3rd Gen's a Charm.

"I'm calling about the 3rd Gen I saw in the paper. Can you give me some more details about it?"
"Stock, black, 18" staggered rims..."
"Ok when can we arrange a viewing?"
"I'll bring it up so you can see it this evening."

A few hours later...

"So this is it."
My eyes beheld a Black 3rd gen, 18" staggered with a big black wing on the trunk.
"Yeah, running stock boost. Jump in lehwe (let us) go for a test drive."

"Watch dis eh..." (Pay attention to this which I am doing or about to do.)

Now that's an excerpt of a conversation I had with a 3rd Gen RX7 owner soon after seeing the one in Grande.
Why did I call to check it out?
Well it was much cheaper and I was curious.

So you meet me at the point where I've just gotten into the car and the owner, whom I'll call E, was about to take me for a test drive.

It was late in the evening on that day and we were in front of my workplace and the street was pretty much empty.
It's a broad enough street for two cars to pass side by side with cars parked on both sides.

We were on the right side, just beyond the office gate.

I do believe that I should have taken note of those words, "Watch dis eh..."

Now one translation of this would be what I stated above, "Pay attention to what I am doing or about to do."
Another translation depends on the context and might strike some concern into the hearts and minds of mortals.
"I going and try something, let's see how it goes."

This I believe to be a better translation and more suited to what then unfolded before my eyes, ears and within my physical being.

I heard the engine revs increase in pitch, most significantly.
Like really really plenty and like really really quickly.

The next few moments can only be described as memorable.

I know we were in neutral, then I do remember him putting the car in 1st gear and even though I wasn't specifically looking I know his foot came off the clutch, the handbrake went down and we began to be propelled ever forward and never backward.

But you see I didn't see very much as things got a bit blurry, but I did feel us proceeding up the street, with the car not entirely positioned in a northward direction, more North Westerly for a great portion of the road.
We weren't exactly drifting, but we weren't exactly not doing it at the same time.

See drifting reference here: Drifting

I wasn't hearing anything he was saying, if he was, because of the deafening roar of that exhaust but some thoughts began to come to me with great force of clarity.

One: I never met this guy before. So how do I know that he can drive?

Two: My seatbelt was not fastened. Refer to thought one and insert some measure of concern when that light bulb went off.

Three: How do I know we will return in one piece?

Four: What are you really doing here in this car at this point? Yuh mad awah? (Have you indeed lost some of your mental capacity to logically process information within the appropriate decision making paradigm?)

And so these thoughts stayed with me throughout this test drive, making it the most memorable I've had.

But what was more interesting post the drive and my heart coming back down from 9000 rpm was what my friend and work colleague, Jerry had to say.
Yip same Jerry from the roadtrip.

When we were leaving the curbside and migrating ourselves from this position up the street in a near sideways fashion, he saw blue and yellow flames erupting from the depths of the exhaust barrel, and embracing the crisp evening air.

He himself wondered, what was really wrong with me.

Needless to say, I did not go for that car, partly because of how tail-happy it was and I thought that living was a much better option.
There was also a bit of an oil leak and I couldn't handle an engine rebuild if it was serious.

But though I never forgot that ride, I always hoped for another chance at a 3rd gen.

And just around Christmas, going on 2 months of owning the 2nd Gen that I had hunted so hard for, I saw an ad for a 3rd Gen and the price was near enough within reach.

But I had to be out of the country for a bit and so, though I spoke with the guy, we arranged for after the New Year holiday to link up.

So my plan was simple, see if I can get someone to buy the second Gen in time and borrow the extra cash to upgrade since it was a really attractive deal.

And so for that reason only, I made a post on tuner to sell the 2nd Gen in hope that the timings would line up and I would get the chance to own an entry level beast.

But when I called the guy early in the New Year, he told me that in the midst of the New Year festivities his engine had blown and so he would sell the shell at a much reduced price.

I felt crushed at that point.

While that price was closer to what I would sell the 2nd Gen for, I'd have to foot the bill of either rebuilding the present engine or acquiring a new one and doing work on that potentially.

So I had to contemplate that. Is it worth giving up a working car, to go and take public transportation and hopefully at some point get a faster rolling car or not?

Since the car had been on trinituner there was a bit of early interest and so I figured I'd at least see what the interest was like and arranged with a couple people to view, whilst I made up my mind.

So some people came to view and test drive and gave me their feedback and pointed out some things and all was going fine, until one morning driving down the road to work, not far from my home, everything changed...


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Next: Walking Through the Wankel Wilderness.

Previously:
Sarah's First Service
Bringing Home Sarah (Part II).
Bringing Home Sarah (Part I).
Rotary Owner and Loving It.
Is She The One? (Part II)
Is She The One? (Part I)
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis

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