Maybe we should start a new category for forgotten cars–those obscure and forgettable models that have fallen off the radar or excised from our over-crowded memory banks. Admittedly, it was this Mazda’s mustard-colored spare wheel that first caught my attention. But then I realized that this is an oddball, and in more ways than one. When this generation (BG) 323/Familia arrived in the US in 1989, it was no longer even called 323, having adopted the Protegé name–at least the four-door sedan, anyway. The hatch kept the 323 name but obviously it not only didn’t sell well, and the 323 name is simply no longer associated with this generation. Honestly now, when’s the last time you thought of this car? And while we’re on the subject of obscure 323s, how about a peek at the version we never even got in the U.S.?
This is the Mazda Astina, as it was called in Japan (these pics are from Wikipedia). I remember reading about it in ams, since it was sold in Europe as the Mazda 323f: totally different sheet metal, and a very different look and feel than the rather conservatively-styled Protegé.
Why? Like almost all the bigger Japanese manufacturers, Mazda sold more than one brand in Japan–several, actually, including Autozam, Eunos, Ẽfini, and even a sub-marque called M2, which once had its own headquarters. Mazda’s brand explosion lasted through the ’80s; during the ’90s, the extraneous brands were converted to sales channels in which specialty dealer groups sold certain types of cars, i.e., small cars at Autozam dealerships. And you think GM had too many brands!
My dad has the Ford equivalent of the 323, the Escort. Same two-door hatch style.
I learned a little about the Astina while doing research before buying my dad the Escort.
What I do know about the Escort/323 is that it was a joint effort of Ford NA, Mazda and Ford AUS.
Odd, odd car. There was a Mazda dealer just up the street from where I used to work in the STL area at the time when these came out. A squared-off car with a rounded rear end…it caught my interest.
No, I wasn’t in the market, yet. Not until later. Then we bought our Acclaim.
Mom bought a 1990 Mercury Tracer brand new, same car as the 323 except bodywork. I just sold it to a co worker last year with 198k on the clock, and has about 220k now. Nothing but basic maintenance. Engine below the head is the same as 1st gen Miata which another co worker owned, and you couldn’t tell the two apart by sound during cranking and starting.
I’ve been a Mazda fan since and we now own two Proteges; a sedan and Protege5 wagon.
Canada got the coupe version of the 323F very briefly. They sold mostly out of the west coast and prairies. This is the last one I saw which was a few years back.
another front view: http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveseven/1271163355/
rear view: http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveseven/1271163335/
This is the BA series 323, so strictly speaking it is a Lantis rather than an Astina. The 3-door was not popular, the 4 door was seriously odd and rare outside Japan, but the 5 door 323F/Lantis was a beaut, and very popular in Europe. Allegedly designed by someone involved with the first 4-door Porsche 989. I still have a BA series 4-door 323 ( Familia) in the drive, and it’s the best car ever. 175k on the clock and most of the oily bits are original. Failed to start for my wife once, about 2008, but when I got home I prodded a few bits on the engine and turned the key and off it went.
The 323F/Lantis is one of my favourite compact cars in terms of styling, but then I’m a big fan of all the styling work Mazda did in the first half of the 1990’s. RX-7, MX-6, MX-3, 323F, Protegé, 929, 626… All excellent examples of the potential of the organic design ideas that were so popular in the nineties.
If you live in the US you’ve probably never seen the Xedos 6 / Eunos 500 saloon. It was love at first sight for me, and I’ve had one for the last 8 years (they were built from ’92 – ’99 but not replaced since Ford were in control by ’99). Basically an up-market special bodied 626, and related to the MX6 and Probe.
Very pretty car the Eunos 500. Used to be loads of them as ex-JDM used imports here, but they’re mostly gone now. Shame really, they were very, very pretty.
It’s actually based on the BHA Familia platform, which is quite similar to the CBA Lantis platform, granted. ‘BA’ is just a term that lumps the CBA and BHA together.
The Lantis Sedan was also sold as a regular model in Australia called the 323 Astina Hardtop – I own a turbocharged one. We also got the CBA Lantis Coupe (5DR Hatch) as well as Ford variants on the BHA platform – Laser sedan, Liata (5DR Hatch) and the 3DR Laser Lynx – which was based on the BHA Familia Neo, but with a different front end.
It’s sad then it didn’t caught. It could had fit the void left by the Honda CRX, the look reminds me of the CRX a bit.
A co-worker of mine took a 323 hatch in trade for some work once, probably around ’99. It had been fartcanned, so we called it the buzzbomb. Ended up turning it into a competition SPL (Sound Pressure Level) car, meaning he stuffed it full of subwoofer—it was quite competitive back when things like this were taken seriously.
It was actually a really fun little car to drive, even with the extra weight in the rear. I keep an eye out for these, but they’re so thin on the ground that my hopes aren’t very high. When I do see one, it has 200k+ on it.
It’s an overlooked little car. Brings back good memories for me.
There’s still tons of 323f’s around here in the Netherlands, a real survivor. Especially the second generation (i.e. Lantis), though a lot of them have been butchered with body kits. Maybe, though, that’s a testament to how modern they looked at the time, and still do. Hard to believe those cars are almost 20 years old now. Same goes for the 626 of the time, though those are getting a bit thin on the ground. There’s a 323f coupe too, but it looks quite different from the 4-door models and not as sporty.
I looked at one of these when I was searching for a car to run in the 24 Hours of LeMons. Reliable and light, but the example I went to check out was beat to death. Ended up getting a Probe for the race…..
This model 323 wins the prize for “the car most closely resembling a shoe”.
The clownshoe disagrees.
What about the Mazda 323 GTX 1.6L Turbo AWD? I knew a guy who had one in college back in 1992ish…
I love Hondas and currently own one, but I did look for Proteges when car shopping because I love Mazdas as well. Unfortunately, no one seems to appreciate them and they’re all trashed. And more unfortunately, the generation I was looking for (99-03) are all rusty in this part of the country, but I digress.
A friend of mine had a ’92 323 hatch with vinyl seats, manual steering and an 8-valve 1.6. I was a hoot to drive. The steering was very lively, the shifter was positive and easy, the clutch take-up decisive and the engine torquey and free revving. No stabilizer bars, skinny tires and 80-some horses meant the car had its limitations but all the makings of an excellent car are there. I can’t for the life of me understand why this car and the contemporary Protege weren’t more successful. Compare the more fully equipped sedans with the ’92 Civic and you’ll see what I mean. The Protege was more comparable to an Integra when equipped with a twin-cam and the base models with their 1.8 SOHC 16-valve had more power than comparably priced models (bar Neon).
These car are very much a blend of Japanese mechanical precision and Germanic road manners. They weren’t soggy like Corollas or perpetually underdamped/short of suspension travel like Civics; they even liked to be rotated in corners. And you didn’t have to worry about trim pieces breaking or electronics failing like you did with the VW Mk2s.
Unfortunately, Mazda has never had a good ad campaign and has long suffered from very, very prosaic styling in its mainstream offerings up until about 8 years ago when it was decided that being the Japanese Pontiac was a good idea. Gross.
This redesign of the rear is less than flattering in my opinion, the previous version on the same chassis looks much better to me.
In their day the 323 was the best car in its class by far if you wanted a quick, fun to drive, competent handling, small FWD. Their only short fall was the short gears they used to get that zoom-zoom acceleration. It made them one of the more thirsty members of the class.
Back in 2000 I was driving a white stripper 1987 90hp Ford Escort 1.6,. It was not too shabby in the roadholding department, no powersteering, no abs, 5 speed. Reasonably responsive overall and pretty quick for an econobox. I took it to a Ford garage to have it inspected since I expected to do some 3000 km for a trip to lake geneva and some sight seeing. I was young (read dumb) enough to pay for stuff I can do myself. They gave me a loaner for the afternoon. It was a 323 hatchback. Never have I driven anything more unresponsive. Sure it had powersteering and buttons up the wazoo but it drove and handeled like a warm stick of buttter and the steering just felt like nothing was happening at all. I really had to watch the gauges to get any feeling for what speed I was doing. Those four, five hours turned out to be pure torture. It was a loaner, so probably no shocks left to speak of. Never looked at or wanted to own a Mazda after that, no matter how sweet the deal was.
Edit
The F was a really popular choice for male hairdressers and professional women back in the day.
“Mom bought a 1990 Mercury Tracer brand new, same car as the 323 except bodywork. I just sold it to a co worker last year with 198k on the clock, and has about 220k now.”
A past CC claimed that there were no 1990 model Tracers, although I had not previously been aware of that. According to that CC, all Tracers sold by Lincoln-Mercury dealers during the 1990 model year were actually leftover 1989s. This was said to have been done due to new passive-restraint requirements that went to effect for the 1990 model year. Given that the 1988-89 Tracer had been a fairly poor seller, that there were lots of leftover ’89s sitting on dealers’ lots, and that the current design was expected to be replaced by an all-new one the following year, it didn’t make sense to spend the money to bring the old design up to code for one more year of production.
Whether they were technically ’89s or ’90s, the cars being sold by Lincoln-Mercury dealers during the 1990 model year would have been derived from the generation of 323/Familia that preceded the one under discussion here. Ford North America began using the new design for the Escort and Tracer starting with the 1991 model year. I have seen varying claims as to the amount of input Ford had into the design that these cars used.
You’re right, I brain farted and my car is actually an 89 but she bought it as an ignored dealer lot car in 1990 with ~100 miles on it. Even more rarely seen are the 4-door (5 door?) wagon versions. A few years ago I ran across an 89 similar to ours and it had the license plate frame of the same long-defunct dealer we got ours from.
I miss driving such a tiny nimble car especially in our narrow curvy hillside streets and small parking spaces, but family life dictates at least a 4 door sedan for now.
We bought a 1995 next gen Escort/tracer in 1998 with 17k on it. Known to drop valve seats as ours eventually did at 140k, I wonder how much longer it would’ve lasted if they used a Mazda engine over a Ford considering it used a Mazda chassis.
Ford was in control by that point so they had serious input, even before then going back to the first FWD Mazda they used a number of Ford bits where they weren’t seen.
I don’t know about the latter point: I don’t think there were any Ford components in Mazda’s first FWD car, the very rare 1970-72 Luce Rotary Coupé. I don’t know that there was much Ford involvement in the BD Familia (Mazda’s first FWD 323), either; the FWD Familia was already close to production when Ford acquired its first equity stake in 1979. Later on, certainly.
The first Tracer wagons look a lot like reskinned first generation Escort wagons,
But, made in a new at the time plant in Mexico, same plant where the Fusions are now built.
The 87-89 Mercury Tracer has the same sheetmetal as the Australian Ford Laser of the period, when it was the best-selling small car in the country with a 5-door hatch (known as the bubble-back), 3-door sporty-version hatch, 4-door sedan and wagon – with coincidentally had been sold under the Meteor name in earlier models.
The only thing I ever really though about these Mazdas was that the hatch and taillight area was very curved, which didn’t fit with the square-ish lines of the rest of the car.
The four-door JDM car reminds me a bit of the 4-door hatch version of the Geo Prizm, which never sold very well, and was no longer available as of 1992. Perhaps Mazda was wise not to bring it to the US, where hatches were purchased by the young, and four-doors by the old.
I’ve had a couple of cars that came equipped with those space saver spare tires, and in both cases, I’ve gotten a real tire to use instead, which takes up a bit of trunk space, but may one day prevent me from looking ridiculous. Cars always look so sad and pathetic with those tires, and the drivers always seem to have a worried and sheepish look to them. I supposed I’d be worried, too if one of the tires on my car was provided by Winchell’s.
I happened to know someone who had one of these new, so I remember them. Seldom seen now, though! I was a Honda fan then and now, but was intrigued by this. It seemed bigger and heavier than the Honda Civic hatchback that was so popular at the time, although it may not have been. It had a “space capsule” look in the rear that was quirky and kind of fun, I think!
I love it when you feature these’obscure’ Jappas I can point a camera down any street and the shot is cluttered with these things they are everywhere usually boy racered to death but alive all the same all models every single JDM seems to have been imported used here.
As said, the Astina/323F was very popular in Europe. Perhaps one of the few japanese family cars with an actual waiting line. People were actually queueing (love that word, by the way) to get hold of one when it was launched.
On a side note, notice that the rear light clusters was also used on the Aston Martin DB7.
Now there’s a car that’s proud to be a hatchback.
Washington Post columnist and feature writer Gene Weingarten had one of these for many years, eventually selling it on eBay for charity; some photos are at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/specials/gene_car.html.
Those BG 323 hatches (and sedans, and the Astina) are still very popular and quite common here, mostly among the backwards-cap crowd. A younger acquaintance had one back in 2005, it was the 4wd GTR turbo version. I drove it once, it was the fastest accelerating car I’d been in, and also one of the flimsiest – it felt like the drivetrain wanted to leave the body behind!
Someone, at work has one of these last iteration hatchbacks, it’s silver and still looks fairly decent, though I don’t think the paint has much shine these days.
Yes, the Protege/323 was based on the Familia, and it goes back to 1963 with the first little front engined, rear wheel drive sedan/wagon/truck for the JDM. It was soon exported elsewhere, even here as the the Mazda 1200, around 1970 or so, and later, we got the Miser for a year before reverting back to the 1200, and we also got the rotary iteration too before it all became the GLC, ne 323 everywhere else.
I drive the LAST year for the Protege, the 5 door P5 and love it. I’ve heard from others when they had the older 323’s that they were very much fun to drive and it seems they have always been more driver oriented than anything else.
My 91 Mazda 323 sips fuel, is incredibly reliable, has great cargo room (back seats folded) and will never be stolen. I hope to keep it another 5 years.