Junkyard Gem: 1987 Mazda 323 DX Wagon

Mazda had not been much of a player in the North American subcompact market up until the first front-wheel-drive Familias appeared here in 1981 with GLC badges (before that, the Great Little Car lived on the earlier rear-wheel-drive Familia system). The GLC name stuck around with 1985, after which the Familia ended up being the 323 on our coasts. Mazda offered the wagon version of the 323 on the old RWD system right here via 1983, then revitalized the longroof 323 for the 1987-89 version years. Below’s one of those very unusual vehicles, located in a Colorado self-service lawn just recently.

The 323 DX wagon noted at$8,899 for 1987(about$23,750 in 2022 dollars), making it affordable with the Honda Civic DX($8,330), Nissan Sentra XE($9,399)and also Subaru GL($10,238)station wagons that year. The Volkswagen Fox was the screamingest deal on a small wagon in America that year, with an MSRP of just$ 6,590. Of training course, this wagon set you back a great deal more than the sale price, due to expensive alternatives such as this automatic transmission. If you wanted your 323 with a slushbox instead of the base

five-speed handbook, the cost was $430 ($1,145 today). Air conditioning would certainly have added an additional$715($ 1,910 in

2022 dollars), but this cars and truck’s original customer skipped that expense. The”head or boot”vent-selection symbols were a 1980s Mazda specialty. The engine is a 1.6-liter B-Series straight-four with multi-port electronic fuel injection, rated at 82 horse power and rather contemporary stuff for 1987 (when some new cars and trucks still had carburetors). Members of this engine family went on to power the Miata and Escort. The accumulation of years of tree trash suggests lasting outdoor storage. With simply 145,828 miles on the clock, this auto may have broken down a decade or more back, after that sat in a driveway or backyard until the

tow vehicle showed up.< img course =”grp-full “src =”https://o.aolcdn.com/images/dims3/GLOB/legacy_thumbnail/1200×675/format/jpg/quality/85/https://s.aolcdn.com/os/ab/_cms/2022/10/21181001/39-1987-Mazda-323-Wagon-in-Colorado-junkyard-photo-by-Murilee-Martin.jpg”alt loading=”careless “> Audi Denver currently lives where Monarch Mazda marketed this vehicle new. Developed at the Hofu plant in Yamaguchi Prefecture, offered in Littleton, now residing 23 miles away near Denver International Airport. The 323 obtained an update for the 1990 version year, at which point the sedan ended up being the Mazda ProtegĂ© and also the hatchback maintained the 323 name. By 1995, the hatchback was gone; the Mazda3 replaced the ProtegĂ© beginning in

the 2003 version year. It shows up that Mazda’s US-market television marketing for this generation of 323 concentrated on the car variation. James Garner was Mazda’s American pitchman throughout this period.

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