(first posted 9/11/2014) I’ve been around a lot of Mazda cars in my life but one of two that have left a lasting impression was a test drive in a 323 GTX sometime in the mid ’90s. A buddy of mine was looking to replace his car and one of the local “buy here, pay here (and bring the vaseline)” dealers had a black 323 GTX sitting in plain view. For him it checked the boxes he was looking at – black, and had room for subwoofers in the hatch. I had always been a mild gearhead, and had read all of the old copies of auto rags in the school library so I knew exactly what we were looking at – and suggested that he let me handle the driving portion of the test drive while he determined if it had enough room for his subs.
Wow, what a car! I can remember clearly ripping through some neighborhoods in North Lincoln, then some fun down West O – none of which amused my buddy who was more interested in speaker placement. Of course he was kind of an idiot and ended up buying a Ford Escort GT so that was the only romp I got in the 323 GTX but ever since I’ve been trying to find one so I could push the all wheel drive button and have some ridiculous hoonage with it.
Introduced in 1985, this series of 323 was quite the popular car in my neck of the woods. For good reason, they were cheap and thrifty on fuel – plus everyone was crazy about front wheel drive at the time. With a curb weight in the 2,000-pound range it didn’t need a whole lot of power on tap to move which was good – most had around 65-85 horsepower which would move them.. sort of. Even the hot-rod 323 GTX made due with just 143hp, but with only around 2,600 pounds to move it didn’t need much.
During a whirlwind of a weekend whose story will be told another time, my brother decided to buy this car. Which is good, because had he not – I probably would have. When I saw the ad I knew it was a keeper – maintenance records, four speed manual and little rust advertised for about $1,000. My brother prefers to bike to work so for him as a winter or “off day” car so this thing was perfect for him.
He’s always had this knack of finding vehicles with legendary drivetrains in great running order despite not knowing a whole lot about cars. A ’80s F-150 with the 300 6, a 1981 Toyota pickup, and a 1985 Nissan hardbody are just some of the highlights. When I started looking at it, this car is definitely one of the highlights and completely surprising given what it is. And what it is, well, that’s unique in its own right – I don’t think this car has a single option.
Getting info on the GTX is easy, but finding info on the lower end models is somewhat difficult. From high school I know that most of this vintage had carburetors with latter models having fuel injection. Around here, the vast majority seemed – from my scientific high school polls – had automatic transmissions that coupled with the 65-85 horsepower mills and a car full of teenagers made the accelerator pedal more of an “on/off” switch than something that was regulated.
While those cars didn’t last, this one was maintained and seems to have aged brilliantly. Looking at it after he bought it, I had to laugh because of the sheer lack of any option whatsoever. Even the dash clock and passenger mirror are missing in this car, I can just hear the buyer “nope, I don’t need a stinking dash clock, that’s why I have a watch!” It’s got a four speed manual, fuel injected motor and.. floormats? Maybe the Sierra Club stickers hint toward a different kind of previous owner, one who valued frugality and fun over the latest bling. I can’t imagine what they replaced it with.
Regardless, I couldn’t find anything wrong with it poking around it and if I’m being honest – I’m a little jealous! I took it for a drive and was a bit blown away at what he got for what he paid – it drives straight and true with no shaking or hesitation during any stage of driving, and while it definitely doesn’t have any more than its rated 82 horsepower, the motor feels solid and doesn’t smell or smoke. Sure it needs new tires, but I’d imagine that will set him back per tire about what he’ll pay for tires on his new bike.. maybe less!
Said new bike is worth about twice as much as the 323, keeping his priorities right on track. That’s not to say there’s nothing wrong with this car. After a late night bike ride in another city he was driving back on the Interstate and had a leg cramp. While the Mazda was just fine in the right lane behind semi trucks at about 60 miles per hour, suddenly he was stuck with a painful cramp that had his foot to the floor going downhill. With the little motor screaming in front of him either the laws of wind resistance versus a 26 year old 82 horsepower motor favored him, or it had a hidden rev limiter – but somehow he didn’t shell the motor going into the Platte River valley.
Regardless of outcome, I’ve got a feeling that like his 1981 Toyota pickup, this is a car whose drive train will outlive its body all the while providing thrifty transportation on the days when it’s either too nasty outside or not desirable for him to bike. He mentioned a month ago that he put his first full tank of gas in the car… after owning it for two months.
Hybrids and fancy new direct injected cars are great and everything, but you really can’t beat the cost of ownership of this car.
Lovin’ me some crank windows and manual door locks which, because of my monkey arms I can operate all of them from the drivers seat. I’ve owned two late 80’s vintage 626’s. Fun, dependable cars. My only complaint is high engine revs at highway speeds combined with minimal sound deadening.
You’re not kidding about the high engine revs at highway speeds . That 4-speed doesn’t have an overdrive gear. The ratios are the same as the first four gears on the 5-speed that came standard on the sedan.
My ’88 323 was a base model sedan (I did spring for A/C and a right-side mirror, though). With the 5-speed, it was a pretty decent highway cruiser, considering that it was an econobox. A friend bought an ’89 hatchback with that 4-speed, and the little 1600cc engine at 65 mph in 4th sounded like a dentist’s drill.
What’s funny is what you noted – it’s really just a 5 speed without overdrive which makes a lot more difference than you would think. On my test drive with him it seemed like 65 was about the top end that I’d take it.. he said when his leg locked up, he probably broke 80.. amazing the thing is still in one piece!
This brings back memories. I owned an 88 323 equipped exactly like this one (mine was blue). It was extremely basic, but it was super reliable and cheap to keep. It was a perfect Gen X grad school car bought for $4900 in 1990 from a Portland area dealer. It also came with a year of factory warranty remaining.
I really wanted a CRX, but grad school and limited earnings led me to the Mazda.
Mine was blue as well with crank windows, 5 speed and Bosch Fuel Injection. No dash clock, no A/C. It had a stereo cassette and I had the dealer add the factory cruise control. I had it for 9 years and drove it from 8K miles to 105K miles. My 323 was a great little car.
When the misses was pregnant with Nr. 2 son she requested a minivan. After purchasing the minivan my Nr. 1 son was surprised to see this thing in the garage. He looked under the van, wondering were the blue 323 was.
Great find. I paid twice that for a 96 Tercel I found for a family member, it is as equally optionless. it’s in great shape with 157k miles, no rust at all, came from Southern California. Needed 2 tires. Did you happen to notice how many miles are on the 323?
I had the Mercury Tracer version of this car which was built by Ford/Mazda in Mexico, with a few more options, namely the 5 speed manual transmission which gave plenty of power and top end plus great gas mileage to boot. Beside MPG the greatest thing about the Tracer was the infinite manual adjustments on the drivers seat, which made for the most comfortable ride that I haven’t found in any vehicle seat since!!
What an awesome little car. I’m surprised the four speed lasted all the way to 1988.
I think base Civic hatchbacks kept the four-speed until 1996 and some Tercels may have had it even longer than that. That’s one of the things that would make me shy away from something like this. Cars like this really need the extra gear unless you drive like a little old lady and never go on the freeway (in which case you’d probably get an automatic anyway).
I’m pretty sure Civics lost the four-speed in ’92.
I thought the 1992–95 CX hatch still had the four-speed. I know from personal experience the ’96 CX had a five-speed, though.
The 96 Tercel is a four speed. Feels fine on the freeway and gets 40 MPG.
What I was most surprised at was that it lasted as long as it did on Craigslist. I think it was up for a couple days, around here something that is right around $1k that isn’t a total rustbucket usually goes in hours.
Then again, one of my COALs was utterly astonishing to attempt to sell. That’s one I have to remember to talk about..
I had an ’86 Ford Laser version of this car. Mazdas were fairly thin on the ground through these years, but their Ford-badged counterparts were extremely popular here in Australia, and there are still a few in my town. Marvellous cars, great fun to drive. I upgraded the suspension in mine, and it loved corners. 😉 Finally died after 420,000km.
The best car I’ve ever owned? Quite possibly.
And I had a previous generation Ford Laser 4-door (about 1984) in Taiwan. One of the few cars of its kind that actually had an automatic transmission, which turned out to be a blessing in Taipei traffic.
Study, fairly reliable, perhaps not as economical on gas. Still had enough pickup and go for the conditions there.
A pretty well stripped 626 from the early eighties got me through my Houston commute very well. Then a young lady from New Caney (N of Hou) ran a light and center punched me. I had probably doubled the blue book on it by filling it with gas just before the wreck. Major setback that caused me to try both Volvo and Saab (much my my regret). That car made me appreciate Mazda. My DILs experience with a 323 confirmed that appreciation.
To get dependability equivalent to my loss I wound up buying a 2000 Saturn SL. Wrecks cause major life interruptions when you have a dependable car.
I had an 89 323 hatch with 5-speed and fuel injection.
Spirited and revvy, and fun to haul through corners.
I once owned a Mercury Tracer wagon, it was basically a restyled Mazda 323 built in Mexico. It was a great car with both reclining front and rear seats, an extremely well-equipped interior and such features as electrically operated side view mirrors. It was fun to drive, my only real complaint was that the wagons equipped with automatic transmissions had a 4:10 to 1 final drive ratio which made it a little buzzy at speed. Otherwise, a great car.
My first girlfriend had one of these. When she was ready for college, her rich daddy told her she could have any small car she wanted. Of course, I directed affairs and she ended up with a stripper 323 DX, a 1986. What I liked about the car was its fantastic build quality, excellent materials and ride and handling. These things had IRS in 1986! It even had Michelin tires as stock. It was a Canada only model with carb and a 5 speed,
At the time I had my 1986 Jetta and I was terribly fond of all things German, regularly extolling Teutonic superiority. Then one day, I drove the 323 from Victoria to Duncan. The car drove beautifully and was really sporty, too. The non-power rack and pinion was excellent and the little 1.6 revved like crazy. In fact it was a better car than the Jetta and a good $2000 cheaper, too. She drove it for many years and traded it on another 323.
When I moved to San Jose in 1987 to convert KSTS TV to Spanish for Telemundo, we did a trade with a dealer for a couple of these, also total strippers in white, no less, for our news crews. They were abused day-in, day-out for years, and held up extremely well. Very tough littl cars.
I’m taking a wild guess most of them fell around here to rust – from what I’ve seen – or something simple like a clutch repair that exceeded the cost of the car. Then again, with the ample room in that engine bay, I’d even attempt a clutch repair myself. It’s right up there with my old straight-six F-150 on engine bay room!
My first Civic, an 89, was sort of a stripper having left the factory without a radio, a passenger door outside mirror, or A/C which I did have dealer installed. It was a DX 4 door sedan so it was possible to buy an even more stripped Civic. The cheapest Civic had a 4 speed until 92, vinyl seats until about 94, and I would guess they got that mirror on the passenger door in 94, too.
My 89 Civic was “eventually” replaced by a 92 CX hatchback…that’s how I know what they lacked until 94.
BTW, up until 1998, it was still manual steering only on manual transmission equipped Civics when you bought a CX or DX. I’ve owned 3 Civics with manual transmissions and all 3 had manual steering. My newest Civic is a 97.
Toyota’s cheapest Tercels AND Corollas in 1997 still had optional power steering, I would guess that it became standard in 98, too
I can confirm, as we owned two Civic 3-door Hatches, an ’89 DX and a ’90 base, which I bought absolutely stripped: no radio, no a/c, no pin stripes, and I insisted they delete the Dealer Prep and credit me that, too. It was a 4-speed with the 1500 DOHC engine, and was a blast to drive. Light and very tossable.
Great find. Only thing that comes to mind is check the status of the timing belt.
I had the previous generation, 85 GLC, which used a chain. The 86 323s were just coming out when I got the GLC, so I looked at them. I remember the 86s having a slightly larger engine and EFI. I think they went to a belt with the 1.6, and your pic of the engine room shows what looks like a belt cover on the passenger side.
Yes, they had a belt.
Ooh – that’s interesting. I remember on my 87 CRX Si that’s, quite literally, the first thing I had done after I bought it – a timing belt replacement. I’ll make sure to mention it to him, or rather his wife. Sometimes he forgets those things and then is astonished they break… 🙂
I had driven a slightly newer, perhaps 1993 Mazda 323 hatchback around 2000 for a few lessons with a driving school. It was black, automatic and slow (compared to the 3.1L V6 1990 Pontiac Tempest/Chevy Corsica Canadian clone that my dad had). The later 323 hatchback models had more curves. I would step on the gas pedal and it had no resistance as it would go down easily without much pressure. It felt like a toy compared to my dad’s heavy Pontiac sedan and I found the overall design and proportions of the later models a little odd. Unfortunately for me, it sucked the fun out of driving with its lack of style and power.
But yes, I did find out later that the car had a bulletproof reputation with a low maintenance cost. A classmate in College (around 2004) had even mentioned that a family member had purchased a high mileage 323 for cheap which ran great without any problems. If I remember, I think it had 300,000kms on the engine and the purchase price was not more than $2000 at that time.
The fellow who moved into the house next door to my parents in 1994 or so had a 323 sedan of this generation. Quite a contrast to his wife’s car, an early 80’s Sedan DeVille with the infamous diesel 350.
Great little cars the fuel injection is the only downside once age gets at it it will run richer and richer until you have had enough its not repairable the carb motors go forever.
Sounds like what happens when an oxygen sensor fails.
I liked my 323 hatch so much that I bought a ’98 Protege 4 door when my boys reached driving age. I had fun with that one, did all the maintenance work myself and both boys learned to drive stick shift with it.
The A/C does not work and I put in a bypass belt. It got a new timing belt at 180 000 miles and a re-manufactured distributor. It is still a tough little car even thought the rust is eating it up.
My kind of car. As for speaker placement I have always found that they work best in the living room.
Said idiot was the one who put an old Pioneer home speaker in the back of the Escort. Not even kidding. It.. worked I guess…
This happened to be a great car for Mazda. Unlike their early 626 which was a disaster, the 323s were real workhorses which carried over into the Proteges. Super reliable cars!
One of my favorite cars, and the second Mazda to leave a huge impression on me, was a ’90 626 LX. Loved that car! And it was totally bulletproof, but unfortunately not 1992 Thunderbird proof.
In the early 90’s I wanted either a Mazda 323 or a Honda Civic but due to low depreciation (and lack of cash) I settled for a 1986 Ford Escort. Fast forward to 1998 and I bought an 86 323dx with a carburetor, five speed,with power nothing except brakes, and a mere 72000km replacing that Escort. When comparing them it was no contest, the Mazda was far and away the better car, it wasn’t even close.
The Escort was well maintained but steadily fell apart and was as fun to drive a tractor. The Mazda never let me down, was easy to maintain, a joy to drive and I felt I could point it anywhere and go. Loved that car and when I finally and reluctantly sold it in 2006 I asked an impossibly high price and refused to budge on it. Eventually someone called my bluff and paid what I was asking and off it went to my immediate regret.
The Escort was sold sold without a backward glance, but I still miss that little Mazda.
I’m wondering what I could reasonably ask for a 1988 Mazda 323. I’m the original owner, and the car is fully original except for a few parts and the radiator (it came with a cheap, plastic one which I changed to a better one. The car runs great (still zippy after all these years), and is very clean. It has always been kept in a garage and not outside when not in use.
Mazda did a lot very well during this time. It is amazing that Mazda isn’t a bigger deal today and amazing that Subaru outsells Mazda annually.
This was sold in the US as an updated GLC and switched to 323 when it was refreshed. Finally, a great deal of this car ended up in the US as the mighty Ford Festiva, which was a Mazda 323 in a smaller size as the 121. All of these cars were fun to drive, gave great fuel economy and ran forever.
And the prices – $5000-$7000! By 1989, I could still buy a fully loaded new 121 for under $7000.
On the above “last 4-speed” conversation, I had a 1995 Tercel with the 4 speed stick.
These days I drive my 6-speed 2020 Honda Fit like a 4-speed more often than not, shifting 1-2-3-6 and mainly using 4th as a low-speed cruising or higher-speed hillclimb/passing gear and 5th almost never. I will always wonder why Honda bothered with a 6th gear if they didn’t make it much taller cruising gear.
I had a friend in college who had one of these that i rode in a few times – base 1988 323 hatch, red, black interior, with optional A/C and radio. Nicely made and practical, but loud with no 5th gear. Gear ratios on 4-speed same as first four gears on 5-speed which wouldn’t have been bad if the final drive ratio was modified, but it wasn’t. I considered buying a 323 new, but for little more than a base 323 cost I bought an ’89 Mercury Tracer which of course was almost the same car, but much nicer trimmed. It was similar to the 323 LX hatchback that was only offered in 1986 in the States but for all four years of this body style in Canada. That got you a 5 speed, multiadjustable velour seats, completely different door panels with long velour-upholstered armrests, carpeting, and puddle lamps, and many more features that felt like luxuries way back then.
These are the cars that made Mazdas name as reliable transport and run for ever cars there was the slightly cheapened Ford Laser version that had a few things left out and the 323 out here then later on all the JDM specials arrived used but the entire genere is rapidly disappearing now and these cars are a rare sight.
I had a Capri Turbo (the Aussie one) that had the same engine as the 323GTX without it’s 4wd. It was a runner!
Ex-wife had a 1990 version of this. Wretched little thing, car wasn’t that great either
the first car I ever purchased off a car lot was a 1987 323, same color, same engine but mine had a 5 speed transmission, passenger mirror, a factory Clarion cassette player and no other options….LOL
I used to have a 323. Loved that car. It was a Black 1989 LX sedan with a 4 speed auto OD trans. The car had power steering, windows, locks, mirrors, cruise, , A/C, cassette stereo and crank tilt and slide sunroof. It was pretty fun to drive despite having 82hp, an auto trans and 13″ wheels. The trunk was huge. I did many trips in it and the MPGs were awesome. I got t-boned in June 1999. Still miss that car.