I don’t know the answer, but I rather doubt it. They’re getting scarce, but they still appear from time to time. Hopefully not on the back of a wrecker.
CC Outtake: The Last gen1 Mazda MPV Hereabouts Off to the Wrecker?
– Posted on July 9, 2019
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Curbside Classics Archives
I just saw a wrecker and on the door it said “Camel Towing”. Get it? Camel Toeing? I just know that is the funniest thing I’ll see all day.
I drove one of these once as a “loaner”. What I most remember is that the automatic transmission was reluctant to upshift and when it did, you really felt it. Reminded me of the school bus that I rode in to get to work when I was stationed in Iceland.
Would have made a decent vehicle if it wasn’t also for the fact that these MPVs also drank gas like a V8.
A friend had either one or two of these and I always found them kind of appealing. Sad but true – time indeed marches on.
The MPV All-Sport was crossover before crossover was cool. But Mazda marketed it as a minivan, which it really wasn’t due to the hinged rear doors and lack of a flat floor. Also unlike most American-market minivans, it was based on a rear-drive platform (from the 929/Luce). Missed opportunity here.
“was crossover before crossover was cool. But Mazda marketed it as a minivan”
I think this misses a bit of nuance. Particularly for the ’96+ cars, Mazda specifically tried to amplify the “SUV-ness” with the Allsport package that included fender flares, a pseudo brush-guard styled front grill add-on (the black plastic blisters protruding a bit in the photo above), up-sized raised white letter tires and chrome alloy wheels, the aggressive “Allsport 4WD” badge on the side, two tone earth tone paint, raised suspension etc. I’d compare it to Subaru introducing their “Outback” to the standard legacy wagon.
Our family owned a ’98 Allsport from 2001 until 2016, running it up to 167k miles before selling it on. A very utilitarian vehicle with excellent road manners, but definitely underpowered and no better on gas than many more powerful SUVs of the era. Ours ultimately was succumbing to NY road salt, most of the repairs it started needing related to corrosion. Aside from that, mechanically these are very durable and easy to wrench on beasts. Ours had the automatic load leveling air suspension, the factory rear shocks are absurdly expensive, the work-around is to install the non-air ride rear springs and to plug in some universal Monroe air shocks to work with the factory lines and compressor. They have some decent offroad capability, certainly miles ahead of modern FWD based crossovers: solid rear axle for decent articulation, and a true mechanical 4wd system with a center diff and you can selectively engage. What it lacks is a low-range gearset in the transfer case and a true skidplate under the engine. On slick roads, the 4WD system, decent wheelbase, and well tuned suspension/steering make this a fantastic winter highway cruiser. With snow tires, I wouldn’t engage 4WD unless it was really treacherous and icy. The chassis is actually very well balanced, I felt confident driving 60mph-65mph on I86 at early hours of the morning before the plows were out in 2WD.
I’m willing to bet this one lost its timing belt, and for some reason many online sources indicate that the engine is an interference design (it’s not). So it might be an easy t-belt swap away from running for years yet, but it doomed to the junkyard.
I’ll add, we still have our ’89 in the family, bought used in ’95 with 90k miles, has somewhat over 250k now. It’s a fairly rare 2.6L 4cyl van (RWD, automatic). Without the weight of the extra door, 4wd hardware, moonroof, etc, the ’89 actually isn’t much slower with its 2.6L 12 valve motor, and rides/handles better. A surprisingly satisfying car to drive quickly on back roads, the center of gravity feels WAY lower than you might expect in a dumpy looking van.
Mate of mine has an early 2000s Mazda MPV a FWD verion ex JDM theyve had it more than 10 years it hasnt missed a beat its a better minivan than his 66 VW bus at least when you point the MPV uphill it doesnt just die and it will tow a trailer with the VW on it.