Project FD RX-7

[Goodspeed]

The End of Project RX-7

Well, it's time to post this.  I sold the car and, at this point, a large bulk of the parts for reasons I'll describe below.  The takeaway is that while this project will no longer come to pass, I'm surprisingly OK with it - though it was a tough decision to make initially.  I know some of you were aware of the sale and I appreciate the support you gave me, and to everyone else, though I frankly don't do a good enough job keeping in touch with all of you individually, I wanted to keep this low-key until I felt like posting about it.  Here goes:



I had a grand vision for this car; this whole thread is a testament to that.  I never wanted a huge audience for what I was trying to achieve with Project RX-7 - this forum is virtually the only place pictures or descriptions of this project ever landed on the internet - but I was really excited to see the end result come into focus for much of the past two years I owned this car.  Then things just changed in the latter half of this year, and the sale was a result of a confluence of events and changes in my (outlook on) life.

I've spent a lot of my time on cars.  Driving them, looking at them, thinking about them.  The entirety of my adult life so far, ever since getting my driver's license (freshman year at JMU, this is true) has, in an outsized way, often orbited around cars - always caring passionately for the ones I owned, always desiring ones out of reach.  I spent so many weekend mornings at various Cars & Coffee, with many larger trips to shows locally, regionally and even on the other side of the country.  I've been to the automotive orgy that is Monterey Car Week twice now, and though I was fortunate to live in Europe as a kid, my main motivations for going back at least were going to Goodwood in the UK, and driving the 'Ring.

It was, for me, getting to be too much.  Every decision can bring with it the possibility of regret, and every decision has an opportunity cost - and the decision to spend the mental & physical energy I was spending not only on this car, but on cars in general was becoming detrimental to the rest of my life.  I began to see this project as being more than a bit obsessive, and I was foregoing enjoying other endeavors and improving further other parts of my life in the pursuit of this one hobby.

Truth be told, I haven't been happy for a few years now on the path I've been on - carving some sort of a place for myself in this NoVA/DC area.  This conundrum of living in this area is a theme of the MM forums, I know, and I'm not immune to it myself. This region has never felt like home to me, nothing I've done for work has enriched my wellbeing as I've so desired, and I've hemmed and hawed over different ideas to change my station in life - but as silly as it sounds now, I partly feared certain prospects that meant giving up this automotive hobby that I loved.  What if I couldn't go to the events, shows, museums?  What if I couldn't enjoy the passion of driving & building?  What if this pursuit meant I couldn't afford to buy or do x, y, or z with cars?  

I realized that the car hobby was pulling a blanket over what was bubbling underneath.  I could softly ignore the signs that I was unhappy, & stubbornly often unwilling to change my situation, if I received the joy of a new part showing up in the mail, or enjoyed a certain event revolving around cars.  I began to more clearly see this situation for what it was, and realized this had to change.  My first course of action was, after too long, to get away & vacation again, which I did in August by touring the interior & coastal west.  I finished the trip at the aforementioned Monterey Car Week again, which I last attended in 2015.  I enjoyed all the events I went to, all the cars I saw - but almost immediately afterwards, I realized the love had gone a bit.  Whereas the visit to Monterey was the highlight of my last vacation, it ultimately was the nadir of this one.  The memories of being immersed by the beauty of Zion & Olympic national parks, and the time I spent with family are what I recall fondly. If I wanted to improve my happiness & wellbeing, not to mention my location, the car had to be the first thing to go.

Financially, it didn't make sense to continue the project.  I spent too much money on what I hoped, at least, was an appreciating asset, but the short term affect that had on my ability to enjoy every other part of life a bit more care-free wasn't worth it.  There was still lots of cash to burn, if my vision was to be attained - and by the time it took to get there, I was going to be focused, I'm sure, on other financial responsibilities in life.  What a tragedy it would've been to "finish" the car, only to be forced to sell it for a house, or a move, or another reason - so I avoided that situation entirely.  I had the most value in a stock car (that had increasing interest from 90's nostalgia buyers-be) and a heap of new parts in boxes.  The economy was still good, with murmurs of a downturn in the future.  It was time to sell, and sell it did, quickly.  I'm more interested now in saving more of my money & investing for the long term, and spending my play money on traveling & making memories instead of collecting things.

I sold the car to a fellow named Andrew, from the hills of western North Carolina.  He had the car transported down to a rotary specialist in Charlotte, to get done-up how he wants, and will retrieve it to enjoy on his local roads.  I know the car will have a much better life there than on the traffic-clogged roads of the DC area.  As for what's next for me - I'll always be a car guy, just one with better perspective now.  I credit the hobby with introducing me to so many of you who are my friends, and I'll always have a hankering for this car or that.  I'm interested in getting a new daily at some point, and am pretty interested in electric cars and seeing what the next few years holds there.  

With that, I'll leave it there.  It would've been a great journey and result to see this car through to the end, but I'm happy to let the new owner see it through. In the meantime, I'm more excited for the clarity I've gained & the pursuit of other, hopefully bigger & more meaningful things.