Update: 1-Owner Rust-Free 1979 Mazda 626
UPDATE – This 1979 Mazda 626 is for sale again a whopping five four years after being shown here back in April of 2018. Ahhh… 2018, remember that era? What I wouldn’t give to go back to those days. This amazing car is posted here on craigslist in Reseda, California, and you’d better sit down for the asking price. Are you ready? $20,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to MisterLou for sending in this tip!
FROM 04/22/2018 – Those of us in the Midwest can only dream about finding rust-free cars like this 1979 Mazda 626. This car won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but for me, the fact that it even survives after almost four decades is pretty amazing. This solid car is listed on eBay with bids of over $2,000 but the reserve isn’t met. It’s located in Beverly Hills, California where I may move after I check my Powerball ticket. I just checked my ticket, I won’t be moving there.
The Mazda 626 was known as the Capella in Japan but most other major markets knew then as the 626. I find this car fascinating for several reasons. 1) Of course I’m a huge fan of vintage Japanese cars. 2) It’s an amazing survivor, one-owner California car. 3) Insert several other reasons here. 4) It has headlight washers! I had no idea that was even an option on these cars in any market let alone the US. I have never seen one with headlight washers before. I know, it’s just a spray that shoots at the headlights, but I love unusual options like that. Why they’re needed on a California car is beyond me.
This car is in amazing condition and being a two-door coupe it’s even more desirable. This car has been pampered for 57,400 miles and it shows, this thing is almost like new. But, with that being said, I did notice a suspected rust spot underneath. Other than that it looks perfect to me. I’m not a huge fan of this electric blue color which I believe is Marine Blue. It looks like a non-factory color but it’s original so it can’t be.
With so many photos it’s disappointing to not see one engine photo. They have included four underside photos but not one engine photo. I don’t get it, but it is what it is, as they say in Beverly Hills. It’s Mazda’s 2.0L inline-four with around 90 hp and it reportedly “starts idles and runs fantastic”. The interior looks great on this example but right away I see the passenger door handle is missing. The seats both front and rear look close to new. NADA’s high retail value is $3,050 which seems on the light side for a car in this condition. Have any of you owned a second-generation 626?
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Comments
At least it’s not a “Beverly Hills Hair Club” or whatever their name is, offering. It would have to be wrecked, rusted and ratty if that were the case!
BHHC! Love the upgrade to the mane! (darn dyslexia). All of the above but same price, or higher lol
FYI. The BHHC is looking for ALL 1979 Mazda 626’s. Top prices paid, anywhere in the US. Call today! Sure…
Dreaming about this ? Puzzling.
I have owned 4 of them and they were all great cars and I enjoyed them immensely before 3 of them were stolen for the use of their engines in the mini taxis of South Africa, and my son totalled the other!
Not only is it 2 door but it has frameless glass!
(Some past foreign exotics had frames around the side widows – not exotic at all!)
I wonder if the rear side windows roll down – oops its the late ’70s – not likely, tho
there is room for them to roll down, at least partially.
& its trunk lid is longer than almost any on any car made today!! & this is a tiny car yet! & i believe it’s rear wheel drive!
No fog/yellowing headlites as well.
Glass/roof area looks like an old Celica.
How many of THESE are left?!
@Joe64. I don’t now about this actual model but there are plenty of the previous edition still running on the roads in South Africa. The one I owned was a beaut!
Yes the rear windows do roll down. It is rear wheel drive. Nissan was the last to utilize a real two door hardtop. I had an 81 200SX SL which was a two door hard top with four factory power windows. They also offered a fixed pillard hatchback which had frameless door glass but still had the center post. The rear windows flipped outward on hinges. The Datsun 200SX in this generation lasted from 1980 to 1983. In 1984 it became the Nissan 200SX. All models were framed window, center post models.
2 door hardtops were available even in the Subaru and Toyota Corolla lines in those years. Toyota even did a hardtop hatchback, and the Corolla sport line was a class cheaper than the 200SX
Plymouth Sapporo and Dodge Challengers from Mitsubishi were 2 door hardtops.
If you think headlight washers/wipers was an unusual option, I worked on one of these that had motorized louvers on the dash vents; moved them back and forth to keep the air flowing. I never saw that on any other car of any make or model.
In Durban, South Africa, where summer heat can reach 40 deg. C with the humidity, the air conditioning and those motorized dash vents made life very bearable. My late brother visited us from Canada and I gave him my Mazda 626 coupe to tour the country with and he was so impressed that on his return home he made enquiries to see if it was financially possible for him to import the car into Canada. Fortunately for me it wasn’t and my wife took it over as her daily driver for the next couple of years before I sold it on due to rust issues. Wonderful cars were the Mazda 626’s.
I had one of these. It was the same color but it was an automatic, which was fine with me.
Of course all the plastics were disintegrating, but the car always ran well.
It’s a genuine hardtop.
Too bad people selling these don’t roll all the windows down as that is one of the Mazda 626’s best features.
Hard to find photos of a 626 in full hardtop mode, but here’s one
Another one from the brochure
The amber turn rear turn signals are interesting on this car.
Mine were all red.
This generation had at least a couple taillight revisions, first from red turn signals to amber (once that became legal in the US), then segmenting the taillight clusters into 6 smaller rectangles (2 rows of 3).
I test-drove one because I liked the looks and the price, but found the engine both coarse and gutless. Problem was that my driver at the time was another 2-liter 4, a ’74 Alfa Romeo Berlina. I was pleased several years later to ride in a newer one, and they’d fixed both problems.
The pillarless hardtop is a sweet car, but the 626 I’ve always wanted was that 4-door hatchback. Not just for its usefulness, either – I think it’s the best-looking one they made. I also liked the first GLC, the RWD one.
You mean like this?
This is the same as the one my son totalled!
I sold cars in the late 80’s. Someone traded in a later generation of this car – 1987 Turbo, looked just like the one below, wheels and all. It had no AC, but the automated vent feature. It was a 5 speed, 2 door, and simply a great car to drive. I kind of always wished I had purchased it.
OK so my uncle had an 82 stick light blue one that i loved and have wanted one ever since, this one is close. Impossible to find here in the midwest. My wife found a 93 that an old lady had and sold to us because she couldn’t drive anymore. Biggest POS we ever owned. Rode like crap and everytime we hit a bump it would bounce all over the road. Had the motorized vents which were cool.
sold it to a college kid. BTW i’m still looking for an 1982
Had an 89 with the motorized vents & the hatch. Worked split shifts 4on4off as a bus driver & kept a sleeping bag in the back as it folded flat. Kept it 11 trouble free years. The 2.2 engine had an oil drinking thing(1 Qt. per month) Apparently they were all like that. Traded it in on a Miata in 2000. Had it 13 years & still miss it.
I bought a new 1980 626 (little or no difference from the ’79) and drove the wheels off of it for 10 years and over 300,000 miles with very few problems. The biggest complaint journalists’ had with these cars was that they were somewhat underpowered compared to Celica’s and 320i’s and the engine was not the smoothest. Otherwise they were excellent cars with good handling from a 48/52 weight distribution. Very sporty (mine was red with black interior and a nice set of gauges). For the money -mine was $6700- they were a tremendous value with luxurious looks and features found on more expensive cars. Nice sound system, remote control mirrors, center arm rests front and rear, very comfortable seating front and rear and intermittent wipers . Reclining seats, Driver’s seat had lumbar and cushion height adjustments. 60/40 split rear seat port into the trunk. Electric trunk lid and gas lid releases. Rear defrost, bi-level heat and a good air conditioner. Alloy wheels were available. At the time the noisy interior was blamed on the thought that the car was originally intended to have the quieter rotary engine only to switch to the pick up truck engine and drive line at the eleventh hour in a nod to better gas mileage but no additional sound deadening material. I’m amused that now some people think the lack of power steering was an oversite or mistake on Mazda’s part, it wasn’t necessary. The steering was excellently engineered, light and responsive. I think for some reason (marketing perhaps?) power steering was offered in 81 and/or 82.
The car had a very good aerodynamic rating as well, 32 (34?) I think. As mentioned, not a very powerful car, about 80 hp IIRC, but very few cars had much power to speak of then. A 320i was about 90 (Trans-Am’s and Corvettes had about 190 and 200 respectively.). But it was torquey and often carried myself and two or three friends and luggage and skies on trips often climbing long hills with no down shifts and running 80 or 90 mph. It was very economical, my car got 34 mpg consistently. I think the styling has held up well over the years and the coupes with the wrap around rear glass are particularly pretty. Now I kick myself for letting mine go.
$20k. Sure. It’s only money. It’s not like you could buy anything more interesting for that or less.
Scotty,
4 years?
methinks scotty might need abit of remedial math or maybe borrow the little ones’ flash cards lol
Ha! Dang those public schools… sorry ’bout that.
I dont think I’ve seen one of these since the 1980s .