Just scored this sweet first gen convertible.

Very few made and fewer still running.

 

OMG, thats awsome!!! I didnt even know those were made!!!
WAY NICE!!!

 

Score!!!! is that a custom shop deal?

 

nice. check the firewall, it should be a pacific avatar car or I forgot the name of it, but there was another company that did that conversion also.

 

looks like the pacific avatar to me, its in one of my rx7 books. congrats its pretty rare

 

Seller didn't know a lot about it. Thought it was an "Ultra".

I read the same article about Pacific Avitar. Said that they made 129 of them and stopped when the FC vert came out.

 

Gimme, gimme, gimme! How many K and what in what shape is the engine? Pics under the hood pls.

 

Better yet, just have a "rotards III" so you can show it off.

 

wow I learn something new about these cars everyday. I thought there was only second gen verts. Thats a great find.

 

Bob, that is very cool.

I need to come down and see this car in person, and give you a hand around the shop.

 

nice score! and +1 on looking like a PA to me

 

Ultra was one of the companies that made convertables. Ultra, Pacific Avaitaor, there were like 4 companies state side that did it.

 

Not to mention Stilettoman made a couple

 

Martinhickey:
It is a low mileage one. IIRC, 44k. I've never seen the car, except these pictures. It's getting loaded onto the transport carrier Wednesday, tomorrow, and should be here Thursday at the earliest. More pictures will be forthcoming.

zack4173:
You were correct. They (as in Mazda) didn't make a factory first gen vert which they offered to the public. They may have made an experimental one, but no "production" verts until the FC.

Jesse,
Show up Saturday, August 22 at the Albany shop for the next Rotards III. You can probably talk me out of one of my RX4's. https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showthread.php?t=855701

 

The car in those photos is NOT a Pacific Avatar. The Avatar was a cheap looking piece of crap, so far as the body modifications, and had no real trunk - they just made a flimsy flat lid that covered the opening from the original hatch.

Back in the day I had heard that someone was making 1st gen convertibles, using Mazda 626 trunk lids or something similar - this appears to be one of those. It looks like a good design.

The most important part of any convertible conversion is the structural reinforcement to the chassis - the car turns into a limp noodle when you cut off the roof, and it takes some engineering thought to replace that stiffness without adding excessive weight. On my convertibles I added about 40 pounds of steel to do the stiffening. We did a test on one of mine and it had the same bending stiffness as a Porsche 914.

So what does this car look like with the top up????

 

I cant make it, Ill be out of town for a wedding.

FFFUUUUUUUU!!!

 

I may have been mistaken in my previous post. I just found this on another forum:

"Greetings!
I have a 1985 RX7 Avatar that I purchased in Carlisle Pa.,Import/kit car nationals in 2006.
It is the last one produced,from a used 1985 GSL-SE,Black with Burgundy leather. The Bill of sale with the car indicated the price was $25,206 for a used car [before conversion],at 15k miles.
The 626 Trunk lid was a $2300 option.It has covered about 73000 miles,and has a new engine since 66k.The invoice date is 5 11 88.
The car will need a new top soon,and I expect to have to custom make it.Also,there are numerous cracks at the rear of the car,and we anticipate stripping it to check the reinforcments and reskim the filler. It is so nice I hate to redo it,but It is pretty well cracked.Seals and such are also showing signs of wear,and I thought that it would be neat to contact Mr. Dooley to see if any old suppliers are around.Anyway, When I saw this car it make my heart skip a beat,and the fellow selling it made my day.If anyone want to see it,I will take an image of it and post it.
As an aside,there is supposded to be another in Nothern Virginia,but I have not seen it.
Grant Randall"



I have never seen on of these before - all the photos I had of the Pacific Avatar had the really cheesy looking flat lid over the trunk area, but they were from the early 80's. Assuming the above statements are correct, the 626 trunk option must have been added later in the program. Sounds like the body modifications were not very well made.

An important part of the convertibles I built was a bulkhead between the rear shock towers, separating the trunk from the passenger compartment. This increased the torsional stiffness and greatly reduced the body flexing.

 

wow. that looks great!

 

The GSL-SE Vert arrived yesterday at the shop. Delivered up from the Bay area on a Big rig. It was riding along with a Jaguar, Porche Carerra4 740 BMW, Subie SVX and a few other really nice cars. Here Are a few pics of the car.

 

Click to enlarge.

 

I saw it yesterday after I bought back my Spark Yellow 79 SA...My 40 birthday present..

 

Thank God for A/C!(?)

 

I know I said never seen a first gen vert before. I forgot about the one we were making in my old welding class. But we chopped the top off that ourselves it had a 8 point roll cage, and was lightened to the max. It didn't have a top, or a trunk. it was more of a chop top. had no windows, aluminum floors, dash. it had a mock up motor in it. We didn't get to work on it too much.

 

The paperwork from the seller had the bill of sale on his purchase. He bought it for a hundred dollars about nine years ago.
It had an engine fire before he bought it. He had it rewired and painted (my guess). It sat in storage for nine years.

While it was being inspected, it was discovered that only one oil line was connected. Lucky it kept enough oil pressure to keep from burning up from lack of lubrication.

The little beauty is getting a new set of fuel injector o-rings and grommets as well as other goodies to keep it running smoothly like wheel bearings, new plugs, etc.

 

Wow nice chassis rigidity and side skirt in one! lol!!