At 1.8 liters, the V6 engine in today’s Nice Price or No Dice Mazda MX-3 is one of the smallest ever offered for sale in North America. Let’s decide what such a small wonder might be worth.
It’s been five years since the last Continental rolled off the assembly line at Ford’s Flat Rock assembly plant, ending the road for both that storied model and the Ford Motor Company’s production of four-door sedans entirely. Today, Lincoln offers nothing but tall wagons, models differentiated solely by their size and price. Even side-by-side, it’s hard to tell the difference between the Nautilus, Corsair, or Aviator. Admittedly, the Navigator does stand out due to the gargantuan shadow it throws.
The 2003 Lincoln LS V8 we looked at on Tuesday was one of the last instances where Lincoln, as a brand, attempted to stand out from the crowd. A solid sport sedan, the car still found few buyers when new, seemingly a punishment for Lincoln’s impudent attempt to be different. At just $4,500, and looking fairly fresh, our LS garnered positive remarks for its value in the comments, and found some redemption in the 90% ‘Nice Price’ win it received in the voting.
Coupe du jour
Having already done a Pinto on Monday and a Lincoln on Tuesday, we’re going to stay on a Ford-related kick today and look at a Mazda. Ford owned a 25% chunk of the Japanese carmaker for a time and leveraged that company’s expertise in small cars for a number of Ford and Mercury models.
One such model was the Mazda 323/Protege, which Ford used as the basis for the second-generation North American Escort in the 1990s. Over on the Mazda side of things, the 323 also served as the platform of choice for a small coupe marketed solely as a Mazda, primarily under the MX-3 nameplate. To make it stand out from the crowd, the MX-3 offered an optional engine: a 1.8-liter all-alloy V6. Dubbed the K8, the quad-cam 24-valve motor was related to the larger 2.5-liter mills powering the 626, MX-6, and numerous Fords of the era. In the little MX-3, that engine produced a factory-claimed 130 horsepower and 115 pound-feet of torque, both of which were achieved fairly high up in the rev band.
Precidia
Mazda offered the MX-3 in both the U.S. and Canada, but it was only in the latter that Mazda appended the car with the Precidia name, which was displayed on the hatchback glass under the large rear spoiler. Canadian cars differed from their U.S. counterparts in other ways, too, including having a speedometer that reads primarily in kilometers per hour with mph in the co-starring role. Naturally, the odometer also rolls to the metric system.
This 1994 MX-3 Precidia GS is one of those cars, and it looks to be in amazing condition for its age and the 71,339 kilometers it has done. For those who weren’t expecting to have to do math at this time of the day, that’s only about 44,328 in freedom miles.
Painted in Tropic Emerald over a black leather interior, this Canadian coupe is presented as accident-free and seemingly well-kept. According to the ad, the car “has been lovingly maintained with regular servicing at the local Mazda dealership and has been parked underground from the start.” Hopefully, the seller doesn’t mean ‘underground’ in the manner of that time capsule Vega that was disinterred last July Fourth.
One owner
Amazingly, this is also a one-owner car, so its history and any ‘quirks and features’ (thanks, Doug!) should be easily gleaned. It appears to be well-equipped as well. Being a GS means it features 15-inch alloys, disc brakes all around, and slightly improved steering and suspension compared to the lower-tier editions. There’s also a sliding sunroof and, for a bit of fun, a five-speed manual backing up the sweet little V6. These were marketed as offering 2+2 seating, but the MX-3’s diminutive dimensions mean the two back seats are more for show than for go.
Despite that, they, along with everything else in the cabin, appear to have only minor wear, and the car is new enough to have two airbags instead of the vexing automatic seatbelts that plagued many cars from the early 1990s. Per the seller, the car also runs “perfectly,” and is eligible for classic car designation should a new owner want to keep it in Canada. The title is clean, making for an easy time at the DMV.
Canadian bacon
This is a super rare car these days, especially seeing as it sports the tiny V6 and a five-speed stick. Most of these cars, at least in the U.S., came with the less powerful four, so that alone might make this one worth a trip to Vancouver for any Mazda fan. The asking price is $8,500, but, of course, that is in Canadian dollars. For U.S. money, that works out to around $6,088 and change.
What’s your take on this Mazda for that kind of money? Does that seem like a fair deal for so rare a car? Or does the price tag, like the engine, need to be super tiny?
You decide!
Vancouver, BC, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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