The Mazda GLC (Great Little Car) is such a friendly-looking little car. It’s almost cartoonish in appearance, like it should have two crossed band-aids on a tire. This 1977 Mazda GLC came to Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, by way of Seattle, and it’s listed here on eBay. The current bid price is just $570, and there is no reserve. Thanks to Russell G. for the tip!
While I never saw it, a car exactly like this white GLC hatchback was my wife’s first car. She has fond memories of it and all of its quirks and problems, and how much fun it was to drive, slow or not. It was reliable and perfect for a college student with no money. Once she graduated from college, she graduated to a new 1988 Mazda 323, also in white, also with a manual transmission.
This car is said to have been from Seattle and was owned by an older gentleman (who has since passed away) who started prepping the exterior for a repaint, so that’s why it’s sanded and primed in a few areas. It was bought and brought to Pennsylvania and needs some mechanical work now, unfortunately. From the Mazda Familia family, 1977 was the first year for the GLC in North America, and this is a fourth-generation model. Here’s the friendly little face of this car.
We don’t get to see the original seats due to seat covers on both the front and rear seating areas. That’s always a bummer, but you already know this is a bit of a project car, so just add that to the list. The seller has included a wide range of photos, including underside shots, so that’s nice. It looks pretty solid overall. This one is either a four-speed or five-speed manual, we don’t know which one as the seller doesn’t mention it and it’s wearing a replacement shift knob. The brake pedal pad is missing, and you’ll want to replace that before driving it too much.
This car is powered by Mazda’s 1.3-liter SOHC inline-four with a mere 52 horsepower and 67 lb-ft of torque when new. Backed by the manual sending power to the rear wheels (!), this car is said to need a head gasket due to blowing some white smoke and two of the cylinders having lower compression. In 1996, my wife’s 1988 Mazda 323 blew the head gasket at 60,000 miles as I was driving it to Grand Forks, ND, in the winter at 30-below zero (no lie) to a part-time job in my last year of college. That was fun, not. At least I had a cell phone in that era, so I called a shop in the little town where we lived at the time, and for $600, they towed it in and changed the head gasket. Six months later, it blew again, and we got a new 1997 Subaru Outback, which, 140,000 miles later, also blew the head gaskets. Enough of that. If I had this one, I wouldn’t be afraid to change that head gasket myself, it can’t be that hard. You’d have a great little car after it’s fixed!
These were popular when they first came out in 1976-the first generation of solidly built (by the standards of the time) Japanese econo-hatches.
This is the same guy who was selling the 80’s Tercel not long a ago that was featured here. I think he also purchased that one from Washington state. I wonder if drives them back.
Scotty . I remember the GLCs from years ago ( we had a .Mazda dealer in the town I grew up so we saw plenty of RX7 s and pickups and these too. I had no idea it stood for Great Little Car. I just seem to rememebr them switching from GLC to 323. Hopefully someone rescues this Great Little Car.
I had one of these. 4 speed manual with a manual choke.
I put a factory rebuilt 10A in my ’72 Mazda R100,
& couldn’t get it to constantly run on both distributors,
so I took it to the local Mazda dealer.When i came to
pick it up,there was a puddle of gas under it,so the owner
of the dealership gave me one of these to drive.I was not
impressed – just a basic economy car.They never did get
the R100 to run right,& I thought I did well to get $1000
for it.
Road & Track called it a “Pretty Good little Car”.
Remember that neat little awd rally type 323 that was offered for a while. 😎
https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/mazda-323-gtx-turbocharged-all-wheel-drive-rally-car/
“Great LOTTA car”, was the ad schpiel. I know some may tire of me tooting this guys horn, but a GLC??? That settles it. I had a friend with one, about as exciting as a chess match, but it was okay, not much different than any of the other econobox offerings. This car has the honor of getting Mazdas foot in the door. Much like the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, VW Rabbit, all basic cars touting one thing, outstanding fuel mileage. After Mazdas dismal start with the rotaries, this was a car everybody could use. These weren’t exactly cheap. At $3485, they were more than a Pinto ($3050), but less than a Rabbit at almost $4grand. Like most all, they rusted quickly, and a couple winters is all you got, and never were as popular. Unbelievable find.
I recall that the success of this car was vital to Mazda after the rotary disasters of the early 70s. It came out in the era when MPG was about the biggest concern buying a car. They couldn’t have sold many of these 7 years earlier. Haven’t seen one in 40 years or more.
Not buying in this condition. Rather pay $1700 with it running and road worthy.
Actually prefer a GLH over a GLC anyway
Goes Like Hell vs. Goes Like… hm, maybe better not finish that one.
I recall the enthusiast press proclaiming that the GLC was more of a “Good Little Car” than a “Great Little Car.”
Looks like my old Honda Civic had a baby with my early 80’s Chevette
I have a rebuilt Miata 1.6 on an engine stand that would go nicely in this. Sort of a GL5 or MXC?
After my first wife got preggers, we traded our Honda Civic CVCC 5-speed in on a new GLC sedan. Served us well for a couple of years until it was stolen from behind our house. Unfortunately, it was recovered two weeks later with the ignition busted up and the radio ripped out among other things. The insurance company wouldn’t total it so it got “fixed”. Two months later, while I was visiting my wife at work it was just sitting in the parking lot, caught fire and burned to the ground. That time they totaled it. Replaced it with a used Volvo 244.
Scotty, my wife’s car when we met / married was the next generation of this car – a 323 hatchback in white! What a great car – it served as my winter beater when she upgraded to a Blazer in 2000 and my ’99 Z/28 wouldn’t budge if there was any snow on the ground at all. That 323 with those skinny all seasons cut through everything.
We kept it for several more years and then gave it to a family member who needed some wheels. Then, they let it sit, neglected until someone gave them a couple hundred bucks for it.
My recollection of a GLC that is stuck I’m my brain is on the 100 Acre Wood Pro-rally in 1980. Hendrick Blok had a GLC with a rotary in it. VERY FAST! We were “blasting” down the first stage (about 2 miles in) and there is a warning flare. On the left side of the road is Hendrick’s Mazda smoldering. It is also stopped at the same position as the “official rally photo spot” where they take a picture of your car “in action” before it gets all dirty and muddy. Because of my exclamation of there’s Hendricks car! My navigator is looking up (not down at the route book as she should have been) in the picture. Hendrick would spend all kinds of money on go fast parts. But would not spend one nickel on a heat shield because it added weight. In taking to his navigator, In the first few feet of the stage he complained about his shoes melting on the floorboard. Hendrick would not stop. The navigator took off his safety harness (never a good idea, particularly with Hendrick driving since he was known for rolling his Fire Arrow, ripping the doors off and not stopping) and climbed into the back of the car and was holding on the the roll bar with a death grip. Just a little farther down the special stage the navigator’s seat burst into flames. At the next rally myself, John Buffum, Guy Light and I think Jim Walker all stood around his car at tech inspection with marshmallows on sticks!
My recollection of a GLC that is stuck I’m my brain is on the 100 Acre Wood Pro-rally in 1980. Hendrick Blok had a GLC with a rotary in it. VERY FAST! We were “blasting” down the first stage (about 2 miles in) and there is a warning flare. On the left side of the road is Hendrick’s Mazda smoldering. It is also stopped at the same position as the “official rally photo spot” where they take a picture of your car “in action” before it gets all dirty and muddy. Because of my exclamation of there’s Hendricks car! My navigator is looking up (not down at the route book as she should have been) in the picture. Hendrick would spend all kinds of money on go fast parts. But would not spend one nickel on a heat shield because it added weight. In taking to his navigator, In the first few feet of the stage he complained about his shoes melting on the floorboard. Hendrick would not stop. The navigator took off his safety harness (never a good idea, particularly with Hendrick driving since he was known for rolling his Fire Arrow, ripping the doors off and not stopping) and climbed into the back of the car and was holding on the the roll bar with a death grip. Just a little farther down the special stage the navigator’s seat burst into flames. At the next rally myself, John Buffum, Guy Light and I think Jim Walker all stood around his car at tech inspection with marshmallows on sticks!
My close friend bought a yellow GLC when they first came out. We drove the heck out of that car, taking cross-country trips every chance we got, driving fast with the A/C blasting and two very overweight people and all their things inside. It never failed us, and she replaced it with a 323 later on. For what it was, it truly was a Great Little Car. It came out in those early days when the Japanese manufacturers were showing us how you could build an inexpensive car well.
Auction update (you’d better sit down for this): this GLC sold for a whopping $4,150!