Thursday 17th August 2017

Unused Group B Mazda RX-7 goes to auction!

RM is selling a factory Group B Mazda next month, and it's not as expensive as you might think...

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Even more than 30 years after its demise, Group B still holds a special allure for motorsport fans. The cars, the competition, the controversy - it was a spectacular form of rallying in every regard.

As such, the vehicles associated with Group B are becoming ever more coveted. An Audi Sport Quattro road car will cost you more than £300K now, with the 205 T16 and Ford RS200 not a long way behind. The racing versions? We don't know numbers big enough...

Therefore when a factory built Group B rally car comes goes to auction with an estimate of less than £200,000, it's going to grab the attention. Sure, it's not exactly Shed rallying, but for a Group B car from a works team that doesn't sound silly.

The catch? This RX-7 never actually raced. It was built in 1985, one of seven completed cars; 20 were required by the rules, but Group B had finished before they could be built. Chassis MRTE 019 is the only one never to have competed and, following an ownership journey that's taken it around Europe, the car is now ready to be sold in its original Group B works rally spec. Quite a find then!

You couldn't use it, could you? But then could you leave a refreshed rally car alone? Attractive though the RX-7 is, this rally car is hardly the prettiest thing to sink £200K into. We'd be fascinated to know what you would do.

The car is being sold at RM's London sale next month where, as usual, the other lots are equally jaw-dropping. Need proof? See this gorgeous Lamborghini 400 GT, a Pearl Red Lexus LFA, a unique (no, really) Ferrari Enzo, a Gemballa Avalanche from the 80s (!), a Gordon Spice Capri and more. Start your daydreaming here!

[Photos: Dirk De Jager, Rowan Horncastle, Tim Scott and Dom Romney for RM Sotheby's]

[WCZ]

http://www.rmsothebys.com/lf17/london/lots/1981-la...
http://www.rmsothebys.com/lf17/london/lots/de-toma...

I'll take the LP400 please,

was interested in the nuova but presumably it has no engine or interior etc £90k seems stupidly expensive and I can't see it making that price

Edited by WCZ on Thursday 17th August 11:55

[tosh.brice]

^^ Two beautiful cars, whether they move or not ;-)
The web site blocks image downloads. Does anyone know how to circumvent that on a Mac?

[theholygrail]

Oh god that Lamborghini. As beautiful as that Gemballa is ugly. Do love an LFA too

[99dndd]

tosh.brice said:

^^ Two beautiful cars, whether they move or not ;-)
The web site blocks image downloads. Does anyone know how to circumvent that on a Mac?

If you're on OS X, there's an app called Grab that can take a screenshot.

[ethomas]

99dndd said:

If you're on OS X, there's an app called Grab that can take a screenshot.

OSX can take a screenshot without any apps, Command+Shift+4.

Anyway, the best way to download images is using Chrome (or Firefox) developer tools:
http://www.rmsothebys.com/images/lots/medium/LF17/...

[SonicShadow]

99dndd said:

tosh.brice said:

^^ Two beautiful cars, whether they move or not ;-)
The web site blocks image downloads. Does anyone know how to circumvent that on a Mac?

If you're on OS X, there's an app called Grab that can take a screenshot.

cmd+shift+4 and draw a box around what you want to screenshot. Image appears on the desktop.

If you want to grab the original file then in most browsers you can inspect the page code and get the link for it.

[Krikkit]

Love this 575 in TdF over Crema as well: http://www.rmsothebys.com/lf17/london/lots/2003-fe...

[riskyj]

WCZ said:

was interested in the nuova but presumably it has no engine or interior etc £90k seems stupidly expensive and I can't see it making that price

From the ad: The car has no interior, no windows, nor any mechanicals, just the bodywork

[WCZ]

riskyj said:

From the ad: The car has no interior, no windows, nor any mechanicals, just the bodywork

+ discs/calipers

it's not going to sell.

[AER]

I guess that RX7 will be going cheap since it's obsolete technology...

[BFleming]

Pistonheads said:

RM is selling a factory Group B Mazda next month, and it's not as expensive as you might think...

But it's an auction - surely whilst there's a guide price, that means diddly on the day.

[lucido grigio]

File this next to Citroen BX4TC.

[AW111]

Who wouldn't want a peripheral-port 13b rotary that spins to 11000 rpm?

https://youtu.be/N-hMT3iIMQY

[BlueMR2]

AW111 said:

Who wouldn't want a peripheral-port 13b rotary that spins to 11000 rpm?

https://youtu.be/N-hMT3iIMQY

I know they have a reputation for using alot of fuel, but those must have needed a new set of tyres at every stage, lol.

Sound awesome.

[ambuletz]

loose change compared to this that apparently sold for $22.5 million. does anyone know if they'll have a live stream for this weekend?

[ZOLLAR]

WCZ said:

http://www.rmsothebys.com/lf17/london/lots/1981-la...
http://www.rmsothebys.com/lf17/london/lots/de-toma...

I'll take the LP400 please,

was interested in the nuova but presumably it has no engine or interior etc £90k seems stupidly expensive and I can't see it making that price

Edited by WCZ on Thursday 17th August 11:55

Oh that Lambo

Really surprised they don't sell for more.