Junkyard Gem: 1987 Mazda 323 DX Wagon

Mazda wasn’t a lot of a participant within the North American subcompact market till the primary front-wheel-drive Familias confirmed up right here in 1981 with GLC badges (previous to that, the Great Little Car lived on the sooner rear-wheel-drive Familia platform). The GLC identify caught round by means of 1985, after which the Familia grew to become the 323 on our shores. Mazda offered the wagon model of the 323 on the previous RWD platform right here by means of 1983, then revived the longroof 323 for the 1987-89 mannequin years. This is a kind of terribly uncommon vehicles, present in a Colorado self-service yard lately.

The 323 DX wagon listed at $8,899 for 1987 (about $23,750 in 2022 {dollars}), making it aggressive with the Honda Civic DX ($8,330), Nissan Sentra XE ($9,399) and Subaru GL ($10,238) station wagons that yr. The Volkswagen Fox was the screamingest deal on a small wagon in America that yr, with an MSRP of simply $6,590.

In fact, this wagon value much more than the listing worth, due to pricey choices resembling this automated transmission. For those who wished your 323 with a slushbox as an alternative of the bottom five-speed handbook, the value tag was $430 ($1,145 right now).

Air con would have added one other $715 ($1,910 in 2022 {dollars}), however this automobile’s authentic purchaser skipped that expense. The “head or boot” vent-selection icons have been a Eighties Mazda specialty.

The engine is a 1.6-liter B-Collection straight-four with multi-port digital gasoline injection, rated at 82 horsepower and fairly fashionable stuff for 1987 (when some new vehicles nonetheless had carburetors). Members of this engine household went on to energy the Miata and Escort.

The buildup of years of tree litter signifies long-term out of doors storage.

With simply 145,828 miles on the clock, this automobile might have damaged down a decade or extra again, then sat in a driveway or yard till the tow truck arrived.

Audi Denver now lives the place Monarch Mazda offered this automobile new. Constructed on the Hofu plant in Yamaguchi Prefecture, offered in Littleton, now residing 23 miles away close to Denver Worldwide Airport.

The 323 received an replace for the 1990 mannequin yr, at which level the sedan grew to become the Mazda Protegé and the hatchback saved the 323 identify. By 1995, the hatchback was gone; the Mazda3 changed the Protegé beginning within the 2003 mannequin yr.

It seems that Mazda’s US-market TV promoting for this technology of 323 targeted on the sedan model.

James Garner was Mazda’s American pitchman throughout this era.