To this day that RX7 is drop dead sexy, absolute perfection in 90's design. It will still turn heads on the roads today. Definitely would love to buy one some day as a toy car.
RoadRunneR The 3000 was always a nice car but the RX7 has beauty which the 3000 never had, perfect size and curves. I know people bitch about the engine but most people would buy this as a second or third car and can afford the basic maintenance I figure.
It's does more than turn heads, it's an attention magnet for people of all ages. Nearly every time I take mine out someone is asking about. Frequently I have people taking pictures of when I park it in public.
just to think german overpriced cars just make a big deal about having 4 wheel steering in their bmws today, or porsches had turbos and please give me a ticked spoilers... in the 90s...
And they act like all that crap nowadays is something new when in fact it's been around for 30+ years. The video is 8 years old but still relevant to this day. With a few exceptions modern cars are boring.
I bet there are more XJSs still on the road than RX7s as a percentage of cars sold. I've owned two RX7s and 3 Jags. The rotary engines are super cool but of all the things you could say about them that are great... reliability isn't on the list. My Jags, on the other hand, were tough as old boots.
What? How? How did Clarkson fit in an RX-7? I'm 6'4" tall and couldn't even get my butt down into the seat. Knees buried in the dash. There's a much larger and funnier story about this for me, but nobody actually reads RU-vid comments anymore.
I tried. In 1993, I was in college and my truck had broken down. My stepfather drove me to a Mazda dealership to negotiate buying the black on black on black RX-7 TT that was on the corner of the lot. 4 hours of brochures, credit checks, financing, we finally walk out as the sun sets, I grab the door handle, it's locked, the keyhole lights up to show me where to stick it. The key goes in, the door opens, I move the seat all the way back, recline it as far as it would go, right leg first, knee hits center console, butt hits seat back, head hits doorjamb. I didn't fit. Stepfather behind me starts laughing. For two whole minutes while I tried, The only sounds are my bones impacting the cramped, rigid interior of this super-compact, the cars rushing by I-20 in Conyers, and my stepfather laughing. He said, "oh well, come on let's go", and then nothing for the hour drive back home. I got my truck back repaired the following weekend. That's the super-condensed version, but it's a true story. FTR: I have a 36" inseam.
Jafromobile so in the 90's when you were in college you just nonchalantly randomly picked a Mazda dealer with your step-dad to go to and the same day financed a $30,000+ sports car you never sat in because your truck broke down? I know you said that was the condensed version of your story but you left soooo many holes lol Anyway, the non sunroof option RX7's had a considerable amount more headroom.
Aaron Jackier My truck blew a transmission at 170,000 miles. It was down for 7 months because they couldn't find a used replacement. I was driving a hideous powder-blue 1980 Ford Escort Wagon (google it), and on weekends when I'd drive home, the discussion was always all about my truck as well as whatever sports cars were available at the time (my stepfather was a huge SCCA participant and owned several Shelbys and a Pantera). The RX-7 topic came up A LOT. After almost 7 months of waiting, and randomly popping-in on the service shop, we stopped at the Mazda dealer in Conyers, GA that was on the same street. We had to drive by it in order to check on my truck. The car we kept reading and talking about was right there in front of us on the corner. I think my stepfather knew I wouldn't fit, I think he knew the transmission shop had found a donor, and I think he never intended to buy that RX-7. He ultimately paid to have my truck repaired, but not without having some fun with me first. Master troll status. He had to have known… I call BS that Jeremy Clarkson is 6'5" unless he's got short little goat legs and a really long torso. There's no way he can fit in a stock '93 RX-7 if he's 6'5". I'm less than a half inch shorter than that and I didn't fit. In 1993, I was only 178 lbs.
Stealth the British are very proud people and had to stick their own heritage in any shot they had. I've noticed that in most top gear episodes from way back when. Not so much though in the more modern top gear.
@@danny1ft1 I think its that the two japanese cars are very shouty and boastful , whereas the jag is quiet and smug . The jaguar is the option that suits clarkson more . And in my opinion , the more mature option as well , although that is a matter of taste .
@@barrettoliver2009 I agree it suits Clarkson, but as for more mature eh I don't think so the RX7 R spirit is a classic that is going up in cost don't think the jag can say the same I think the RX7 can be many things it can be loud shouty and immature but in its classic form it's now one of the nicest looking cars of its time it has almost a timeless look it has aged really well unlike the jag.
I wish Mitsubishi and Mazda had the balls to actually make a beautiful car like this again, and people had the brains to buy them. Of the two, the Mitsubishi 3000GT (GTO) takes the cake. AWD, bigger seats, much better engine
@@es0xwhat had you been doing to your 3000 bro? Ive got a 91 vr4 (aka the most unreliable one you could possibly get) and all thats gone wrong is that i had to replace an O2 sensor (and basic maintenance)
@@persnaps8748 didn’t abuse it. Probably only put like 3k on it since I owned it. The other car I owned at the time (07 s197 GT) took the most utter abuse a car has ever taken in history and only ever needed new tires to replace the ones I burnt off
The irony of Jeremy Clarkson talking about how people judge you based upon your car and clothing, as he strolls out rocking double denim, and a Brian May poodle hairstyle
Cars during the '90s are prettiest looking. The rx7 and 3000gt are more pretty looking and more reliable than xjs, the xjs is as reliable as the dark skin dark hair Jeremy Clarkson.
Can I have what you're smoking? Lexus has their hyper sports car. Toyota is returning the Supra. Honda continues their Civic Type R. Acura is returning the NSX. Nissan dominates with its Skyline and lesser Z model. And you say Japanese competition is dead? Again please let me know what you're smoking. I want some!
cnon how? Why would you want a car that is gonna bring you more attention than normal I've had friends who have had a rx7 stolen the value and the gas mileage is terrible although the sound is great that's not a reason to have a car. It's more practical to own a 3000GT. If you don't drive like a maniac your tires will be in good shape and it's much more comfortable. Less attention as well I wouldn't want a car that can't pass smog like the rx8 or rx7
I'd take a 3000GT over the rx7, building one is just much easier maintaining it was as well. Now if you told me that rx7 was 3 or 4 rotary I'd reconsider
Wait...... You'd take the 3000GT over an RX7 because the mitsubishi is easier to maintain. But, if the RX7 had more rotors you'd reconsider?? That makes it LESS easier to maintain than a standard 13b. What the fuck thought process is that?
I'm just a massive weeb for japanese sports cars from 1980-2000. They're simply perfect in every way to me. Those two are among my favourites along with the likes of the 300zx (I like the first gen better but both are fine), the mk3 supra (mk4 is fine too, but at this point, driving a mk4 is like the motoring equivalent of having a tramp stamp) or the Honda NSX. And I wouldn't say no to a Skyline either.
If you didn't look after it and drove it like every other car. If you topped up the oil every 2 fuel stops, premixed oil into the fuel like a 2 stroke, change the oil every 5,000 km's, don't mash it while it's cold and lastly make sure you don't overheat the engine, the engines will last a long time. Apex seals will last a long time. Sure when the seals do wear down, you do have the rebuild the engine but rather than spending 3 grand on getting someone to do it, $300 in parts, a bit of knowledge on the engine, an engine lift and a weekend will be enough to get it running again for another 100,000km's
Not really a time sink outside the odd rebuild once every 7-10 years. 5 minutes to check the oil level and add some oil to the fuel once a week. Change oil once every few months. Sure it's more than what you have to do for most other cars but these engines are not meant for most people. They are like 80's coupes with a racing engine. Not the most powerful engines but powerful for what they are
tp7886 yea, I don't see any dodge stealths though. they had the same body and chassis as the 3000gt, but dodges powertrain for them wasn't as tough as Mitsubishi
Bob Sagit not really. it's simply more reliable because there was nothing that could break. The Mitsubishi was full of tech. Also where did you get a great wankel engine if not at Mazda. So its more iconic too.
obsidian00 i will get one when i have the money for it. I would love to make it a track car . say , most sports cars aren't too friendly to taller guys. Im 5'11, so tall enough to know the struggle
You don't pay attention, do you? "The Mazda achieves this with a back to basic approach: small, ultra light, and ultra powerful." Get off the internet, you are the type of person that hears one thing and tells everyone about it rather than telling them the whole story. You sound like most US news stations.
XJS. What a turd compared to the most that Japan was making with Supra, and RX-7, and 300ZX, and 3000GT. Jeremy is daft.
7 лет назад
Vincent Chen Well said, not if the Jag had been fitted with a fragile rotary engine which wore out as quickly as most cars have their services then it would have been much better.
actually the Galant VR4 was the Evo before the Evo existed. The GTO was a step above into the touring car class. Also the Evo 1 just came out when this video was made.
In fact you know what the RX7 FD makes me sad, RX's have always looked great and you look at the RX8 and the new concepts for the RX9 it looks like they're losing the plot... They should revisit the FD.
Well they say time will tell and it has. The GTO Twinturbo is a good car but not exactly reliable and it's looks haven't aged well. The FD-RX7 on the other hand is a glorious today as it was in 93'.
Retrospectively, the Jaguar isn't worth putting new tires on, the RX7 is a fought-over collectible, and the DSM is about on par with other cars of its vintage. I've always wanted a 3kgt, especially the ones with all the gadgetry such as 4 wheel steering.
***** So it looks like you have a bunch of pent up frustration here. You have perhaps a page of ranting against things I didn't even come close to saying. I like 3000 GTs and DSMs and many other things. I always find coke v. pepsi wars to be childish, and the same applies to the muscle vs rice people. Personally, I like light, compact, turbo, with handling, but if someone else wants a barge with a big motor I have nothing against him. Take a breath and relax. I ain't your enemy, and my vehicles don't define me. If you need something to be your identity, this is not a big enough issue to be worth the energy. You seem to think I am a muscle car guy or a schlub who does hack modding of cars based on trends, and dislikes. That's funny, because in my immediate family there are two people who are DSM tuners and have been since the mid 90s. A cousin and his friend would tune them up and run them into the ground for a medical courier service. They definitely preferred a talon as starting points. A friend has a shop that probably built a half dozen of them among other things too. Between 5 or so family and close acquaintance, they probably had about a dozen 1st gen eclipses or whatever. Frequently they would get the AWD cars that had been towed and put a FWD drivetrain on them for a cheap ride to wear out. But when they wanted to make a nice one, it was a talon version every time. I enjoyed every one of them that I drove, but I will probably never own one. Motorcycles are more fun per effort to me.
+GunFun ZS - That's not strictly true. Low mileage XJS can go for quite a lot of money particularly if they're low mileage. The late model Celebration models are at least equal in price to the top RX7's. There's just a huge variation in prices - anything from £1,000 for basket cases to £25,000+ for low mileage, run out V12 Celebration Convertible models. The RX7 is a collectible but from that era the most valuable Japanese cars in the UK are - Honda NSX, Nissan Skyline, Toyota Supra Twin Turbo (non-import), Mazda RX7, Mitsubishi 3000GT, & Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo (in that order).
Rx7 has been my dream car since I could possibly dream and remember. In NJ roads I have fears but that doesn’t stop me from looking at the market every week.
If only they knew then that the Mazdas engine would need to be rebuilt every 60k miles and the Mitsubishi was so complicated that even the dealerships refuse to work on them.
Funny he picked the RX-7 last because the 3000 nor the Jaguar are revered or relevant nowdays. However the FD3S developed a culture and a following that is going strong to this day. I guess when you are 6'5" a FD3S RX-7 might not be for you, LOL! Just saying that there is a reason that FD3S has shown in most of the Fast & The Furious movies and its the first car than Vin Diesel's character raced with... I am just saying there is a reason you don't see the other two!But I might be bias because I do own a FD3S, LOL!
My first reaction to the E-type comparison was... not really. But then I realised that from the E-type to this video and from this video to now was the same amount of time and the RX-7 still looks fantastic, so I guess he was right about that one!
iBeer420noscope The RX-7 has a rotary engine which is high maintenance and has known issues. The other car has 4ws and 4x4 so it's kind of complicated compared to: The Jag. A V engine, rwd car. Pretty basic except for the fact that it's an old, brittish car with a v12 engine. So probably a draw. Of course I'd still go for the RX-7.
I'd have the RX-7. Way better project cars and better in a race. They're also one of the best drift cars ever made with 50/50 weight distribution, rear wheel drive and an insanely high redline. The 3000GT is also notorious for bad wiring and electrical problems.
Jeremy F'd up on his decision. I have owned a RX-7 twin turbo and it is an extraordinary car, way better than the coventry turd he chooses ate the end, and much more agile than the GT 3000.
Ege Baysal Is there actually more than one person in the world that says "I'm feeling much better now that Mitsubishi wants to go green and that they no longer produce the evo."?
I had a 1993 VR-4 from 2002-2004. Sooo many electrical gremlins in that car.. Oh and it got about 200-250 miles on a 20 gallon tank of gas.. so roughly 10 - 12.5 mpg.. rofl. I did drive fast though..
Contrary to what most believe rotaries can do upwards of 200k's before needing a rebuild if run and maintained regularly. But that really doesn't matter when you have precise weight distribution and timeless styling i.e., Fd3s's are still hot and 3000gt's aren't. And on the real, don't try to take cheap shots when you don't know what you're talking about. lol
That's OK though, people can hate. But what they refuse to see is there's cult of rotary forums full of people who know and love these things. And for those who are up to the challenge with time and dedication can have one of the most unique car ever produced.
For more than 30 years, I've watched Jeremy Clarkson on old top gear on TV, classic top gear on cable and satellite, and grand tour online, and I've just watched the last segment, one for the road, It truly is the end of an era for me
