rumoured Elvis ate a donut in it.

jerij

 

My mom was talking about cars today and told me that my grandfather bought one brand new. She said it quit on rainy days, always fell apart, and ran like **** since he got it new. I was like " wish i had it...." haha yikes, thats all I have to say.. scares me too.

 

I remember westmorland,nixon,watergate,ford,carter,
Shelby (ken miles days) snake-vs-mongoose days,
the bananna splits,boss 302's boss 429's. I also remember on tv, " hey lady,what happened to the back of your car?". That is,,, it's got to be the cleaniest gremlin,,, ever ! that is SOooooo cool,, wow right on, man.

 

I'm in the Seattle area too. When I got mine two months ago there were several GSLs in the Times. Seems I see plenty of them around too. Maybe I just got lucky.

 

When you look at the numbers yes GSL-SEs are rare. There were 400,000+ first gens sold. The GSL-SE was only available in 1984-85. As well they were the most expensive first gen which would make the numbers less as well. Add that together and if you see a GSL-SE that can be salvaged or a nice one for sale grab it. The reason you seem to see quite a few is less and less early first gens are left and now the 84-85s are starting to die or be sold by the first couple of owners. I used to never see 84 or 85s in the scrap yard, now more and more are those years. Even 2nd gens are popping up too, it's just the natural progression.

 

By the way jerij I am most jealous, not only do you have 2 but the nicest color in my opinion.

 

Hey Rich,, your cougar,you 'made' it an eliminator ?
some one makes a body kit,? I love that ford ****.
one day,, maybe? i want to install a 1969,or 70
boss 302 in a rx7.Did you know that in 1969 the designation of' Eliminator 'was a 1969 cougar xr7
or just cougar, and the dealer turned it into, or gave it
the eliminator treatment, the chin spoiler,deck wing,
and that really wide, but short hood scoop, and some reflective stripes, magnum 500's. In 1969, any engine/
trans combe could be bought,ordered from the factory.
Some cougars came with 6 cycl's,and the dealer could make it an 'eliminator' cougar. FYI did you know dan gurney gave early, cougars the 'treatment' with 390's,/428 cj's, really cool hoods and a couple other things.

 

"move UP TO a gsl-se" from an SA?

Hmph.




BTW - There was a thread a couple years ago, apparently a lot of people thought that disc brakes = GSL-SE so they had been saying they had a GSL-SE. I think it all unfolded when someone said that they had an '83 GSL-SE, or they had a GSL-SE with a 12A in it stock, or something like that. Turned out about half the people on the forum who *thought* they had GSL-SE's really didn't.

 

My freinds and i have a total of:
1. 83 GS 12 ???k Streetport SE suspension 16' Rims Seamist Blue??
2. 84 GSL-SE 182k Beautiful Condition Stock except for full suspension (Mine) Tender Blue
3. 85 GSL-SE 185k Used to be Beautiful (my first one til my freind wrecked it and bought it off me) Bone Stock now running again Tender Blue
4. 85 GSL-SE Decent 234k Full RB Exhaust Silver Brown
5. 85 GSL-SE Rough 85k Stock Bright Red
All these are located in Springfield, Va (northern VA) except when 2 off them are here at college in Radford.

 

Hey, Peej.

Ritch, yeah the GSLs seem plentiful compared to GSL-SEs.

I just read in the Canadian forum about Leigh's beautiful GSL-SE... another accident, another nice GSL-SE gone!..

 

Anyone have the specific numbers for the amount of GSL-SEs made total? I think I'll be more careful when I take parts off my GSL-SE parts car...

8000 in North America would be great. Should be a guaranteed classic in 10 years

 

Would be nice to see the actual numbers of 84-85 GSL-SE's in the US or North America for that matter...

Everyone brings up good points as to why it is the way it is...

Eitherway, where I live there are VERY FEW 1st gen rx7's...so whenever I see one I do a double take whether its a GSL-SE or not.

Other than my car, I know of two in my area, one white model for sale with the Mariah wide body kit on it and another that looks abandoned in a mall parking lot from Indianna I think...I checked out the one that looks abandoned...its been sitting for a while because there is alot of dirt on the ground underneath the car...I wish there was a way to get a hold of the owner to let him know he should take care of that car instead of abandoning it like that.

There used to be a mint black 1st gen rx7 up the street from my house but I don't know what happened to it...one day it was there...and the next it was gone...

 

I would say they are rare. I live in WV and just about every FB I see is owned by either myself or someone I know. Needless to say there arn't very many RX7s around here period. So I am the only GSL-SE owner that I know of. And I am SOOO glad I found my baby. I drove to Baltimore on nothing more then a small ad on www.thepartstrader.com and I found the love of my life. And she is going to get a hell of alot meaner

 

I think there's a good number of SE's left because of 2 reasons.
1) Simply due to the fact that there are likely to be more 84-85 models left on the road due to fact that they are newer
2) Since GSL-SE's are top of the line and tend to cost more, they are also more likely to have been kept in good shape...